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SN children

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Original poster

6 year old very sensory ASD chewing clothes

12 replies

mentallyscrewed · 27/12/2012 20:56

My ds is going through a stage where he will chew whatever he's wearing.
He is very sensory and I think this is another new thing to add to the list!

Is there anything I can buy for him to chew rather than his clothes. Not only does he end up soaked but he will ruin his clothes!

OP posts:

EllenJaneisstillnotmyname · 27/12/2012 21:16

Chewellry. (Sp?) I'll google it.

EllenJaneisstillnotmyname · 27/12/2012 21:20

www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=chewelry&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=13012969352&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=18791107701063823435&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_2aphyp7l0u_b

Others may know of cheaper sources.

notapizzaeater · 27/12/2012 22:25

My ds (10) does this - drives me mad and it's a bloody fortune in school shirts - I've bought him a bandana for home but as yet he hasnt taken to it :-(

Original poster

mentallyscrewed · 28/12/2012 09:12

Thank you :) ordered some, whether he will take to that instead of his clothing I don't know but will try anything....now to try and get him to calm down with the spinning! Christmas holidays have a lot to answer for!

OP posts:

mariammama · 28/12/2012 09:54

DS's entire mainstream class went through a phase of chewing their ties. Drove the teacher batty . The hysterical aspect to me is that although there are at least three dc in the group who are officially on the spectrum, the main original chewer was/is a NT boy.

The reason I'm posting is that they all seemed agreed a school tie on elastic was the perfect size and texture for chewing.

Original poster

mentallyscrewed · 28/12/2012 10:05

My NT brother used to chew the neck of his tshirt too but he also knew when to stop and knew full well he was doing it.

Ds doesn't, he will chew the entire front of his tshirt not just the neck until it is soaked and out of shape and then continue with his sleeves and then bend his legs so he can start on his trousers and it doesn't matter how many times I tell him to stop he'll carry on. Some days when there is too much going on he'll have 2 or 3 changes of tshirt or if we are at home and its warm we just let him take it off which is actually how he prefers to be.

OP posts:

EllenJaneisstillnotmyname · 28/12/2012 13:50

My DS went through a phase of this age 3 to 6 or so, and ruined loads of clothes. He moved on to the straps on his rucksack, which was pretty yuk but saved his clothes! I never found chewellry back then but nylon rucksack straps obviously met some need!

lovethesun1 · 28/12/2012 14:57

My son does this and we have bought him several Chewy Tubes (amazon & sensory sites have them). The red T shaped chewy is the most malleable. Our ot has said it's a craving for deep pressure (as he bites,rather than sucks his clothes),so we are doing lots of massage,deep pressure into the joints, 'heavy work' I.e pushing a gym ball around. He's the same with spinning,so we are giving him the opportunity to do this-swinging, blanket swings, spinning on an office chair in diff directions etc. Are you seeing an OT?

Original poster

mentallyscrewed · 28/12/2012 15:44

He has been referred to an OT but not heard anything yet. Will be pushing more for this when they go back to school as they are working well with him and his learning but his social and sensory issues right now are the problem right now.

He is also liking the pressure and massage - he loves me rubbing his neck and back really hard til the point it's gone red and not wanting to be accused of hurting him!

OP posts:

lovethesun1 · 29/12/2012 08:53

I would definitely push hard to see an OT,it's making a huge difference for us. It took us a long time to get to see an ot which I find really frustrating given how fundamental sorting out sensory issues is!

Original poster

mentallyscrewed · 29/12/2012 21:24

I agree, at the moment a lot of the issues he's having are down to sensory - lots of noise, smell and touch sensitivity, tied with the inappropriate hugging and personal space invasion from him. It's a constant battle to be one step ahead and reading what's going through his mind before he does it.

Life would be boring any other way!!

OP posts:

yawningmonster · 31/12/2012 08:05

ds does this constantly but it is anything that is close so back of chair, blanket. clothing, straps, toggles, buttons on Wii remote you name it. Drives me insane have tried several chew products to no avail...he will chew them then forget them and revert to whatever is in his hand rather than what is round his neck and he also doesn't like the feeling of something around his neck.

You have my sympathies but for us it definately is strongly tied to anxiety and when there is loads going on the chewing increases so the best remedy for us is environment and making sure he is not overwhlemed.

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