Do you suffer from a phobia to a specific word?

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My 5 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with Asperger's. For years she has demonstrated a debilitating phobia to the word "Yay" and to a lesser extent celebrations in general. We noticed this behavior when she was 18 months old and it seems to have become more severe over time. She appears to tolerate it better coming from other children than she does when it is said by an adult and if she hears it on a television program or other media she seems to be able to tune it out. She refuses to say or read it and recently wrote a message which said that people are not to use "the word with 2 ys and an a" (she didn't want to type it or see it on the screen) and that they should use the word yeah in its place. She copes with the word yay and celebrations by covering her ears and she tries to keep her emotions in check, but often she will break down completely when the word is said, especially if it is said emphatically.

Does anyone out there relate to this type of phobia? Her therapist seems to be baffled by it and I am wondering if it is typical in the Aspie community. Has anyone been able to overcome this type of phobia through therapy? Did anyone have it as a child and outgrow it naturally?

Thank You!

Yes, I've had phobias of many words in my life.

When I was younger I would completely avoid certain words.

Do you know why that happened?

I had something slightly similar but I certainly wouldn't call it a phobia. Phobias are very different and for me there was no fear involved at all.

There were some words I disliked at different stages of my childhood, and avoided saying them or I added a letter to them when I said them. In some cases I didn't like the word, or it was embarrassing to say. In rare cases I was new to the word and didn't get it right and then got it, but was embarrassed and felt dumb saying it wrong but would have felt even dumber saying it right, like it was admitting I was wrong.

I've never broke down over it or something like that like OP's daughter apparently does, I just wouldn't say it/ say it right. I had no reaction to others saying it at all, except for cases when they said it in order to have me say it right. I got it and it was embarrassing. I always felt so embarrassed when corrected like that. There were very few words.

Yes, I just outgrew it without noticing.

I have a phobia of saying and hearing the word ''Asperger's Syndrome''. I always have had, ever since I was diagnosed with it.

No, I don't know why. I never even told anyone about it.

Thanks for sharing, babybird. Can you describe how these words would affect you? Would they make you feel physically sick? Uncomfortable? We are really trying hard to identify with what she is going through.

We suspect that she might have synesthesia which might explain her aversion to the word. By any chance are you a synesthete?

^^You seem like a nice person. I'm sure what your daughter is going through is probably different to what I experienced as a child.

I think the route cause of my phobia to certain words was more to do with trauma.

Sorry I can't help you.

I would not call it a phobia, but I do still relate with others in avoiding speaking, hearing or even thinking about certain words because of how they make me feel. What I feel depends on which particular disliked word it is, but ways to describe it are making me embarrassed, feeling highly uncomfortable, upset and awkward if the word happens to be the name of a particular texture or taste that I cannot stand, or it is the way the word is formed and pronounced and said itself -- I can't stand the way some 'feel' in my mouth.

Words nearly always bring up particular memories or mental images for me or stimulate my senses (which I'm sure happens to the majority of people, but just like how stimming occurs in NTs as well it's a matter of the intensity), so I tend to attach mental pictures, tastes, smells, sounds, etc. to words. For example, the word prickly makes me feel like I am being poked with quills. Therefore, sometimes this can be extremely overwhelming if it's something that I dislike because as I say the word I 'feel' it and I become upset.

My problem is not so severe that it causes me to break down, but I will always try to avoid and use synonyms of the word I hate and any time someone says a word that irks me I tend to shy away, pretend I didn't hear it and try to speed up the conversation or switch topic so they won't say it again.

Yeah, that reminds me that there is a word I have avoided using for the last 26 years because it gives me flashback to one particular situation. I always use the synonym and I often feel a knot in my stomach when someone says it.



That could be true. I once knew someone who had problems with certain words because he had synesthesia. He said the word hiss made him see a white flash and made him feel bad.
I was also thinking misophonia.

It could also be emotional.

Thank you to everyone who has posted! I really appreciate the support.

Skilpadde: That sounds very similar to how she feels. We have suspected that it stems from a memory but it would be from when she was 1 so I'm not sure even she can verbalize what happened to trigger this reaction. Was your situation an early childhood memory? The fact that you and others have found synonyms useful as a coping mechanism is very interesting. In the message that she wrote regarding this word she even lists other words that would be acceptable.

Here is what she wrote (keep in mind that she is 5 so it can be a bit incoherent but overall I think she gets her point across quite well):

"What? How are you going to say that word that has two ys and one a? I don't like that word!
That word is to bad for you to say
Just stop that word now
Say the y e a h
It's boring if you say it 100 times
If you say it 1 more time I'm going to put you in time out
Just say yeah instead it's unexpected it's my enemy.
If you don't want to say yeah just say good for you, awesome, good job, sweet, and much more
Maybe happy birthday too!
Or perfect or excellent
Those are words that make me smile.
Or terrific?
Do you want to sing or say them?"

I hadn't heard of misophonia, I will definitely look into that and discuss it with her therapist.

I have mild to medium misophonia, actually. For me it's not so much about words, more about certain sounds or movements that I cannot stand. For example the sound a nerf gun makes when firing. If I have to hear these sounds for a longer period (>3 minutes) I become agressive, feel like my blood is boiling. I want the sound to stop immediately. It feels as if my ears are raw and hurt from the inside. Eventually if it doesn't stop I have to flee to somewhere quiet to calm down. It might be similar for your daughter with certain words.

I am not surprised that these aversions can take on many different and possibly unique forms. It can be multiple things like some have mentioned. The sound of the word, some negative association they have made with the word, not the word itself but an aversion to a meaning of the word, etc.

That you mention celebrations makes me suspect it is something about celebrations mostly she doesn't like, and has enlarged the aversion to include the word itself. There's lots of things about celebrations that Aspies may not like... noise, people, anxiety, unpredictableness, etc.

My nephew who also has Aspergers came to freak out if the Happy Birthday song was sung. But it wasn't the celebration that bothered him. He was fine if you would sing an alternate birthday song... I think borrowed from Blues Clues ( ). I'm not sure what it was but suspect the sound of the song bothered him. He is musically gifted, and even was so at a young age, and I think just couldn't stand the way your average group of party goers butchered the song musically speaking.

So look at the word, but also around the word for reasons.

When I was young it was words that had anything to do with body parts. Any body parts, not just one or two.

They still make me cringe a little bit now, but I can say these words now, and hear them.

I´ve had that with breathing sounds,- especially the sound of nose breathing.
I could have KILLED because of it!

I think it's normal for kids with autism to have weird phobias or fears. I remember as a kid, I used to be afraid of the Snowplow. I would hide from it every time it came by, thinking it was coming to get me or something. I think I even had weird nightmares about it as well.

I know because I've read up on this before.