Lately Jonah had been doing something I can’t figure out.

He has been covering his ears and moaning, as if to block out an unwanted noise.

He has been doing it more often, sometimes 5 to 10 minutes at a time…Sometimes when he is out of his routine and some times when he is laying in bed.

He did it tonight, while laying in bed for 5-10 minutes until he fell asleep.

Whenever he is excited, he covers his ears. Whenever he feels an intense emotion, whatever it is, he covers his ears (it isn’t always a sensory “overload.” Sometimes, he’ll do it with a big smile.)

Sometimes, he does it when he is being “shy.”

But I could always figure out “why” he was covering his ears.

In this video, he is watching a “Super Simple Song” of “Hickory Dickory Dock.” In the clip, an elephant runs up the clock, and the clock shutters under the tension until it finally breaks.

It’s like watching a “thriller” movie to Jonah. He can’t take the tension of the scene, but he wants to watch the show so he hides on the stairs and watches a reflection of the clip in a picture frame while covering his ears and moaning to block out the sound.

As soon as the clock breaks, he runs back down to watch the rest of the show.

It makes sense to me, why he would cover his ears in that instance, and why he stopped doing it when the scene was done.

But tonight, he was just laying in bed (and had been for some time.) Nothing changed.

He just covered his ears and started “moaning” just like he does in this video.

He didn’t seem stressed.

He doesn’t seem “upset” but he doesn’t seem “happy” either.

I’m wondering if he just likes the sound of his voice when his ears are covered (like when you hear things underwater).

Maybe a vocal stim?

Thoughts?