Re: Minimizing visual stimming - thoughts

[Guest guest]

Have you tried cod liver oil? It has helped us.Janine

[Guest guest]

Have you tried cod liver oil? It has helped us.Janine

[Guest guest]

This sound REAL REAL familiar. Ours is " strings " . That could be a

thread from his clothes to a vacuum hose. It's especially cool to

dangle it from your forehead between your eyes.

Anyway we found that many " preferred objects " could be used a

reinforcers for Table Time, but not strings. There seems to be a

difference between a " preferred object " and an " obsession " . Once

given a string it was like giving crack to an addict. He just

couldn't stop.

At the suggestion of our BCBA (she loves it when I mention her on

national listserves :-) we attempted to use strings (ribbons, rubber

bands, etc) for work, but got the " run and hide " / tantrum behaviors

you describe. You are taking away the thing he wants most.

When we tried to stop, he pulled the hems out of his clothes,

furniture, curtains, power cords, etc. We had to ban string and even

talk about string. After a while this settled down. Now 2 years

latter it still appears as " imaginative play " , fire hoses, vacuums,

etc. This fools his teachers ( " how creative, making a fire hose out

of some twisted newspaper " ), but not us. You can't play fire hose for

2 hours. It is, however, much easier to deal with, and we can prompt

him to move on with only some verbal complaint.

Early in your program you will probably work with " exchanging

reinforcers " , giving them up for short periods of time and returning

them for " work " , etc. This will show what is a good reinforcer and

what is just too obsessive.

Pete – parent

>

> Hello!

>

> Our kid is 2yrs 2mos old right now and has been diagnosed with HFA

about 4 months back. He has been receiving a combination of group and

1-1 sessions using TEACCH (4hrs grp + 2 1-1 sessions) for the past 3

months. He started using single words right around his 2nd birthday

timeframe. Over the past couple of months, his language has emerged

very well and he now has a lot of words in his vocabulary (or their

intonations). He understands most of the single step directions as

well. A major problem we have with him is stimming with any object

that is circular in shape - he tries to spin/roll it and brings his

eyes close to the object. Until about 3 mos back or so, he used to

participate well with any play involving a ball. Ever since visual

stimming became more obvious (in the last 2 mos), he would use the

ball to spin, slide or roll it so he could watch. As a result, his

interactive play especially with a ball has now become solitary play.

When we throw a ball towards him, he

> would catch it and then run to a part of the room where he could

stim with it. Over the past one week, it seems like his desperation

to stim when he sees a ball has reached new heights - he would stop

whatever he is doing to go get the ball - of course, all this when he

sees a ball in the vicinity. He wouldn't ask for the ball specifically

when it's not around him.

>

> We have been trying to employ some of the floortime techniques to

involve ourselves and do a back and forth with the ball. The minute we

get the ball he goes into a tantrum mode now- this behavior has gone

up over the past couple of weeks. He would take the ball and

constantly watch for our presence when he plays. We used a technique

from one of our O.T sessions whereby he would throw the ball on a

certain target in the room by taking turns.(we used to have icons on

the wall ) - he tolerated well with that for couple of days and now he

cannot stand seeing us with the ball

>

> There are several schools of thought on whether to allow the kid to

stim or not. Personally, we don't stop him right away - we wait for

couple of minutes to see if he would allow us into the play. If not,

we take the object away. He would throw a tantrum and we try to

redirect him to something else. He was easily redirectable as of two

or three weeks back but now the tantrum goes on for 10 or 15mins. As a

result, we limited his play with the ball . Also, we stop all

inappropriate use of objects as 'spin-toys'.

>

>

> We're moving him to a more intensive ABA program that would start in

the next couple of weeks (upto 25hrs at home).

>

> I'm looking for some thoughts from other parents/professionals who

have dealt with similar stimming behavior successfully.

>

> -- NP

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone

call rates.

>

>

[Guest guest]

This sound REAL REAL familiar. Ours is " strings " . That could be a

thread from his clothes to a vacuum hose. It's especially cool to

dangle it from your forehead between your eyes.

Anyway we found that many " preferred objects " could be used a

reinforcers for Table Time, but not strings. There seems to be a

difference between a " preferred object " and an " obsession " . Once

given a string it was like giving crack to an addict. He just

couldn't stop.

At the suggestion of our BCBA (she loves it when I mention her on

national listserves :-) we attempted to use strings (ribbons, rubber

bands, etc) for work, but got the " run and hide " / tantrum behaviors

you describe. You are taking away the thing he wants most.

When we tried to stop, he pulled the hems out of his clothes,

furniture, curtains, power cords, etc. We had to ban string and even

talk about string. After a while this settled down. Now 2 years

latter it still appears as " imaginative play " , fire hoses, vacuums,

etc. This fools his teachers ( " how creative, making a fire hose out

of some twisted newspaper " ), but not us. You can't play fire hose for

2 hours. It is, however, much easier to deal with, and we can prompt

him to move on with only some verbal complaint.

Early in your program you will probably work with " exchanging

reinforcers " , giving them up for short periods of time and returning

them for " work " , etc. This will show what is a good reinforcer and

what is just too obsessive.

Pete – parent

>

> Hello!

>

> Our kid is 2yrs 2mos old right now and has been diagnosed with HFA

about 4 months back. He has been receiving a combination of group and

1-1 sessions using TEACCH (4hrs grp + 2 1-1 sessions) for the past 3

months. He started using single words right around his 2nd birthday

timeframe. Over the past couple of months, his language has emerged

very well and he now has a lot of words in his vocabulary (or their

intonations). He understands most of the single step directions as

well. A major problem we have with him is stimming with any object

that is circular in shape - he tries to spin/roll it and brings his

eyes close to the object. Until about 3 mos back or so, he used to

participate well with any play involving a ball. Ever since visual

stimming became more obvious (in the last 2 mos), he would use the

ball to spin, slide or roll it so he could watch. As a result, his

interactive play especially with a ball has now become solitary play.

When we throw a ball towards him, he

> would catch it and then run to a part of the room where he could

stim with it. Over the past one week, it seems like his desperation

to stim when he sees a ball has reached new heights - he would stop

whatever he is doing to go get the ball - of course, all this when he

sees a ball in the vicinity. He wouldn't ask for the ball specifically

when it's not around him.

>

> We have been trying to employ some of the floortime techniques to

involve ourselves and do a back and forth with the ball. The minute we

get the ball he goes into a tantrum mode now- this behavior has gone

up over the past couple of weeks. He would take the ball and

constantly watch for our presence when he plays. We used a technique

from one of our O.T sessions whereby he would throw the ball on a

certain target in the room by taking turns.(we used to have icons on

the wall ) - he tolerated well with that for couple of days and now he

cannot stand seeing us with the ball

>

> There are several schools of thought on whether to allow the kid to

stim or not. Personally, we don't stop him right away - we wait for

couple of minutes to see if he would allow us into the play. If not,

we take the object away. He would throw a tantrum and we try to

redirect him to something else. He was easily redirectable as of two

or three weeks back but now the tantrum goes on for 10 or 15mins. As a

result, we limited his play with the ball . Also, we stop all

inappropriate use of objects as 'spin-toys'.

>

>

> We're moving him to a more intensive ABA program that would start in

the next couple of weeks (upto 25hrs at home).

>

> I'm looking for some thoughts from other parents/professionals who

have dealt with similar stimming behavior successfully.

>

> -- NP

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> How low will we go? Check out Messenger's low PC-to-Phone

call rates.

>

>