Re: flipping, arms flapping, odd head movements

[Guest guest]

My son used to flap hjis arms all the time for excitement... recently

he has only been doing it during physical activity, and I am seeing

less and less. He is eight now. The only one who ever mentioned

anything about it to me was his soccer coach. I think it is his

nervousness.

>

> Does anyone have a child that does these things? I call it

flipping,

> the arms flapping, head moving like Stevie Wonder. My 5 yr old HFA

> daughter does this - especially when excited. I am worried about

other

> kids making fun of her. I do not know if she can stop or I can help

> her to stop or at least control it. Any suggestions?

> Thanks

> Heidi

>

[Guest guest]

I've not faced this personally, but in a workshop I attended. The

speaker (sorry, can't remember who it was) said to never take away a

behavior without giving the child a replacement. The repetitive

behavior serves a need and if you take it away, they will come up with

something else and many times it's a worse behavior. Maybe you could

gradually reduce the arm flapping to hand flapping and later to finger

tapping. A behaviorist that specializes in children on the spectrum

could help you with this.

Tonya

( ) flipping, arms flapping, odd head movements

Does anyone have a child that does these things? I call it flipping,

the arms flapping, head moving like Stevie Wonder. My 5 yr old HFA

daughter does this - especially when excited. I am worried about other

kids making fun of her. I do not know if she can stop or I can help

her to stop or at least control it. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Heidi

[Guest guest]

My now 16 year old son, flapped like a bird for a while. It eventually

stopped. I would make sure she is getting lots of sensory input throughout her

day, heavy work, or whatever works for her (jumping on trampoline, squish

ball, chewing crunchy foods, etc). Pam

[Guest guest]

My son flapps somewhat, however his main thing that he does when he is

stressed or overstimulated is tapping everything on his chin while

sitting on the floor rocking. He does this with toys, my hand, or

anything else he can get to his chin...(He even has been known to hit

his chin on his bowling ball). I have not really found anything that

worked so far to make it better except reducing stimulating shows and

video games.

Janie

>

> Does anyone have a child that does these things? I call it flipping,

> the arms flapping, head moving like Stevie Wonder. My 5 yr old HFA

> daughter does this - especially when excited. I am worried about

other

> kids making fun of her. I do not know if she can stop or I can help

> her to stop or at least control it. Any suggestions?

> Thanks

> Heidi

>

[Guest guest]

My son is 10 years old and when he is excited he still flaps his hands and

rocks. However, when he is in school he uses a " tension ball. " He is aware

that he does the hand flapping and tries to monitor his behavior in school or

in public. When he was in 1st grade the teacher gave a presentation on what

kids do when stressed. His friend would reach over and hold his hands when

he flapped them. It does seem that he had to replace this behavior with

another.

Good Luck,

Farrelly

[Guest guest]

flapping is a common part of autism. My son also flaps when excited. It is a

form of release for them and should be left. I'm not sure if you could even get

her to stop.

Beck

( ) flipping, arms flapping, odd head movements

Does anyone have a child that does these things? I call it flipping,

the arms flapping, head moving like Stevie Wonder. My 5 yr old HFA

daughter does this - especially when excited. I am worried about other

kids making fun of her. I do not know if she can stop or I can help

her to stop or at least control it. Any suggestions?

Thanks

Heidi

[Guest guest]

My son rubs his upper lip with fisted hands. If he's really excited,

he also marches with his feet at the same time.

When he was younger, it was a more complex movement that involved the

above. He will also jump up and down if he's standing up and excited.

We worry when he *doesn't* do this.

Jackie

On Dec 5, 2006, at 3:04 AM, Mark son wrote:

> flapping is a common part of autism. My son also flaps when

> excited. It is a form of release for them and should be left. I'm

> not sure if you could even get her to stop.

>

> Beck

>

[Guest guest]

Besides the arm and hand flappin, my son also picks at his nails..

constantly. No matter how many times I have explained that he is

damaging his nails or that they will bleed, he continues to do it, and

he does it mindlessly. I can keep shoes on him and that stops his

toes, but his finger nails are a whole other ball game. I don't think

I have had to cut his nails since he was an infant. The noise of it is

so annoying But ... it doesn't hurt anything

[Guest guest]

Hello Heidi. I have two boys with autism, one 5 and one 6. My older

one is high functioning and has no stim behaviors. My younger one,

Austin, does however. When he was younger, he did the jumping and

hand flapping and would often walk circles around objects

continually. He would also look at things out of the corners of his

eyes while walking. All these behaviors stopped over time but were

replaced by new ones. He now claps his hands very loudly and to the

point where his hands are now callused and often bruised. He sucks

his thumb and now hits his head when he is angry or frustrated. I'm

hoping over time like the other behaviors, they will eventually go

away on their own and hopefully not be replaced by other behaviors. I

have also heard that these stim behaviors provide some sort of relief

for them but like you, I am worried that he will be picked on as he

gets older by other children. Maybe as time goes by, the behaviors

will stop. At least that's my hope.

Sharlene

-- In , " hambonemcgee "

<hambonemcgee@...> wrote:

>

> Does anyone have a child that does these things? I call it

flipping,

> the arms flapping, head moving like Stevie Wonder. My 5 yr old HFA

> daughter does this - especially when excited. I am worried about

other

> kids making fun of her. I do not know if she can stop or I can help

> her to stop or at least control it. Any suggestions?

> Thanks

> Heidi

>

[Guest guest]

My son also does the fingernails and toenails to the point of

bleeding. I don't really know how to help him, because unfortunately

I was just as bad as a kid and did the same thing. He wants me to

tape his fingernails and I can't see " scotching " the boy up...but I'm

thinking about getting some sports or first aid tape that attaches to

each other, instead of being " sticky " .

Ginger

>

> My son also picks at his nails.he has made them bleed etc...I have

also

> explained it to him that he shouldn't do it that he will end up

getting hurt

> but he continues to do it....he also does his toenails.hes been

doing the

> nails for a long time.I wish I could get him to stop....

>

> Christie

>

> -- ( ) Re: flipping, arms flapping, odd head

movements

>

> Besides the arm and hand flappin, my son also picks at his nails..

> constantly. No matter how many times I have explained that he is

> damaging his nails or that they will bleed, he continues to do it,

and

> he does it mindlessly. I can keep shoes on him and that stops his

> toes, but his finger nails are a whole other ball game. I don't

think

> I have had to cut his nails since he was an infant. The noise of it

is

> so annoying But ... it doesn't hurt anything

>

>

>

>

>

>