Re: Question about getting a diagnosis/stim behaviors

[Guest guest]

Oh, I understand what you are saying. Looking at lights was a big

thing in our house a few years ago. Redirecting behavior became

automatic around here. How to stop a small child from looking at

lights? When all else fails, toss a dish towel over his head - then

make it into a game of " peek-a-boo! " and usually my child would be so

thrilled with the new game that looking at lights was forgotten.

With regards to the piggy bank - wanting to make it sing/count over

and over and over again...in my house that is stim behavior (self

stimulating behaviour). The child does something to exhaustion

because they get something from it similar to a 'high'. I tell my

child - " play appropriately with the toy, or it goes in time out " . I

explain that we push different buttons or whatever, but not the same

one over and over and over again. I can *usually* get them to comply,

but some of our more musical toys have just 'disappeared' during the

night, or I remove the batteries. The toy is still there, but the

sound effects are gone. If your child is stimming on the piggy bank,

hide it for a while (or remove batteries) and watch to see if he goes

to another musical toy and exhibits the same behavior. He may just

not be able to help himself when it comes to these types of toys.

Stims aren't good and when allowed to go on unchecked usually get

worse. The longer a child is allowed to do something stimmy, the

better they get at it.

I wish you all the best and hope my 2 cents helped a little bit!

Stephanee

>

>> 's fixation is mainly on things like lights and doors. His OT

> says she notices a few autistic tendencies in him. Many times

during his group therapy he is " in his own world " staring up at the

lights. When we try to get his attention or re-focus him, he will

point up at the lights, smile and say " ehh! " as if he's sharing the

best thing in the world with us. Sometimes we can shift his focus,

but other times he slips into the " Zone " and it is very

difficult.

For example, yesterday he was playing with his toy piggy bank,

dropping the large,colorful plastic toy coins into the slot. The pig

makes music and/or counts when you do this. I was trying to make our

play more interactive by asking him to put certain colors in. (When

asked, he can identify colors correctly by pointing.) I kept

saying " piggy wants red! " He totally tuned me out. I even went so

far as to cover the coin slot and tell him " piggy doesn't want

orange, he wants red. " threw a fit and pushed my hand off of

the bank so he could keep putting the coins in over and over and over

again. I tried to put my face in his field of vision but he totally

avoided me. In that instance, he reminded me of a child with

autism. (I doubt it's related to apraxia, but read somewhere that

many children with apraxia have autistic tendencies.) I think he

noramlly loves interaction and thrives on it.

[Guest guest]

Self stimming also helps regulate their systems. My son when he was about 2

wanted to do that all the time. I refused to just let him sit and do that,

I would intervene, but never completely take it away. Maybe divert his

attention, get another toy, but I always gave it back to him. Completely

taking

away all objects for stimming is harmful, they develop other behaviors such as

head banging biting them selves, you don't want that. I will admit, I went

through a period where it drove me nuts, I couldn't take the sound of the

flicking which is what we called it, sometimes I left the room. One of our

therapists suggested trying to trade objects with the child, it breaks the

fixation, now my son would look at the object take it in his hands and if it

didn't

flick good he would give it back. Now he does it if he is nervous, like

going to the Dr, or overly happy, but it is not nearly what it was. I have

heard

around age 7 and up is when these kids learn to control this behavior a

little more. But they always want what you take away, just be careful it

doesn't

backfire. Jen

**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.

(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/

2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

[Guest guest]

Thank you so much for your two cents. We did sort of " hide " the

piggy bank for a while. I can't figure out why he starts the

stimming behavior. He does have plenty of other toys that light up

and make sounds and usually can play with them correctly. I think

music is his " thing " . He loves the Fisher Price piano in which the

keys light up when you press them. He can play with it for hours and

even tries to immitate the patterns my daughter plays, like moving

outward on the keys after hearing her play " Chopsticks. " I have to

admit, I was smiling and almost let out a giggle when I read the

first part of your post. I love what you said about " when all else

fails, throw a dish towel over his head and make a game of peek-a-

boo! " That is so true!

His SLP suggested we remove his Train tracks from the room if

he continued to slip into his " zone " by just pushing them around

the track. She suggested doing all possible to make the trains

interactive, or even replacing them with something more interactive,

such as the Little People barn. That way I could also introduce

animal sounds. So, his Train table is now a Little People

viillage. The only problem is that he constantly wants to open and

close all the little doors. The stim remains. In the meantime,

we're developing a senso of humor around here. Dammed if you do,

dammed if you don't.

> >

> >> 's fixation is mainly on things like lights and doors. His

OT

> > says she notices a few autistic tendencies in him. Many times

> during his group therapy he is " in his own world " staring up at the

> lights. When we try to get his attention or re-focus him, he will

> point up at the lights, smile and say " ehh! " as if he's sharing the

> best thing in the world with us. Sometimes we can shift his focus,

> but other times he slips into the " Zone " and it is very

> difficult.

>

> For example, yesterday he was playing with his toy piggy bank,

> dropping the large,colorful plastic toy coins into the slot. The

pig

> makes music and/or counts when you do this. I was trying to make

our

> play more interactive by asking him to put certain colors in.

(When

> asked, he can identify colors correctly by pointing.) I kept

> saying " piggy wants red! " He totally tuned me out. I even went so

> far as to cover the coin slot and tell him " piggy doesn't want

> orange, he wants red. " threw a fit and pushed my hand off of

> the bank so he could keep putting the coins in over and over and

over

> again. I tried to put my face in his field of vision but he

totally

> avoided me. In that instance, he reminded me of a child with

> autism. (I doubt it's related to apraxia, but read somewhere that

> many children with apraxia have autistic tendencies.) I think he

> noramlly loves interaction and thrives on it.

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you, Jen. That makes a lot of sense too. I wouldn't want him

to develop other harmful behaviors either. Maybe I was on the right

track, trying to re-direct the way he was playing with the piggy

bank. Thank you.

>

> Self stimming also helps regulate their systems. My son when he

was about 2

> wanted to do that all the time. I refused to just let him sit and

do that,

> I would intervene, but never completely take it away. Maybe divert

his

> attention, get another toy, but I always gave it back to him.

Completely taking

> away all objects for stimming is harmful, they develop other

behaviors such as

> head banging biting them selves, you don't want that. I will

admit, I went

> through a period where it drove me nuts, I couldn't take the sound

of the

> flicking which is what we called it, sometimes I left the room.

One of our

> therapists suggested trying to trade objects with the child, it

breaks the

> fixation, now my son would look at the object take it in his hands

and if it didn't

> flick good he would give it back. Now he does it if he is

nervous, like

> going to the Dr, or overly happy, but it is not nearly what it

was. I have heard

> around age 7 and up is when these kids learn to control this

behavior a

> little more. But they always want what you take away, just be

careful it doesn't

> backfire. Jen

>

>

>

> **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL

Living.

> (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-

campos-duffy/

> 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

>

>

>