I got diagnosed with Asperger syndrome ten years ago and wondered if anyone had observed that the condition causes a higher incidence of thumb sucking? I read a book on the psychology of childhood and adolescence when I was fourteen, I still sucked my thumb then and was a little aghast to find that thumb sucking could persist into adult life. Mr Freud did quote a case of this. I had always assumed that I would give up eventually, but any periods of cessation were on and off and when I arrived at my first open ended term of unemployment at thirty it resumed, maybe my self esteem had deserted me, we are in this society persuaded to believe that unemployment is a personal failing.
It is only recently I have com across the idea that for autistic people stimming is a hardwired neurological need possibly to reduce sensitivity to sensory overloads? But what it leaves me with is a socially unacceptable habit. Is thumb sucking an example of this stimming? Alas, it is in public that I have most need. I am often assumed to be attention seeking and there are, of course, other interpretations to the behaviour.
I am mostly in control of it, but is this a form of masking as they say, which is where autistic people hide their autistic traits and in acting so unnaturally wear themselves ragged?
No, there will never be any thumb sucking pride parades or thumb suckers only railway carriages, but should there be?
But the question is have any of you people out there seen autism in
thumb sucking children and found the habit hard to deal with as their ages got to the point where the behaviour seemed inappropriate?