We have just found socially acceptable ways of doing them, such as tapping our foot or sitting on an exercise ball chair at work.įor example, when I have to sit in a long meeting, my foot starts shaking, I doodle on my paper, I take out a piece of gum to chew, or I stand up and take a trip to the bathroom to get some movement in. In fact, adults often engage in self-stimulatory behaviors. Many people see a child rocking or flapping and they think, “Oh, that child has autism.” That’s not always the case! These behaviors are caused by unmet sensory needs and can be found in all different types of children, even those without disorders. Just because a child is flapping or doing other stimming behaviors, it doesn’t mean he has autism. However, typically-developing children sometimes do these things as well. Stimming behaviors are common in children with autism as well as those with sensory-processing disorders. Can Stimming and Hand Flapping Occur in Children who are Not Autistic? Click here to access our stimming and hand flapping replacement workbook in our free speech and language activities library. This article is aimed at helping families and speech-language pathologists understand how we can help to modify stimming behaviors that are harmful or disruptive to the child. But sometimes, those behaviors can become self-harming or they can disrupt a child’s life in such a way that they want or need to change them. In general, we don’t want to stop these behaviors since they serve a necessary function for that child. These behaviors help a child regulate their system and are very important to daily functioning for many children. “Stimming” refers to the things a child does to get extra sensory input when he needs it, such as hand flapping, rocking, humming, spinning, banging, or scratching. Is it a problem if a child is stimming and hand flapping when excited? Sometimes, children will flap their hands or engaging in self-stimulatory behaviors (also called “stimming”) when they are excited, anxious, overwhelmed, or having other strong emotions. Stimming and Hand Flapping When Excited – What is it?
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