obsessed with smelling | Autism PDD

Mom2Carlo (and all who can relate),

Yes, and licking! My daughter (Michelle) wants to lick her plate or bowl, fork, spoon, knife. (haven't noticed her licking non food items) all the time. She dosen't care where she is or who she's with. She also licks her fingers. I've tried to explain to her how it's just not good manners.

Yesterday we were at a restraunt having tacos. Michelle had to touch and spread around the contents of the taco (with her fingers) before eating it. I did get her to use a knife for the spreading. But then before I knew it she was picking up tiny bits of lettuce and salsa with her fingers, and then licked her plate!

It's hard for me to just say,"thats just who she is" I want to understand why she has this great desire to lick her plate. It's like she dosen't want to waste a drop of food. I suspect some of this smelling, licking behavior might stem from anxiety. (?)

Any more info. would be greatly apreciated!

Bepatient

I have a 12 year old daughter diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Over the past 6 to 8 months I've noticed that she has become obsessed with smelling things, especially food. She has to smell any food she comes in contact with, including spices and condiments. Does anyone understand this?

bepatient

Hi bepatient! Welcome to the board!

I know many of our kids go around smelling things... it doesnt always make sense. I have learned not to try to make sense of everything... He is who he is and does what he does - it doesnt always and wont always make sense to me and thats ok.

Heres a little thing about it http://www.brainconnection.com/topics/?main=fa/autism-inside

Looking at Autism from the Inside
by Lisa Chipongian

Among teachers, parents, and therapists who are interested in autism, Temple Grandin is a familiar name, a high-profile example that one can be diagnosed with autism and grow to lead a productive and independent life. In addition to her formidable achievements in the areas of animal science and livestock handling (she holds a Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Illinois; has designed livestock handling facilities both in the United States and abroad with a specific interest in improving the way farm animals are treated; and teaches animal sciences at Colorado State University), she frequently speaks at workshops designed to help those who live and work with children who have autism. She has also written two autobiographical books, Emergence: Labeled Autistic and Thinking in Pictures And Other Reports from My Life with Autism.

Defining Autism

Autism was named and systematically described in the early 1940s by two men who were working separately: Leo Kanner at Johns Hopkins Children's Pediatric Clinic, and Hans Asperger at the University Pediatric Clinic in Vienna. They both coincidentally chose the same term, autism, a word used in adult psychiatry to refer to schizophrenics' gradual loss of connection to the world.

Currently, the American Psychiatric Association classifies autism as a Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) with core features broadly identified as impairments in communication and socialization, and a tendency toward stereotyped and restricted patterns of behavior and interest. Symptoms appear before age three, and vary widely from individual to individual. However, some behaviors commonly associated with autism include playing with objects in a repetitive way, engaging in self-stimulatory actions (for instance, hand flapping, staring at hands, smelling things), showing a lack of interest in peers, and poor eye contact. Children with autism may also not respond when spoken to, and not point to things in attempt to show others what they see. As Grandin explains in Thinking in Pictures, "Diagnosing autism is complicated by the fact that the behavioral criteria are constantly being changed."

Jeffrey did go thru that but he smelled everything. Occassionally he still does that. Unfortunately he went from smelling things to being my own paper shredder. Didn't know I wanted one but too late now.

Tammy

hey bepatient, my carlo does the same thing, he smells everything,he likes to smell his hands a lot after he's done doing things to.another issue we have is he likes to lick things or eat thing that r non eatable.kinda strange but we take it one day at a time.take care and hang in there.mom2carloI used to smell things all the time and I'm not on the spectrum! In fact, my high school friends made a joke of it -- even getting me a button that said, "Always smell it first!" I guess it could be a 'spectrum' issue, but maybe she's just curious with a good sense of smell? (Now that I have allergies, I can't smell as good as I used to.

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Kellie

My son has a decreased sense of smell. Actually we have to buy scratch and sniff stickers.....have him smell flowers etc...so that it will hopfully wake up his senses. Every OT that has worked with him says it's sensory related whether they smell everything or either don't smell.

Karrie