Guest guest Posted August 16, 2001 Report Share Posted August 16, 2001 I am AS so I can give you some information, but you will have to be more specific in how old is your child and what she did before, what she is doing now, how verbal is she, etc. I will make a few observations within your message here tho. > Just curious.... > To those who have older ASD children... > Do autistic characteristics/symptoms come and go? Yes, depending on several factors, one of which is new foods the child begins/ends eating. Another of which is social appropriateness, which I will mention a little later here. I mean, as they > grow, do they develop some char. such as hitting self, This one can increase. hand flapping? This one generally decreases and/or is replaced by something more socially appropriate. > Jane has started constantly biting her fingers and hands and she > pulled her hair a few nights ago. I am wondering if this is " normal " > or bc of something else???? I don't know what your daughter did prior to this, but biting hands/fingers is similar to nail-biting, and pulling hair [often accompanied by twirling the hair and then pulling out the clump] is very common as a modification of previous behavior to appear more socially appropriate. So for example, your daughter sees other people chew their nails or play with their hair, so she may be modifying her preferred stims to look more appropriate, so people will stop staring at her, teasing her, etc. So therefore, yes it is " normal " , or at least an attempt at normalization. Also, do I tell her to stop biting? We > have tubing for her to bite, on the advice of her SI. I hate when SI people recommend this, especially if you say your child is older. How is biting on tubing supposed to help a child who is probably wanting to fit in? Sure, treat the child like a dog, no wonder society treats AS and autistic people as lesser humans, they are treated as dogs by therapists [sorry for that digression]. What about gum? It is not really a great habit to encourage, but if you tell her to stop biting, she will just find something else to do. And at least gum is generally socially appropriate, altho not much at school, but then I don't think you will allow her to chew on her tube at school either. How about two gum-chewing periods per day, maybe a half-hour each? Something like that, to relieve stress and let her do her chewing that she appears to need. Also I will mention, my 4yo son will mouth objects and his hands as part of oral regression when he eats a bad food. How long has your child been gfcf and have you noticed any other food issues? Here is more information on licking etc. http://home.pacbell.net/cscomp/handlick.htm I guess we can > ask her SI, but she seems very lenient. I can just see Jane starting > school in Nov and the teachers or kids not wanting to touch her hands > bc they are in her mouth all the time. Plus the germs just gross me > out! Germs are actually healthy, they allow the body to gain natural immunity to things. Of course this pre-supposes a functioning immune system to begin with, which we are not helping with the proliferation of artificial vaccinations. And yes, there are some germs which are NOT good. But I think what you need to do is teach your daughter socially acceptable things she can do when she feels the urge to put her hands in her mouth. How verbal is she? Or you can try gum or maybe even just chewing on the nails [another bad habit but better than licking]. Some kids and even adults chew on their lips, you can consider that one also. > I think I worry too much! When does this get easier?! When will > I have all the answers? teehee > Janelle Well I hope these ideas have helped you. Feel free to ask me questions either here or by email. Dana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 17, 2001 Report Share Posted August 17, 2001 * Hi Janelle, You can tell her no biting, but then have something to redirect her to. Some of the children need more to be showed WHAT TO DO rather then not what to do. Hang in there. Pretty soon you'll be answering all these questions for other new moms to this. (LJs mom) on Long Island New York * On Thu, 16 Aug 2001 12:19:26 -0000 cliffybayer@... writes: Also, do I tell her to stop biting? We > have tubing for her to bite, on the advice of her SI. > Janelle > > ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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