self stims

[Guest guest]

Hi I am writing this questions for a friend. She has an adorable little boy

who is three years old. She is very concerned with his self stims. He hand

flaps, sometimes with his mouth open. He also puts his fingers in front of

his face and wiggles them. Lately he has also been covering his ears.

He is not on the diet yet because she feels she has so much on her plate

right now. She has not ruled it out for the future though.

She was wondering what the other parents did regarding the self stims.

Do other parents try to point it out and physically stop him by putting his

hands down?

Should she ignore it?

Will they go away on its own?

Might he develop more stims?

Any other comments or advice regarding self stims?

My son hums. I think that is his self stim but I don't know what to advice

her either.

Thanks, Edie

[Guest guest]

Edie,

My has many different stims: humming/singing/chattering, hand

flapping, spinning (for example). I never try to physically try and stop

her because I know it is soothing to her. What I do instead is assess the

environment for stressors and change the setting to help her feel secure.

For instance, if we are playing at the park and the area gets too populated

for her comfort level and she starts stimming, I slowly relocate us to

another area that is less populated/active.

I hope this helps.

Peace,

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