Is this stimming?

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-10-2006
Is this stimming?
8
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 2:44pm

Hi gals,


I am so full of questions lately and so many just since school has started.

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Christine

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2003
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 3:13pm
I'm still new to all this, so I'm not sure what "stimming" is.......but I just wanted to post that my daughter does the chewing thing too!


 


Mich

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-10-2006
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 3:20pm

WOW, you almost described my ds too!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-16-2006
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 3:36pm

The noise with shhh shhh sound I would call as stim. Hand flap is a stim (grab his hands and tell him "quiet hands" I had to do that wth Adam). Rocking is a stim as is toe walking.....


The self stim behaviors vary per child. It basically puts them in thier "happy place" if you will. I is a coping skill they have for themeselves.


You can "correct" them to only twik it for appropriate times---Adam has the ok at home.


Hope this helps.


Nora

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Registered: 09-18-2007
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 4:04pm

Hi there...I'm new here but was reading your post and smiling at how much your little guy sounds like my 9 year old.

Carissa
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 4:05pm

Actually alot of those describe

Avatar for betz67
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 7:44pm

Our OT says that stimming is any behavior that is repeated to self-calm or self-stimulate. Some stimming is appropriate or socially acceptable some isn't. Some stims are more annoying to other people than other stims.

I don't know anything about tics, to my knowledge we haven't seen any of those.

My son (now 11) has always done lots of stimming, some more typical than others. Rocking, spinning, swinging, toe walking and hand flapping are pretty typical of autistic spectrum kids. Humming, speaky noises, the ssshhh sssshhhh sounds, saying the same things over and over can also be stims. Chewing clothing, picking skin, and that kind of thing can be stims as well. I'd ask for an OT assessment. A sensory diet and a plan for teaching him how to control or use appropriate stims will help. Weston used "the How does your Engine Run" program to help him learn what stims were appropriate. He still needs lots of reminders, but he can often verbalize what sensory diet items are working and what he needs more of. He knows what he likes and can often problem solve about what will help him in certain situations. He was pretty out of control when they started this when he was 6-7 though.

We found that many of these behaviors looked a lot like ADHD, but we were really able to help him control the fidgetyness and stimming w/ a sensory diet and the ADHD type behaviors were much less difficult once we had lots of sensory stuff in place.

Betsy

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-18-2007
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 9:22pm

We were also introduced to the "How Does Your Engine Run" program through our OT and it has proven to be an invaluable tool with Dylan, who is almost 10 now, but we've been using this for over a year and love the way the program is set up.

Carissa
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Wed, 09-19-2007 - 11:48pm

OMG Carissa, guess who this is?