Spitting

[CloudPerson]

Ds2 (12, ASD/PDA) has been spitting for months, and we have no idea how to stop it.

He doesn't like having the spit in his mouth, but sometimes he's spitting every 5 seconds.

We've tried drinks, to have a sip every time he feels like he needs to spit.
We've tried chewing gum, but this produces more saliva which then has to come out.
We've given him a bowl to spit in, but he won't.

He also gets aggressive with it, so on top of spitting everywhere, he will also spit at people, on their clothes and belongings. We've discussed it when he's calm, but as soon as he's anxious he can't stop.

Demanding he stops and using consequences don't work, using PDA strategies so far aren't working.

Any other ideas?

I think there's a link with excessive saliva production and hypotonia. It might be that he is producing a lot of saliva and struggles to swallow it. Did he/does he have a strong gag reflex? Did he dribble/drool a lot when small?

Alternatively he might just like it and the attention it brings. Spitting is particularly visceral so has big impact for little effort!

He was the least dribble of my DC, and has/had no signs of hypotonia.
The attention thing is probably it. It's difficult to ignore.
Thanks for answering!

Maybe way off track but have you taken him to a dentist lately. Sometimes we put everything down to an ASC when actually there is another underlying medical reason.

He hasn't had a check up for a while - he's been to the dentist but refused to open his mouth!
Will have a chat about it. Never thought of that, thank you.