ADHD and compulsive body and nose picking

[dogrilla]

Bit of a random one but DS14 is constantly picking his skin, nails and worst of all his nose. He's way too old to get away with doing it in public but honestly doesn't seem to care - his finger is almost permanently up his nose and then in his mouth. When he has a cold he scoops the snot out with his thumb and eats it.

Sorry, sounds so gross and ridiculous written down but the fixation is totally out of control and I don't know how to make him stop. I'm on his back the whole time about using a tissue and telling him it's grim but he just rages at me. He has no social shame and says his friends just think he's the crazy one who does mad shit the whole time (he's at a boys school so no girls to add a civilising effect).

I'm honestly at my wits end and it's terrible for his health - he picks up every bug going.

To clarify, he is better at managing obsessive behaviours when on medikinet but will only take it for school (refuses otherwise).

Could you redirect his behaviour to something else fidgety as a substitute for putting his finger up his nose? Like a fidget toy? Chances are he doesn’t realise he’s doing it most of the time because it has become a subconscious habit. So weaning him onto something else like playing with a stress ball to keep his hands busy may be good. At the very least it could be worse- a lot of boys with ASD have hands in their pants at that age in public

Haha - glad we've dodged that bullet (for now!). Thanks, will have a think about good fidget substitutes