Excessive stimming

[MissFwhite]

Hi, this is my first post but really want some advice regarding my 9 year old.

For around the last 6 months he has been stimming when excited, it’s now become quite excessive and it’s happening so much.

Ive never really worried about him from an ASD point of view until this has started. it’s now made me look at other things.

1. He is very fussy with food, everything has to be plain and eats no fruit or vegetables. Even if he smells them he gags. Only drinks water and milk
2. He hates loud noises and shouting
3. He can be a little funny about shoes and socks, always takes his shoes off on the car

He’s very sociable and has a lot of friends, not shy in any way and also will talk to anyone. He’s very intelligent and remember facts so easily.

I personally think it’s more of a sensory issue but wondered if anyone else had any experience in this and what help they had sort?

There's nothing wrong with stimming unless it's harming him or someone else. What's your issue with it?

Try to take into account his difficulty with loud noises, have you offered noise cancelling head phones in loud places? Avoid load places.

Let him choose his own shoes and socks. Let him take his shoes off in the car.

Only drinking water and milk is very healthy.

Keep offering different fruit and veg(not ones that make him gag) but do not force it. Give him a multi vitamin daily to make up for the lack of fruit and veg.

Could be texture rather than taste with vegetables? Maybe try him with blended or pureed into pasta sauce if you are concerned about variety in his diet.

I don’t have an issue with the stimming, just concerned that it’s increased so much.

we have tried all fruit and vegetables and get the same reaction.

I do this in pasta but he doesn’t really eat it.

I had a friend whose kid only ate chips. (ok maybe a handful of things, but not a lot) advice was ensure she got enough calories and a multivitamin.

there are vitamins in milk.

stimming might have increased due to stress. what is stressing him? (often sensory over stimulation and school. this half term is hell for autistic kids)

The fussy eating might be ARFID. The important thing is calories and a decent multivitamin and mineral supplement.

If DS isn't hurting himself or others or damaging property, stimming is harmless. If he is hurting himself, try to change how he stims. My default stimming involves pulling off the skin around my fingernails until I bleed. I replaced it with a Tangle Toy. For me, stimming is definitely stress related.

My handbag has ear plugs and sunglasses in it to filter out noise and light. If you have to take him shopping (because I know that leaving DCs at home with DH, or sending DH, isn't always possible), some shops don't play music at all (Lidl, Aldi) and others have "quiet hours" (Tesco) with the music turned off.

Ask school if DS can have sensory breaks during the day. Just being able to spend five minutes somewhere darker and quieter makes a big difference for me.

Also, this is the board for neurodiverse adults. You might get more and more relevant replies if you press "Report" on your original post and ask the moderators to move this thread to one that covers parenting of neurodiverse children.

I came here to basically write the same post...
Did you manage to find some help for your son?