My son also sqeezes to the point that he trembles,makes total sense to me foxl! lol
My DS, 4.5 has always done this -- since we got him at age 2y, anyhow. We have had to teach him to be gentle, and sometimes still work on it.
He is VERY sensory-seeking, otherwise. He pushes, he squeezes, he hangs ... anything to contract those muscles!
He has no other ASD symptoms, but possible ADHD. (I actually saw a child who was much more symptomatic, this week! It made me wonder.). He sometimes will squeeze or grip hard enough to make himself tremble ... or "pretend to be squeezing" that hard, if that makes sense.
This sounds like Mason...for him I think it's just the touching...he always wants to sit by me, but has to be touching me when he does...he is constantly asking me for hugs, and for him too they are very hard hugs!
I've been working on showing him to hug himself, lol. It sounds kind of corny, but it helps when he always wants to be hugging me. I let him give me one hug and then he needs to hug himself if he wants more. We also use those pillows with the little bead things in it (sorry I can't remember what it's called.) He can squish and hug. I know they have been using a weighted blanket for Mason in OT, but we haven't gotten one yet at home.
But he has this tendancy to want to hug everyone else he meets too. We unfortunately haven't found anything that is helping the hugging everyone else. I did make a social story about how he can ask to shake hands or high five, but so far it hasn't worked. I don't know if this is the same as seeking out the feeling of pressure like with me, but I hope I can find something that helps this soon. With us too, it doesn't help that when he approaches people they tend to just let him hug him rather than say no. I try to give them this look and shake my head no, but usually by then it's too late. So I have just been sticking to the social story and try to redirect him and remind him to shake hands or high five like the story says.
My son has a tendency to kinda squeeze hard when he hugs like he's trying to get pressure? and he does it for quite a long time it's not just a quick kind of hug, sometimes it's annoying and I know other people won't be too happy if he does it to them. Also when I get upset with him he insists on hugging me and won't stop until I let him hug me. Does anyone have these similar problems?What do you do to try to make him understand it's not approaite? and why do you think he does this?He's craving deep-pressure and it's soothing for him. I'd try and teach him that hugs last to the count of 3, and after the hug give him an alternative source of proprioceptive input (deep-pressure/stimulation to the muscles and joints). This could be carrying something heavy, or doing a "pillow sandwich" (I have my son lie down and then I push on him with pillows).
Here are some resources to bring you quickly up to speed on sensory issues. Good luck with everything.
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processin g-disorder-checklist.html - for identifying sensory symptoms
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/archive/mannerism.html #Chart - for identifying self-stimulating behaviors ("stims") under various sensory categories
Yes, my DS also does this. What I have tried to do and it seems o work so far, is that he can only give bear hugs to me, Dad, Grandma & Uncle Jake. I have noticed him slip a few times but he has gotten so much better. I also have a couple of people who when he gives them the bear hug they tell him that it hurts and that he can't hug them. I felt that by having some people tell him no, it would help him to understand the boundaries that I had set for him. My biggest fear when we went through all this was that he had a younger sister that I knew he was just going to squeeze to much KWIM? But as for when I see him bear hug someone I don't want him to hug, I try to stay close to him, verbally remind him of his actions and if I can see in his eyes that he needs it, I'll rub his shoulders for him instead.
As for hugging me after he and I have had a disagreement, he always has to hug me. I just always thought of it as he needed a reminder that I do love him. S those hugs I have allowed but they are smaller hugs and I will pull away after a 3 count.