Re:How should I handle my son's stimming (opening shutting doors/cabine

May 7, 2008

wrote:

Dear Listmates,

My son goes hog wild on cabinets and doors and loves to flip objects.

I generally redirect him and am usually met with resistance. Is there

a common school of thought about what to do? Should I never let

stimming go forward? Are there times when I should turn a blind eye?

My fear is that by allowing him to stim he will just become more

entrenched in his own existence and shut out the world around him. Any

help would be greatly appreciated.

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I guess you know that the main thing is to get it under instructional

control. You could TELL him, " Go check the doors for 2 minutes, then we will

________________ " (and set the timer.) When he doesn't want to stop, you can

say,

" Doors are checked, now it's time to (do something fun and quick). " That

way you leave him some time to do this rewarding activity, but you limit it and

say when he can do it. You can work times for the stim into his schedule.

I've found that it's extremely hard to get rid of stimming; it works better

to limit it or to shape it into something more acceptable if you can. Maybe

you could teach him the game of tiddly-winks with bingo chips. That way, he

gets to flip things, but he is playing a game and learning turn-taking as

well. You could teach him the game of trying to toss coins so they will land

close to the wall, or a game that uses dice, or the magician's " coin-walking "

on his hand. If possible, you could show him how to juggle with scarves or

soft items, or if it's safe, baton-twirling in the back yard.

You know your son best; if you can't get rid of the stim, make it so it's

not something that isolates him but helps him relate to you.

Darla

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