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Mikomi
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 25, 2008
Posts: 781
Location: On top of your TV, lookin' at you funny.
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 Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:44 am Post subject: Sudden Flapping Increase and Oral Fixation |
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My son is two and flapping has been one of his things right along. However, the past few days he is flapping a LOT. Nothing has really changed and there isn't much going on. He also seems to have an oral fixation. He has a vocal stim he does where he makes a motorboat noise and he loves to put everything in his mouth. Both of these had eased up a lot, to the point of non-issue, but now they too are back.
Cognitively, everything is still fine, except for his narrow focus (to the exclusion of all else at times) and he is still making improvements in speech acquisition.
Is it normal for flapping to be cyclical? I hand flap on occasion, but it is typically when I am super overstimulated or completely stressed out. He is basically going along all day and flapping. He flaps when he's mad, he flaps when he's excited and he flaps when he's running or jumping.
Also, anything I can do to help with the oral fixation? Is it better to discourage it or try and give him something appropriate and safe to mouth?
Thanks in advance...
PS: I did not put this in the parents forum because flapping and oral fixation are not exclusive to kids.
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kclark
Velociraptor
Joined: May 11, 2007
Age: 27
Posts: 460
Location: NE Illinois
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:31 am Post subject: |
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One possible reason.
I have heard that it is normal to seem to regress in many areas during childhood. These usually coincide with rapid growth or maturation, especially of the brain. The brain puts all its effort into obtaining the next step in development that it drops some of the control over previously learned things temporarily. If this is what is occuring the flapping and oral fixation should revert back to normal. |
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Mikomi
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 25, 2008
Posts: 781
Location: On top of your TV, lookin' at you funny.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 10:20 am Post subject: |
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There may be something to that. My son, who was almost completely non-verbal still after his second birthday has suddenly started imitating speech for the first time and, in the past two weeks, has begun to spontaneously verbally identify items. We were a little stunned, but quite happily so! Maybe all of the information he is processing has him a bit overwhelmed. He is making some major leaps forward.
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anbuend
Oak-Type Autie
Joined: Jul 06, 2004
Posts: 3193
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:02 am Post subject: |
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| kclark wrote: | One possible reason.
I have heard that it is normal to seem to regress in many areas during childhood. These usually coincide with rapid growth or maturation, especially of the brain. The brain puts all its effort into obtaining the next step in development that it drops some of the control over previously learned things temporarily. If this is what is occuring the flapping and oral fixation should revert back to normal. |
That is true, and it's also normal to regress in certain areas of development, permanently, in order to sort of trade off with other skills. The thing is, that doesn't get called regression when it happens (it's part of growth the way people generally tell it, and they don't even think of it as regression, which is one reason I am not sure whether all autistic "regression" is really "regression" or part of the growth of something else instead), and so most people don't even think about what they've lost, or if they do it's as a curiosity rather than as a trait anyone would be expected to have.
Interestingly, there are many autistic people, including some of us who are considered 'regressive', who do not regress in those areas (or who do so later than normal), some of which have to do with precise perceptual identification skills that are lost later on as, essentially, certain cognitive filters drop down to filter out most of the raw information in favor of what (in most people) becomes a narrow specialization in processing that information in just one way.
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Faramir
Hummingbird
Joined: Mar 02, 2008
Posts: 18
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:17 am Post subject: |
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My son flaps when he is excited and when he is trying to "warm" himself up by giving himself proprioceptice input. Sometimes he will hit the backs of his ears too. Lately, this happens when he is playing with rolling balls or when he is trying to focus on eating (he has oral sensitivities, and he is orally defensive).
Some things that really work:
> Install a swing in your house (if you have a strong ceiling beam). This is a good regulator.
> Nuk makes a good fake toothbrush that has a rubbery end. There are many chew toys out there and if you offer enough of them your child may find the ones that work the best.
> There are toys that vibrate, like a toothbrush with a rubber crocodile on the end that vibrates. This really helps with the oral fixation.
All in all, if you can put enough vestibular and proprioceptive input in, either for the entire body, or for the mouth in the case of oral issues, then your child may not need to flap as much.
I am happy for you that your child is starting to make words! And I agree that this can lead to changes elsewhere. |
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Ana54
International Incident Initiator
Joined: Dec 27, 2005
Age: 20
Posts: 6474
Location: Channelview, Texas, USA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:14 pm Post subject: |
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Could it be a sudden need for stimulation that makes you have to stim suddenly?  |
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Faramir
Hummingbird
Joined: Mar 02, 2008
Posts: 18
Location: Seattle
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Ana54 wrote: | | Could it be a sudden need for stimulation that makes you have to stim suddenly? |
Exactly! Well played. |
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Mikomi
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 25, 2008
Posts: 781
Location: On top of your TV, lookin' at you funny.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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Faramir: my son also swats the back of his ears, usually at the same time he's flapping (trading back and forth, swat/flap/swat/flap). When he has PT and they put him in the swing, it's pretty amazing how he calms. He sits there looking zoned out, like he's about to fall asleep, occasionally half smiling. He really enjoys it. I remember being a kid and swinging for HOURS. At the very least we plan to get an outdoor swing. I don't know if our ceiling structure could handle it. I will definitely look into the other items you mentioned too, thank you.
Ana54: good thinking, my daughter is just like that. For my son, the flapping seems to happen when he is already stimulated. He tends to favor calm, so I think he's doing it as sort of a "norming" effect for himself. I'm like that myself. When I am overstimulated, I have to vent some of the extra energy because it feels as if my body is buzzing with it and I feel "wiggly". Now, my daughter stims if she is not engaged in something, she will hum, rock, put her feet on things or people and/or make other noises. It's as if she never sits still until she sleeps.
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