Re: socially acceptable stims

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/20/03 12:27:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

weinert@... writes:

> Of course, you need the guidance of an OT knowledgeable in sensory

> integration to tailor a sensory diet to Joe in the classroom and to

> train the teacher in how to implement it.

>

> Hope this helps,

>

>

>

great advice !

Roxanna ö¿ö

" ...don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he'd

ever wished for...

He lived happily ever after. "

Willy Wonka

[Guest guest]

Hey all.....wondering if you got this mail......does anyone have any opinions on

Steve Gutstein's work and his RDI intervention/therapy?

Really hoping someone has tried it and can comment on it.

dennise

sjparvin@... wrote:

Hi Everyone,

We are a year away from elementary school and one thing I need to work on

with my 4.5 yr old is to control his stimming behavior in public. I could care

less about it....I have gotten so use to seeing him do it in all situations,

that it doesn't really affect me. I take notice when it happens more often just

because I think he is stressing more. I'm not really sure why he does it

and he is not able to tell me right now. Part of me thinks he needs to do it as

it may serve as a way to process information or it may be a result of

overload and a way to de-stress. The sped director told me that we really

should

work on it this year as we don't want him to do it in class next year. I can

see

her point in that it would cause disruption and he will be teased about it.

He is already getting teased at the park. (breaks my heart)

His stims come on mostly when excited but also in periods of boredom/lulls.

Kids sliding, water moving, actually any movement or any anticipatory stuff.

He will hand flap, move his arms and legs really fast or in a kind of dance

that involves pacing...he has a whole repertoire!

I need some suggestions on how I can get my son to learn " socially

acceptable " stims versus what he is currently doing. I'm not trying to

completely

eliminate them, but I need to find ways to have him get the release he needs in

a

way that won't disrupt his class or get him teased.

All suggestions welcomed~

Johanna

[Guest guest]

Hi Joanna,

I really disagree with the special ed director. Saying " we don't want

him to do this next year in school " is making an assumption that it is

something Joe consciously chooses to do. I do agree with you (and

maybe the spec ed dir) that sometimes the stims can be channeled into

something more socially acceptable. I don't believe saying something

like " quiet hands " does anything but frustrate everyone involved.

I don't think my daughter stims with as much of her body as Joe. She

mainly jumps up and down and waves her arms. Sometimes she makes a

sound between a hum and a moan for 3-4 seconds. She does it in

similar situations to Joe - noisy, over-stimulating environments or

lulls.

When sitting at circle time, she does these things to avoid flapping:

- presses the heels of her hands firmly together in front of her chest

- holds a fidget ball

- sits on a sensory disc (a bumpy rubber inflatable cushion)

- while sitting with her legs straight out in front of her, puts the

palm of each hand flat on the floor beside her bottom and lifts up and

holds for a few seconds. (We call this the elevator.) This can also

be done in a chair.

Her aide can also give her " deep pressure " by pressing down firmly on

her shoulders.

Of course, all of these things draw attention to her. Kids want to

try the bumpy cushion or hold the ball. It is best to have several of

each so others can do the same thing as Joe.

We concentrated on circle time as the time most important for

redirection of stims, because that would be most disruptive for other

kids. It Joe stims on the playground, I think the ** other ** kids

need to be directed to ignore it.

Making sure she gets lots of joint-compressing exercise (e.g. running,

jumping) during any play periods helps her, too. Her kindergarten

teacher would tell the kids to do various animal walks from one table

to another during their work time. (Good idea, but 3 steps of it

wasn't enough.) The K she went to had very little play time, so

getting exercises incorporated into work time was key. Be sure the

IEP says that these kinds of activities need to be done on days when

the routine falls apart or the teacher is gone, because those were the

days my daughter needed them most.

Of course, you need the guidance of an OT knowledgeable in sensory

integration to tailor a sensory diet to Joe in the classroom and to

train the teacher in how to implement it.

Hope this helps,

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/20/2003 2:14:04 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

noelty5@... writes:

> I need to work on

> with my 4.5 yr old is to control his stimming behavior in public.

What are stims?

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/20/2003 2:00:29 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

the3stacks@... writes:

> What are stims?

>

>

>

Sorry....self stimulatory behavior. There is a huge range of behaviors that

are classed as stims. Maybe someone has the Tourrettes site....they list a

lot.

Johanna

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/20/2003 9:27:20 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

weinert@... writes:

> Of course, you need the guidance of an OT knowledgeable in sensory

> integration to tailor a sensory diet to Joe in the classroom and to

> train the teacher in how to implement it.

>

Thanks, that is a great idea. The OT school team wasn't very helpful with

sensory integration for some reason. They didnt feel he had any problems

related to school, but maybe they will rethink that as his stimming behavior

will

bother his school work.

Johanna

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/20/2003 11:14:22 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

noelty5@... writes:

> Hey all.....wondering if you got this mail......does anyone have any

> opinions on Steve Gutstein's work and his RDI intervention/therapy?

>

> Really hoping someone has tried it and can comment on it.

>

> dennise

>

Hi Dennise,

Who is he? What is RDI ? Sorry I haven't heard of him.

Johanna

[Guest guest]

Hi Joanna,

If you can't get guidance from a well-trained OT, try giving " The

Out-of-Sync Child " and " The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun " by Carol Stock

Kranowitz to the teacher with useful passages highlighted.

Sensory integration techniques are also used to help ADD/ADHD kids

focus. I firmly believe that incorporating SI activities into the

normal classroom routine helps the vast majority of the kids.

However, I think in my child's case, she probably needs more SI

activities every day at school than most mainstream teachers are

willing to devote time to.

[Guest guest]

Hi Johanna

My son - 6 now - also was really big on the hand flapping up until last

year. When he was in school, I noticed he was doing it quite a bit on

the playground.

I am into honesty, so I sat him down and told him.

You know how much I love you and you know I don't want to hurt your feelings

but some people aren't like that. They are mean just because they like

being mean. Some kids are like that.

Lots of kids are very nice but some kids are mean.

When you run around flapping your hands - it looks weird. People

are going to make fun of you and tease you.

I don't want them to tease you because it will hurt your feelings and I love

you to much to have you upset and sad.

So, you need to stop flapping your hands in school.

Do it at home if you want (hoping it would just wear off after a while)

but try not to do it at school.

He asked me some questions, I answered them and then he started

paying attention to when he was doing it. He eventually stopped and

doesn't do it anymore. He does wipe his mouth on his shirt an awful lot,

even when he doesn't have anything on his face. Right on the front of

his shirt. I think it is a stim. But it is subtle so I don't make a real

big

deal out of it, I do tell him not to do it sometimes.

Dawn

Hi Everyone,

We are a year away from elementary school and one thing I need to work on

with my 4.5 yr old is to control his stimming behavior in public. I could

care

less about it....I have gotten so use to seeing him do it in all situations,

that it doesn't really affect me. I take notice when it happens more often

just

because I think he is stressing more. I'm not really sure why he does it

and he is not able to tell me right now. Part of me thinks he needs to do it

as

it may serve as a way to process information or it may be a result of

overload and a way to de-stress. The sped director told me that we really

should

work on it this year as we don't want him to do it in class next year. I can

see

her point in that it would cause disruption and he will be teased about it.

He is already getting teased at the park. (breaks my heart)

His stims come on mostly when excited but also in periods of boredom/lulls.

Kids sliding, water moving, actually any movement or any anticipatory stuff.

He will hand flap, move his arms and legs really fast or in a kind of dance

that involves pacing...he has a whole repertoire!

I need some suggestions on how I can get my son to learn " socially

acceptable " stims versus what he is currently doing. I'm not trying to

completely

eliminate them, but I need to find ways to have him get the release he needs

in a

way that won't disrupt his class or get him teased.

All suggestions welcomed~

Johanna

[Guest guest]

Hi Dawn,

I like your approach of telling your son how other people perceive his

stimming and letting him know that if he can avoid stimming, he

should.

Does he stim at all now at school or at home?

I ask this because I've heard stories of kids who were told not to

stim at school and wound up spending hours of school time in the

bathroom so that they could stim. I think that, at least for some

kids, it is something they can delay, but not ever totally give up.

[Guest guest]

<<<<<< He does wipe his mouth on his shirt an awful lot,

even when he doesn't have anything on his face. Right on the front of

his shirt. I think it is a stim.>>

a stim, or a tic- my ds does it too sinec he stopped flapping.

F

[Guest guest]

Have a " sensory diet " written into his IEP. Pam