Later, I assumed the lack of interest in Sesame was due to its shocking lack of light sabers.
However, it turns out that Little Dude hates Elmo. More specifically, Elmo's laugh. Apparently it's like nails on chalkboard to him.
More sympathetic, I could not be.
I definitely have a lot of the same auditory processing problems that Little Dude has. I have vivid memories of feeling like certain sounds were screaming at me.
Seeing Little Dude's reaction to the Elmo Saves Christmas video reminded me of that. And it reminded me of seeing a very small Little Dude turn his back on Sesame Street.
Little Dude is not one of the kids who suddenly became autistic -- who was typically developing and then lost social and verbal skills. Little Dude has always been this way. It's just that when he was 12 months old, he couldn't tell me that Elmo's laugh was the most irritating thing ever.
Now he's almost five. He can tell me that Elmo's laugh is "horrible" and hurts his ears.
I bet if I had known that when he was one year old, it would have freaked me out. Kids are supposed to adore Elmo. My daughters all loved Elmo like he was the Pied Freaking Piper. The Peanut Butter Kid had an Elmo shirt that she handed down to Little Dude. He liked the shirt, but he still didn't really want to watch Sesame Street.What the hell? Why on earth would I try to get a kid to watch television? Sure, it's PBS. Sesame Street is awesome.
But still: it seems like if your kid isn't interested in Elmo, that should be okay.
We are not a Sesame Street household. My 3 yr old has never gotten into it, and I am thankful because I totally agree with your Little Dude. Elmo is the WORST!
ReplyDeleteMy boys love Elmo! I watched it as a young girl and so do my children! It is my 2year olds favorite character!
ReplyDeleteSigh. When Luke was 1 it was all he'd watch. Elmo's song, over and over. Obsessively. Maybe that's when I should have figured out the OCD and autism? LOL.
ReplyDeleteANyways, Ian HATES elmo and sesame street. My kids are more into moving vehicles than cartoon characters and shows.
My youngest loves Elmo (or MoMo as he says), but he can only watch about 10 minutes of the show before being bored. My older 2 (would never admit this) but they still love Sesame Street...of course, they love anything on the giant flickering light box...your blog helps me get through the day...its nice knowing that other people have kids who are different and that they are managing! I have a 7 year old genius (literally, his IQ is genius level) and a 5 year old with Pediatric Bi-Polar (fun fun)...THANK YOU SRMM!!
ReplyDeleteMy son hates Elmo, too. He will watch Sesame until that wretched Elmo's World comes on, and then he is out of there. Confession: I cannot stand Big Bird.
ReplyDeleteMy son didn't mind Elmo, but he developed an intense dislike of the lady who announced the Lottery numbers every evening - Yolanda Vega. At less than two years old, he'd hear her and freak out. What the heck? What did Yolanda ever do to him? We couldn't figure it out at the time, but looking back either he didn't like her voice (debatable), or he couldn't stand the clickety-click of the lottery ball machine in the background (more likely). Clues, clues everywhere to his auditory hypersensitivity. . . .
ReplyDeleteSaddly, my kids don't know who most Sesame Street characters are...the show gives my 9 year old nightmares. Literally. He's fine watching it, but when he goes to bed at night the happy little singing muppets he saw that morning get all stabbity in his dreams.
ReplyDeleteLittle miss loves Elmo and will burst into the chorus of Elmo's song at a moment's notice with her own special accent... "ya-ya-ya ya-ya ya-ya!"
ReplyDeleteLuckily(?) she has been into Dora the Explorer lately (not *quite* as obnoxious as Elmo... but waaay up there on my list).
My vote is that we get together and define the rules for an obnoxious kid's character drinking game. Just for starters, how hammered could we get if we drink every time Dora repeats herself?
"Where are we going?" *clap, clap, clap* Liquor cabinet! "Where are we going?" Liquor cabinet!
My kids never loved Elmo, but they didn't dislike him, either. Sort of an "Oh, hey Elmo. How's it going?" attitude. Big Bird, however, is adored.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Mom2Kaia has an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteMy kids like Elmo or Melmo depending on who you are asking but there are other more important things to watch for them. Like just about anything Disney and trains. Lots and lots of trains.
ReplyDeleteMom2Kaia - I totally used your comment as my Facebook status. I love it!
ReplyDeleteI have a 4yr old boy w/ no official diagnosis other than "sensory issues" and he does not like Sesame Street either. Clearly they messed it up from when we were little.
#1 Borrow kids movies from the library.
ReplyDelete#2 My ASD 3 1/2 year old has never liked Sesame Street either. Though she seems to like Elmo alone okay (unfortunately), but there must be some other disturbing sensory factor still unknown to me. I think it's because there are real people on the show. She doesn't like shows or books featuring REAL humans--and especially not adult humans. Too many adult humans on Sesame Street for her taste. That is my guess. And we can't watch just the movies starring Elmo alone, because one of his visitors behind that door of his is sometimes "the wind," and my girl is terrified of ANY animated representations of wind.
#3 Her autism didn't come on suddenly either. Everything about her today is consistent with how she was even in the womb.
Our Little Nugget had a love hate thing with Elmo, and looking back, I'm sure it was his voice. But she was seriously freaked out by Mr. Noodle, and Mr.Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle. cried hysterically when they came on. And cows. Ah, good times. Yeah, in hindsight she's always been autistic.
ReplyDeleteIn our house, Elmo is totally beloved, but Sesame Street is not allowed because apparently it is boring until Elmo's World. My daughter loves Elmo so much that when she was told she was granted a wish from Make A Wish, the first thing she thought of was Elmo: "I wish for Elmo!"
ReplyDeleteNeither one of my kids will watch Sesame Street or Elmo. My seven-year-old ASD son doesn't like to watch any TV at all, unless it's a nature or engineering (!!) documentary. He has been into that stuff since he was 2, which was probably the first time he saw TV (what can I say--his little brother had just been born and I needed a break). He did not willingly watch a cartoon or "fiction" movie until he was four, and to this day TV and movies are pretty much at the bottom of his to-do list.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, Sesame Street was for older kids--maybe kindergarten to second grade. Over the years it has been simplified (some might say dumbed down) and it is now better for the pre-verbal thru preschool set. But as far as I'm concerned, Elmo isn't helping. Who wants their child to "learn" from someone who communicates in broken English and babytalk? If you watch the original Sesame Street episodes, you'll see the voices were done by adults, who spoke clearly and used a decent vocabulary. There was a lot more live action stuff, and more human adults than muppets.
If you buy the DVD of original Sesame Street episodes, it comes with a warning that it's not appropriate for kids! That's how much times have changed. Of course the old episodes are much, much better than today's nonsense. Watching the original episodes, the first thing I noticed was how much longer kids' attention spans must have been back then. A five minute film, set to a jazz score, of two boys riding their bikes to the zoo to see the animals? Can you imagine that being done today?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKSGMpWmZSo
If you watch you'll see why it's supposedly "not appropriate" for kids anymore. These boys are riding their bikes by themselves, thru the city, w/o helmets. The horror!
And for the record, my ASD son was also born autistic. If you know what to look for, you can tell by looking at his earliest baby pictures.
I will admit that we are a Sesame Street (and BARNEY) loving family. Momma has always loved both and Daddy was won over by Barney after being forced to watch him ad nauseum.
ReplyDeleteI will also admit that Elmo's voice is one of the most annoying sounds in the world. Rock-n-Roll Elmo is the only toy to enter this house and then have his batteries removed. Momma can only take but so much.
Thanks for all you share! It is wonderful for other moms to read!
Interesting post. I like Elmo, but I can see how his voice can be annoying. I'm especially interested in knowing that Little Dude had exhibited signs of autism from the beginning. You hear so much about kids who seem to "acquire" autism between 15 to 18 months, but not so much the ones who start out that way. Several commentors mentioned this also. This is helpful information to have, as I watch the little ones progress.
ReplyDelete~physicsmom
My sons love Elmo so much! But I admit that Elmo's voice is not that kid- friendly.
ReplyDeleteCustom Patches
I. Hate. Elmo. I'm right there with Little Dude - his voice drives me right around the bend. Ditto Curious George's monkey squeal. It never occurred to me that my kids should want to watch Elmo because I can't stand to have it on. Pretty sure I have mild sensory problems myself, and I know my husband does. And the apples have not fallen far, as they say. My only question is how could YOU stand to hear that ever-lovin' Elmo noise for all those years?!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog . . I am looking forward to reading more!!! I work with kids with autism and am also a sibling of someone with a disability and I love your attitude about it all. Very refreshing!
ReplyDeleteMy autistic 5 year old was always very picky about what he watched, some shows sending him into meltdowns. He loved Thomas though (having said that, too much of non-stop Thomas made me want to meltdown). My not-autistic 14 mth old adores Elmo. I take that as a positive sign :)
ReplyDeleteJen hate Elmo, Elmo use of third person annoying, so is Elmo voice. Right there with you little dude. My son has cortical visual impairment from his neuro condition so luckly Sesame St. can really be seen. Sadly Yo Gabba Gabba could play indefinately.
ReplyDeleteMy ASD daughter was also born autistic. She didn't say a single word until after her second birthday, and that one disappeared for a couple months until she got her speech a few months before she turned 3. Now she's 6 and I find myself begging her to be quiet!
ReplyDeleteShe LOVES Elmo. LOVES him. We just renewed our season passes to Sesame Place because she thinks it's the best place on the planet. We walk through there and she happily says "Hi, Welcome to Sesame Street" the whole time. I'm kind of sick of the furry red guy since she's been obsessed with him since before her first birthday.
Her little brother is almost 3 and he likes Elmo quite a bit, but nowhere near as much as Diego. I'll admit he's less annoying, but I'm getting kind of sick of him too. I guess I should consider myself fortunate that they will both watch each other's shows with minimal arguing.
My son is 21 Month and speaks very little since pointing and grunting is so much easier.
ReplyDeleteBut when I put on Sesame Street and Elmo he shouts: NO! and shakes his head.
Then I feel a little bit bad about exposing him to Elmo again and I give my little monkey a few minutes of Curious George so he will forgive me....again.
I remember that when he was introduced, my friends and I called him "little red Grover on speed".
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