Does anyone have any tips for reducing verbal stimming. I have a 9 year old with autism and another genetic condition which makes him really sensory seeking.
He uses his ipad a lot as he does not play with toys which I am ok with as I have a baby to look after as well and cannot spend all my time engaging with him.
The problem is that I think he uses the ipad as a stim and when he watches videos on it ( normally things like peppa pig, nursery rhyme songs etc) he flaps his arms and screams. He also does it when we are out and anything with wheels goes past including pushchairs and bikes.
Luckily we don't have any neighbours who are affected but the constant noise gets me down and keeps the baby awake.
He is at a special needs school and I asked them for advice but he does not do this at school as it is only really when he is left to his own devices he has (one to one support at school) and they did not have any suggestions.
Is there any way I can wean him off the verbal stimming to something quieter? He has some language but mainly echolic and not really conversational. His level of understanding is pretty good but if I tell him to be quiet he will make shh noises for a few seconds and then immediately start stimming again and I think he has a real physical need to do this.
I don't want to be cruel if he does need this but maybe there is something less wearing on others he could do instead? Any ideas? We already try to let him have as much physical exercise as possible and he has a swing and trampoline but they make no difference to the stimming.