Having a child with autism is always interesting around the Holidays. Along with all the excitement of Christmas coming, we also see increased anxiety, stress and more situations where everyone is expected to be on – looking fabulous and being present. These social pressures are difficult enough for most typical people and even more stressful for people like my daughter, Victoria, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder. When I get nervous or anxiety ridden (especially flying) I start counting as that helps me to focus on something else besides what I am doing. My husband twiddles his hair and my son chews on his shirt. We all have our little stims to help us cope but for Victoria her stimming behaviours increase in consistency and become much more noticeable to everyone around her during these exciting times.
(Self-stimulatory behavior, also known as stimming[1] and self-stimulation,[2] is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, or repetitive movement of objects common in individuals with developmental disabilities, but most prevalent in people with autism spectrum disorders.[2][3] It is considered a way in which people with autism and others calm and stimulate themselves.[2] Therapists view this behavior as a protective response to being overly sensitive to stimuli, with which the individual blocks less predictable environmental stimuli.[4] Sensory processing disorder is also given as a reason by some therapists for the condition.[4] Another theory is that stimming is a way to relieve anxiety, and other emotions.[5]Stimming exists on a Spectrum. Autism, Aspergers and SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) become diagnosable when symptoms impair one or more domains of function.)
Most of my daughter’s stimming behaviours are in her hands, she is constantly cracking her knuckles, and holding her hands in a clenched position for hours. Her hands are often swollen and you can feel the knots in her joints. To alleviate some of this stress we do hand massages and she seems to love them and find them relaxing. 🙂 I use Beautycounter (beautycounter.com/jodyhollis) product, of course, because I know that they have been screened for 1500 toxic ingredients – anything that is a known allergen, that is linked to cancer or that is a hormone disrupter. My 3 favourite products for a quick massage is the nourishing cream exfoliator, then I wash it off with the nourishing cream cleanser and finally I use the beautiful, citrus mimosa hand cream.
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The Cause of Stimming: What’s your stim?
Everyone has a stim
I play with my hair while chatting with a friend.
Maybe you bite your nails when you’re nervous or bored.
You may tap your fingers or pencil on a desk while you’re thinking.
I once knew someone who chewed on sticks of cinnamon bark, and I’ve noticed some who move their eyes in an unusual way.
I can recognize certain people from far away just by their distinctive movements. We all know someone who has an annoying stim like cracking their knuckles every 5 minutes or repeating a phrase over and over; or a socially unacceptable stim such as nose-picking or biting oneself.
The Definition of Stim
The word stim is short for self-stimulation. It is associated with several conditions such as deafblindness and intellectual disability, but most commonly with autism. My son’s neurologist calls it “autistic stereopathy.” It is also sometimes called “stereotypy.”
The DSM-5 includes stimming as part of the diagnostic criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder: “Stereotyped or repetitive speech, motor movements, or use of objects…symptoms together limit and impair everyday functioning.” That right there is the difference between autistic stimming and typical stimming: when the stimming interferes with everyday activities and prevents learning, it is often a symptom of autism.
The Wrong Question
“How do I stop the stim?” That’s usually the first question parents ask when a young child discovers stimming. But it’s the wrong question.
First of all, no one can stop self-stimulatory behavior completely, because everyone does it anyway! Secondly, even if one stim can be removed, it will be replaced by another — and the next stim may be less preferable that the current one.
The most important reason not to eradicate stimming is that you may cause your loved one to withdraw more and more, and lose your opportunity to encourage healthy interactions.
The Right Question
“Why does my child engage in this behavior?” Seeking to understand the motivation for a behavior is always a great place to start. There are several hypotheses and known causes for stimming:
1. Overstimulation
stimming can help block out excess sensory input.
2. Understimulation
stimming helps provide extra sensory input when needed.
3. Pain reduction
repeated banging of the head or body actually reduces the overall sensation of pain. One hypothesis is that stimming causes the release of beta-endorphins in the body, which then causes a feeling of anesthesia or pleasure.
4. Management of emotions
both positive and negative emotions may trigger a burst of stimming. We’ve all seen physical reactions to joy or excitement, such as jumping or hand-flapping. Frustration or anger may intensify a stim to the point that it becomes destructive.
5. Self-regulation
Some stims serve the purpose of soothing or comforting. Many infants learn to suck their thumbs to relax themselves.
I recently read a blog in which a parent asked why her son covered his ears in his sleep. He had learned to cover his ears when his environment was too noisy, and that was soothing to him. So he started covering his ears whenever he needed to comfort himself, especially when falling asleep.
Reasons To Reduce Stimming
Self-stimulation can interfere with learning, interpersonal relationships and social situations. Some types of self-stimulation are self-harming and may lead to infections or require surgical repair.
Self-stimulation may also be a symptom of an ongoing medical problem such as migraines which a person with a disability may be unable to verbalize.
How To Reduce Stimming
Here are some ideas for increasing relationship skills while reducing time spent stimming:
1. Get a medical exam to eliminate the possibility of physical causes for stims, such as ear infections, chronic pain, migraines and retinal detachment.
2. Manage the sensory environment and emotional environment to maximize personal comfort.
3. Vigorous exercise reduces the need to stim, probably because exercise is associated with beta-endorphins just like stimming.
4. Continue interacting while stimming occurs. In his book Communicating Partners, author James MacDonald suggests that individuals with autism tend to perceive the world through sensation and action, while most neurotypicals perceive through thought and language.
Once this difference is understood, self-stimulatory behaviors make sense. MacDonald recommends turn-taking activities to engage a child without trying to stop stimming during the activity; the activity will gradually become increasingly comfortable and attractive, naturally reducing the stim.
5. Create a positive association between stimming and relationship-building. One way to use stimming as a productive part of the learning process is to allow stimming as a reinforcer or reward after a period of playful interaction or work.
Julia Moor writes in her book Playing, Laughing and Learning With Children On The Autism Spectrum that making time for stimming will allow the child the comfort of being himself, encourage more interactions and actually reduce the total number of hours per day spent stimming.
6. Join the stim! Some treatment programs, including Son-Rise and Floortime, propose joining in the self-stimulatory behaviors as a way to initiate interaction. If a person is spinning plates, then start spinning plates. If a person is rocking back and forth, then rock back and forth right next to the person.
My son’s preferred stim is to hold up his hand and talk to it, as if looking in a mirror. He thinks it’s hilarious when I do that with him!
Stanley Greenspan, author of Engaging Autism and developer of the Floortime method, explains, “Some children become intrigued – they now have a partner in crime, so to speak – and we get some shared attention and relating.
..so join in the child’s activity to create a relationship, and then begin to use gestures so the child, in order to get what she wants, has to gesture purposefully back to you and maybe begin using some words…
the overall principle is to offer the child experiences that produce the same sort of sensations as the self-stimulatory activity but lead up the developmental ladder of regulation, engagement, and interaction.
To work on regulation, start off with basic sensory experiences. In this first stage, begin with the sensation but try to vary it, to expand the child’s world of sensory input.” In other words, to reduce the stimming, offer a replacement that is more alluring than the stim!
