Chewing

AnotherAngle · Hummingbird Joined: Sep 22, 2009 Age: 24 Posts: 24

Hi all,

I have seen a few past topics about chewing on the forum but nothing recent and nothing I felt I could add to comfortably.

I am (or was, until I was struck down by chronic pain and can now barely feed myself, *eyeroll*) fairly high-functioning, or I thought I was. Nowadays I'm a lot more obviously aspie because I'm too ill to hide it, I don't have anything left in me to cover it up with, and also I no longer lie with family so I don't HAVE to hide it any more. I'm not diagnosed, though.

I used to chew a lot as a child and still do - pen lids, drink strzaws, my own skin, those little plastic ring things you got off the top of ribena bottles, anything. Lately I've wanted something a bit more satisfying that I could really stim on, because those other things give out easily and get lost and I don't feel any connection to them - I kind of wanted something I could love and search out and keep under my pillow just specially for me to chew on. Does that make any sense? Kind of like hugging random pillows isn't nearly as satisfying as hugging that one teddy you seek out when you really need it.

Well my partner/carer had a brainwave and bought me a children's teething toy. It's great. It's a nice green and has seahorses on it (he's totally jealous, lol) and I now keep it under my pillow (I'm in bed a lot because I'm fairly bedridden) and up my sleeve when I'm away from my bed, and I adore it.

Has anyone else done that? There is actually a great dog toy we are thinking of buying for me too if we can get it here in the UK. Problem with me is things like this would have to be a specific texture and a colour I like for me to really be able to bond with it.

Has anyone got anything like that they really liked? Any tips on where I can get more stuff for good chewing here in the UK? (Or from America or wherever if the postage isn't too high.) Anyone else swallowed their pride and got dog or baby chew toys for themselves? What kind of things to you find the most effective? What do you look for in a good chewer? Do you guys feel that bond with your favourite ones, too? Where you want to know where it is all the time and you seek it out when you're having a meltdown feel better just by having it in your hands?

I'm very intrigued by the psychology of this whole thing.
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