She keeps biting herself - what do I do?

[Fio2]

DD has always bit herself on her hand to a degree but it is getting to be a constant thing now. If she is peed off she will bite herself. She is getting so frustrated that she cant get her message accross that she is getting more and more stressed. Plus ds is getting more of a pain because he knows he can 'boss' her because she doesnt answer back, whcih in turn = more biting. I just dont know what to do about it. I crouched down to tell her to stop it yesterday and she bit me on the eyebrow, of all places!!

have any of you encountered this and what do you do about it? Should I just ignore it and hope she grows out of it?

God, what a worry. As usual I have nothing useful to suggest, but at least I can bump this. Poor little girl, it must be so hard for her. The only thing I can think of is that there's a thing called Lesch Nyhan syndrome (which your dd does not have, I'm not suggesting that!) where boys have a compulsion to self-mutilate, particularly biting their hands and lips. I would think there must be a support group, and maybe they might have suggestions?
Poor you too. xx

thanks tanum. I may just mention it to her special needs teacher aswell. I am sure she at the terrible twos stage tbh and it just finding it stressful that she cant talk, although her speech is coming along wonderful atm I did look up at that syndrome aswell and if I can find a support group I will post on it!

thank you for saying dd was lovely on the other thread aswell

Hi fio2, I've had a LOT of experience with SIB this is a form of SIB although fairly mild but biting the hand is quite typical. I have an excellent book called Challenging Behaviour (sorry, scary title) by a recognised authority called Eric (?) Emerson. I have also attended a couple of lectures on SIB and have the slides on my computer. I could send them to you. It turns out that many of the typical SIB sites coincide with the sites used in Acupunture - interesting! THe theory is that SIB cuases more endorphins to be made which is a pleasant feeling and this is what happens in acupuncture. ANyone who understands it better please feel free to correct me! It is also speculated that individuals with ASD have a higher level of endorphins in the first place and therefore don't feel pain so easily or both of the above!
I think first you have to work out the function really clearly, not just what it "seems" to be, i.e. as well as being frustration is it becuase of unmet demands, poor communication (usually) and/or sensory issues. THen..... maybe try to teach a different response to whatever causes it, try to give a substitute such as a chewy thing, try to prevent it, maybe work harder (ugh) on communication with a special card for something she really likes and she could use this instead of biting herself. I just don't know though, its a really hard behaviour to deal with, my DS still hits his forehead with his forearm, even somtimes just as a threat, and we've "worked" on it for ages. The bottom line I suppose is I try to get it across to him that he doesn't get what he wants when he does it although I try not to give it too much attention, but whether he therefore makes what is sometimes a subtle connection.... or just thinks he'll give it a try anyway....

Hi! thanks davros are you sure you dont mind lending me the book? and dont worry the title doesnt scare me I am sort of getting used to anything nowadays!

what does SIB stand for btw?

Sorry, Self Injurious Behaviour. It can run from gum picking and hair twirling to head banging. Many minor-looking behaviours can be classed as SIB altough you woudln't necessarily know it.

oh both of my 2 do the hair twirling. ds does it on me unfortunatley I would never have realised it was a SIB though

My friends dd bites her hand.

DS1 thumps his chin, or occasiaonlly headbangs. In the case of the chin thumping we say "hands down"- he does it mainly when things are "wrong" or when he has been misunderstod. I'm hoping better use of PECS will decrease the incidences.

When he was headbanging a lot- and doing it until he had bruises on his forehead- maybe 20 times a day- he turned out to have a problem with peanuts. Took them out of his diet and within 2 days the behaviour had gone.

The headbanging he does now is gentler- and much rarer- and although he can leave marks on his chin it's easier to intervene calmly (which I think is important- too much reaction will make it more likely to happen).

jimjams is this your friends dd who sounds similar to mine? is she still struggling for a proper diagnosis?

I will try to be calm

No fio- this is my friend with an autistic 7 year old dd. I haven't seen the person with a similar dd to you for ages- excpet to wave to from the car. Ds1 is in school all day today though so I may see her this afternoon.

Her NT brother copies her (ds2 copies ds1 as well).