Stimming

  

Stimming and repetitive behavior

Have you wondered why your child is so overly obsessed with the washing machine or why they would rather rearrange toys instead of actually playing with them? Well, I’ve got news for you, it’s also part of stimming. I once worked with a student that always spoke about sonic the hatch hock, I ended up watching every sonic movie. Isn’t it weird how people with autism  influence us?

Repetitive behavior also known as stimming (self stimulatory behavior) can be marked by physical movements, sounds, words or moving objects. Stimming varies in appearance and frequency, it helps people on ASD to regulate their feelings by calming them down and it also helps to stimulate their auditory, visual, tactile and olfactory senses. In other words, stimming is a coping mechanism that serve a lot of purpose.  We all stim unaware sometimes when we are anxious or stressed we would  maybe click on the pen a lot or constantly touch our hair., the only difference is people on autism do it more frequently. A person on ASD would stim a lot when they are frustrated, in an unfamiliar environment and when they are trying to reduce anxiety and to decrease sensory overload.

  

             

Types of stimming

• Visual stimming: staring at spinning objects or light, blinking and adjusting  their eyes.
• Auditory: making vocal sounds, repeating parts of movies or songs.
• Tactile: rubbing objects or people/ themselves or sometimes scratching.
• Taste/smell: licking/chowing things, smelling people or objects
• Echolalia: repeating words they heard from movie scenes/people.
• Proprioception: this is the most common stim used to help them feel balance, this could present itself in rocking, jumping, flapping hands, running, tiptoeing, swinging

 How to manage stimming

Imagine having to stop the only thing that helps you manage and regulate your feelings. Stimming does not need to be controlled unless if it’s causing problems such as self-harm, disrupting school / ability to learn and its causing social isolation. The easiest way to manage stimming is through understanding what might be causing the behavior and teach children self-control rather than wanting to change them.

 stimming could be managed using the three-term contingency.

A – Antecedent (what triggers behavior)

B – Behavior (behavior that follows after e.g., humming or covering ears)

C – Consequence (how you can deal with the behavior or how you can avoid the behavior)

·        For an example if you know that change of schedule might course stimming, try to prepare beforehand and it’s important to keep a visual schedule. having a visual schedule keeps calm and reduces the fear of unfamiliarity. 

Try to keep fidget toys or sensory toys etc. they help to keep calm and to stay busy.