typical behaviors? | Autism PDD
Adam used to suck on his shirt collar too. I also have a picture of him and in the picture he is sucking on his hand. His big brother in the picture is trying to re-direct him. Funny...my 14 year old probably didn't even realize that he was doing it. He's such a good brother to him..It's really amazing.
Karrie
wow....Erin has always done this....sucking on her hand....actually has blisters and callouses on her thumb from doing it so often....but never linked it to the PDD NOS......
When Sarah wa really young she liked to snuggle on me so she could stick her thumb in the inside of my shirt..twist it and chew on it..I had holes on the bottoms of all my shirts:) She liked to twist her thumb in the produce bags at grocery stores too and sucked on those? She stopped by time she was 3 unless she was extremely upset.. she never took a pacifier so I guess this was a form of soothing for her.
What a blast from the past! My son used to chew and suck on the sleeves of his clothes when he was younger. I had completely forgotten about that.
Also, when it was warm and he wore short sleeve shirts, he would suck on his arm. The child had "hickeys" on his arms for the entire summer.
He did outgrow this, but to this day he will rub his arm on his lip if he is stressed.
Tiffany
Yes, Payne used to suck his thumb and flick his hair, then he went to just trying to bite/suck on his shirt. Yes.....like the others have indicted, chewing on clothing & sucking on hands etc. is very common. My son only recently stopped chewing the sleeves of his shirts...BUT....he now goes after any remote control with rubber buttonsAll of my kids 'suck their tongue', which seems kind of strange - I've never seen other kids do this but all three of mine do (my six year old son is conciously trying to break himself of this habit). They do the tongue sucking thing when they're very relaxed or sleepy.
Evie also sucks on her hand and mouths certain toys at times, kind of the four year old equivalent of chewing on the end of a pen (another thing I did!).
My son has gone through phases where he will constantly suck on the collar of his shirt. Very common behavior. If you want to stop it you can try checking out some oral motor activities these websites all offer materials/ideas:www.southpawenterprises.com/
www.abilitations.com
www.beyondplay.com
Check out P's & Q's, Chewy Tubes, Z-Vibe, and Nuk Brush. Some of the items are kind of expensive, so you may want to try making them yourself (you can make a chew out of stretchy string and aquarium tubing-thread the string through the tubing and make it into a necklace or bracelet), or checking out walmart for some of the itmes (they sell Nuk Brushes in the baby section as a set of 3-toothbrushes.)
If the input might have something to do with pressure on the skin, search those sites for spikey gloves, they give firm input to the hands, which might help with any chewing/sucking.
Good Luck!
Jessica
I recently found out my son has mild PDD,he is also ADHD and on meds for the ADHD. I was wondering is it typical for autistic children to suck on their clothing and their skin? I am just wondering if thats the problem or its something hes doing after the med wears off and if he is becoming dependent on it. Hope to hear any comments soon.
P.S
He also starting to bite, not on a regular basis put I'm just wodering whats triggering that. rpena
Yes, chewing on clothes is a common problem for autistic children. Chewing behaviors like this are considered "stims" (short for self-stimulatory behavior). Here's a good introductory article about stimming. It includes a chart of the various types (linked to the different senses).
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/archive/mannerism.html #Chart
Since these behaviors stimulate the senses, it can be useful to look at signs of sensory processing problems. This checklist should be help you identify problem areas (I thought my son didn't have any sensory issues, but once I knew what to look for, I realized that his trouble brushing teeth, washing hair, dealing with crowds, etc. were all linked to his senses being overwhelmed in those situations).
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processin g-disorder-checklist.html
Biting could be fulfilling a sensory need, just like the chewing, but it could also be a way for him to express himself when words fail.
I don't have direct experience with chewing or biting problems, but I hope that some other people can share their strategies for you.
Good luck with everything.
Yes! Sharlet chews her sleeve and collar untill it is soaked and smelly
She chewed her hair so much that we had to cut it short.
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