Self-stimulating behavior that stimulates autism

For a child with autism, Stimming is a shortened term for self-stimulating behavior.
It is a necessary element for the autistic child in the sense that it seems to be a way for them to make sense of everything that happens around them. It can also be called Zoning Out.

Stimulation can manifest itself in many ways. It can show itself as flapping, an obsession with a particular item or the way it moves, or self-injuring like hand or knuckle biting, to name just a few.

No two children with autism are the same, so it is very natural that there are many forms of self-stimulating behaviors.

For the autistic child, this is a necessary outlet and if the stimulation takes a form that is not inappropriate, it should not be restricted. It seems to act as a method of self-control for them to calm down and even somehow digest the information.

Stimulation seems to manifest itself on a larger and more intense scale when the child with autism finds himself in a situation with which he is not entirely comfortable, which could be as small as a person entering a room with which he is not familiar or a function room that could be crowded and noisy.

For a child with autism, stimulation is a necessary outlet. It can be reduced somewhat by controlling the external environment, for example by dimming the lights or reducing the noise levels. However, trying to eradicate it completely may not be the right thing to do, as it can be replaced by the autistic child with another stimulus that may be less appropriate.

It can be much more beneficial for both the autistic child and the caregiver to develop a means of encouraging the child to use their stimulants at home or in privacy, thus decreasing the risk of being socially excluded by their peers if they used them in public. .

Some children with autism are not even aware of their flapping, but if they are gently reminded of it, they will try to stop it themselves if they are in a place where it could be seen as an abnormality.

With some autistic children, your stimulation can be used as a positive tool to encourage social interaction.

For example, if the child with the particular autism stimulus is ripping the paper, then if you were to join in and rip the paper too, after a while, you would notice that the autistic child will look to see what he is doing. This is especially true when you’ve tried to discourage stimming in the past.

Each look should be answered with positive comments, for example, “Great, you looked at me” or “Wow, what beautiful blue eyes you have” or something similar. Over time, this will open the door to more social interaction with the autistic child who sometimes hands him tear-off paper or seeks it out so that he can participate in his encouragement.

Each time the autistic child spends interacting with you, less time is spent in his or her own world, which should be the end goal. A paper extraction session today could turn into a puzzle next week with slow, positive guidance on your part.

The three main areas in which children with autism struggle are: communication, play, and social interaction. If you can increase your socialization skills, then you can only help the other two areas increase as well.