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retroactive71
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01 May 2006, 12:36 pm

Hi. My son Jack is 6 and he has autism and he doesn't talk, so I can't ask him about this. Can any of you help? He is really obsessed with strings. He will tear apart socks or other clothing or rugs or carpet to get threads and strings. He will keep string in his mouth and his hands. He often will take the wet string from his mouth, smack it on a hard, dry surface for a while and then put it back in his mouth. Why do you think he does this? It's been a constant behavior of his for years now. Thanks for your help!



linuxGuy555
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01 May 2006, 12:38 pm

i used to take apart electronics equipment with pliers when i was little. it was probably dangerous. you should feel happy that he isn't running the chance of being electrocuted.

it probably makes him feel good. i think i liked taking apart the electronics to see what was inside though and sometimes there would be some kind of carcinogen so I might have gotten hurt that way too.



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01 May 2006, 2:01 pm

I did that when I was younger mainly string from jeans or cut offs and on leather shoe laces. I don't any more and realy don't know why I did it except becuse I liked it the feel and texture. Sorry I can't help anymore than saying he's not the only one.


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ljbouchard
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01 May 2006, 5:14 pm

Yours is not the only child that does this. I know a 13yo sevrely autistic child here in Rochester who does the exact same thing. As said previously, I think it makes the person feel good.


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Aeturnus
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01 May 2006, 11:35 pm

I think many people here are right. Using the string probably makes him feel good and helps to keep himself calm.
It's probably nothing more than a stim behavior, and severe autistics tend to do it much more than most of us do.

When I was in a specialized school years ago, there were a lot of severely autistic kids there, including some with Kanner's and so forth. I don't even know how the teachers were able to teach them, and many of them would do these repetitive things over and over again.

Now, I sort of can sympathize, because when I was younger I used to pull little strings out of my socks. Even to this day, I sometimes find an urge to do that if I stare at my socks for too long. I see those white little strings wrapped around the inside of the socks, and they just look loose. If I am a bit nervous, I get a slight urge to grab a loose string and tear it out. I never did it with carpet and stuff like that, just socks. I never really tore my socks apart, though, just tearing may be one or two strings out.

Hope this gives you some advice. I doubt if it's anything to really worry about.

- Ray M -



retroactive71
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02 May 2006, 8:44 am

I appreciate the replies. I was really wondering, though, why it is that this makes him feel good. Can any of you explain this to me? I am not so worried about the behavior. As behaviors go, it's not terrible. However it does keep him from concentrating on other people and events around him, so I'd like to at least understand the behavior. I guess I am asking in a bigger sense why people like my son stim in the first place. What does stimming do for you or others?



jammie
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02 May 2006, 10:02 am

for me stimming is comforting because it is a pattern of feeling that i can control. when i am nevos or scared it is somthing which is predictable. and this make me feel safe. At the same time chewing on my teather or having in dumdum help me feel safe because it is there and it is normaly with me.

Try giving him sonthing which is a constant in all situation, he may even have this himself. I have my lion, he for me is the only worldy constant (stimming is not a constant incase i lose a limb or two) however as i see it lion is a constant presence and he come everywhere with me.

Understanding behavior is a diffcult thing, and my feelings toward my own stims are a mixture of what i have read / theries to what i feel. I like pattern and i often see pattern in an abstract sense. this leteses me to understand whats going on.

Another pattern wihich i find comforting is music, but only music i know and i have heard quietly first. because it mean that in the enviroment around me there is this one constant. i can predict what is going to happen and there is a pattern which i can control.

maybe for your son this pattern is the string the feeling it give and maybe he is merely making sure that this feeling is consistant. buy chechking that what he feels he needs is there he make himself feeel confident.

Another note, is even though we may not look like we are looking often we are. even though we show no sign of compreghension we do. even if our comprehension is not what it is to you and other people around. it is comprehension to use and it allows us to interact with you world

I hope this makes some sense when you read it back and think about what i have writtine, i hope that in some way this helps you understand your son. because after all you son is not broken he is the same as me and he is different.

jammie


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<?php

$lion = "constant";
$lil_lion = "escape";
$baby = "dum dum, babo";
$jammie = $lion."sheepy and my comforts";


$jamie = $lion.$lil_lion.$baby.$jammie;
?>


retroactive71
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02 May 2006, 12:18 pm

That was an interesting and thoughtful reply, Jammie. Thank you for taking the time to write me. I really appreciate the chance to get an insight into your world. Does everyone else agree with this viewpoint?



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02 May 2006, 12:41 pm

I love the feel of string or fibres running between my fingers and around my face. My mother lost more than one candlewick bedspread to my desire for the strings. It just feels good and right. Your hands are so sensitive and so is your tounge (although I don't put it in my mouth). I do remember some kinds of string tasting interesting -- mostly cotton like package string or carpet warp. Had a kind of "papery" taste.

Maybe you can teach him to make string figures. Like cat's cradle, but some are much more complex. It is still very calming for me to make string figures. There is one, where you wind the string through the fingers of one hand and then appear to "pull" the string through your fingers to free it. I can do that for hours.

I learned very complex string figures when I was quite small by watching my father and uncles make them. Dover has a pretty good book.

He may also like to learn finger weaving (make friendship bracelets, etc). I like that, but loose interest in the finished product -- it's the feel of weaving, braiding, etc that is good and "right".

I'm a 50 yo senior programmer now, and have been a weaver for many years. I find string very satisfying both to touch and to watch it winding and braiding.



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02 May 2006, 3:29 pm

retroactive71 wrote:
I appreciate the replies. I was really wondering, though, why it is that this makes him feel good. Can any of you explain this to me? I am not so worried about the behavior. As behaviors go, it's not terrible. However it does keep him from concentrating on other people and events around him, so I'd like to at least understand the behavior. I guess I am asking in a bigger sense why people like my son stim in the first place. What does stimming do for you or others?


From what I can gather, about my own personal experiences, some autistics may not know how to express their feelings. They may stim to try to relieve tension, anxiety, despair or anything similar.

The reason that string is attractive is hard to pinpoint. It has to do with a fascination. It could be that a string just appears loose in an otherwise connected pattern. A string hanging out of a carpet, for example, may look as if it is loose. This looseness may be an attractiveness, and maybe it's because he's getting a feel for not just the texture but also fascinated by how it's put together. By tearing at it, maybe he likes to see the breaking apart of the fabric. It's really hard to acknowledge the reasoning, even with many of us that stim using a variety of methods.

- Ray M -



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03 May 2006, 10:02 pm

I used to pick up string alot when I was little, little bits of yarn, etc...

My mom used to take a loop of yarn and string a large button with two holes in it in the center...you wind it up and pull on each end and the button spins around in the center. I would play with it almost non-stop until the yarn broke.