Stimming

          Stimming – Many children with Autism and/or Sensory Processing Disorder stim when stressed, over stimulated, scared or excited. Stimming comes in many forms – hand flapping, spinning, walking in circles, speaking with a high pitch, toe walking, chewing, twirling things between their fingers, the list goes on and on. My Karl and Kyle both toe walked, hand flapped and Karl walked in circles. While Donald verbally stimmed with a high pitched voice which drove me crazy.

            For the most part stimming in harmless but it can be very annoying and disruptive to those around the child. I have found redirecting works best to help a child get back on track and a good Sensory Diet can help prevent stimming most of the time. A Sensory Diet is a combination of activities to give a child input to help a child/adult regulate. Later this week I will write a blog on Sensory Diets.

            Triggers – to find your child’s stimming triggers I suggest writing a journal about what you child was doing before he/she started to stim. This will help you find the trigger and give you an idea how to help him/her before stimming begins. One thing I noticed with all the boys is that some cartoons would cause them to stim because they were over stimulated with the fast moving scenes. I found when they watched old cartoons they were a lot calmer and relaxed. It was nice to see my boys enjoy the same cartoons I enjoyed as a kid. Thomas the Tank Engine is a great example of what cartoons can be like. The ‘old Thomas’ was great for kids with ASD or SPD because the background did not move, bright colors, over exaggerated facial expression and the commentary was at a great pace. My Donald through a fit the first time he saw one of the new episodes with everything moving. Karl & Kyle no longer sat still watching Thomas with new episodes but were calm during old episodes.

            Redirect – Once you know the trigger it will be easier to figure out how to redirect. Redirecting will always depend on what the trigger is and where you are when the stimming begins. Whatever you do, do not start redirecting when out in public, start at home where they will be comfortable. Once he/she can handle being redirected then start doing it in public. Finding what redirecting activity works will take time and a lot of trial & error before you find what works for both of you. Some techniques:

Verbal Stimming – I would have Donald go to his room (it was always at home), shut the door and sing as loud as he would like, this would help him get it out. As he got older he liked listening to his MP3 player while doing tasks. Going to stores was hard for Kyle because of the crowds so when he started to talk louder and/or growl at me, I would pressure squeeze his hands. The pressure would relax him long enough to get me through my shopping trip. Some kids like to chew gum to help stop verbally stimming.

Hand Flapping – To me hand flapping was fine for the boys and they both outgrew it on their own. I would let them hand flap for a bit then offer a bear hug to help them relax and they loved that.

Spinning/Walking in circles – Spinning makes me nervous as they could get hurt so redirecting was a must. A mini trampoline works great for redirecting on most stimming, especially spinning. Other things that may help are dancing, jogging in place, pushups and other physical input.

Chewing – Chewing can be hard because it may be a stim from stress or it may be an oral sensory issue. So whatever you choose to redirect with, make sure it will give your child sensory input. Chew tubes, chewelry, gum, mints, crunchy foods and an oral vibrator will help.

Toe walking – If it is a mild case of toe walking they may outgrow it with little reminder not to tow walk. But if they are doing it all the time then you want the help of an OT or PT as too much tow walking can cause the calf muscles to shorten.

As with everything ‘pick and choose your battles.’  Work on the stims that are dangerous first then distracting to classmates and then handle the annoying ones. Always keep in mind that the stim may be the lesser of the two evils. For example -  If you are going out to dinner and have to wait for a bit. It may be wiser to let him/her stim than to have him/her have a meltdown to the point you have  to leave.

If there is a stim that I did not cover and you need help with it, just send me a message and I will add it.

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