Stimming and hand flapping in ASD children

    Nazia Talat         March 27, 2022

Parents of children on the autism spectrum often observe that their children have stimming issues and they look for various solutions to reduce this. First, let us understand what exactly is stimming.

‘Stimming’ is a common term used to describe self-stimulatory behavior, involving repetitive actions and sounds, in children or adults. Almost everybody stims in one way or the other, like biting nails, rolling hairs, or tapping a table, when nervous, but they know when to stop. In autistic kids and adults, stimming becomes more noticeable because it may continue for a longer time and they might be completely unaware of when to stop. These behaviors might appear unpleasant to the onlookers, but they are comforting to those who engage in them because they help them to cope with heightened emotional states of excitement, nervousness, fear or boredom.

In autistic individuals, stimming can be in the form of:

• Hand flapping: moving fingers vigorously, clicking fingers, or moving arms.
• Verbal and auditory stimming: repetitive speech (learned words such as song lyrics, movie lines, and book passages), covering or tapping of ears, snapping fingers, or tapping on objects repeatedly and/or humming, grunting, or high-pitched noises.
• Visual stimming: staring blankly at objects, flapping hands, lining up objects such as toys, blinking repeatedly, and/or turning lights on and off.
• Tactile stimming: Rubbing or scratching of hands or objects, repetitive hand motions such as opening and closing fists, tapping fingers repeatedly and tactile defensiveness.
• Vestibular stimming: rocking back and forth or side to side, twirling or spinning, jumping repeatedly, or hanging upside down.
• Olfactory or taste stimming: smelling objects, tasting unusual objects or licking hand or objects.

Let us now discuss the ways to address stimming. 

Usually stimming is harmless, however, we try to reduce the stims when they become self-harming, or when they are considered to be socially ostracizing. Stimming can obstruct learning at school or quality of life for children and adults with autism with limited social and self-regulatory skills. Most of the time, it is observed that when we try to stop stimming in individuals with ASD, they tend to adopt another stimming behavior. Therefore, we should look for solutions in Replacement behavior where we induce the child to indulge in some other activity that is more socially acceptable or is harmless.

Certain medical conditions like migraines, ear infections or any other pain in the body, can increase the intensity and frequency of stimming in people on the autism spectrum. It is, therefore, imperative to rule out any kind of medical ailment that might be causing the change in behavior, especially if the child is non-verbal or less verbal.

Physical activity has proved to be really beneficial in the management of stimming in autistic people, as it releases tension. Similarly, creating a calm, safe and quiet environment also works wonders in managing the stims, as stimming is most often associated with stress or anxiety.  Therefore, creating a peaceful home environment is of utmost
importance.

Despite all efforts, it is imperative to bear in mind that stimming is self-stimulating for all humans including autistic people. It is just that people on the spectrum do not notice the social cues and might not know when to stop. Hence, we cannot expect autistic people to completely stop their stims. We can help them learn the ways to manage the stims or to self-regulate. As autistic kids grow, they learn to self-regulate, which is the most effective way of management of stimming. We can also use stimming as a reward, after a difficult task, for our autistic kids, at home, where they can behave in whatever way that they want. This would relax the child and would decrease stimming over the rest of the day.

Experiences of parents

Other than therapies, parents devise their own innovative ways to deal with stimming.

A parent, Shweta, shared that replacement and calming worked for her child. She exposed her child to sensory play, water games, beads, grains, sand, etc, and if outdoors, keeping fidgets or toys helped reduce the stimming. She suggests that planning is a very important part for managing stimming under various situations. She shared that her son disengages from the environment if there are too many people or space constraints And then he either starts babbling rhymes or flapping hands. In such a situation, she tries to engage so that he doesn’t feel aloof. Also, she gives him familiar things or talks about familiar things to help him stay anchored. Feeling lost when you don’t understand context or language and can’t express yourself seems natural.

Another parent, Shruti, also found the replacement useful. Her child used to flap hands between 3-4 years of age. She tried to engage her hands in finger painting, cut n paste activities, which made her play with rice, slime, sand, soapy water a lot. Giving some fidget toys to her kid also helped in her case. 

Priyanka found sitting on a gym ball with both hands pressed on it proved very useful for her child. Clay activities and the use of fingers for several activities were found useful by Dr. Sunita.

The way forward
The stigma attached to stimming is more pronounced in autistic people, even when we all engage in it at one time or the other, only because they find it difficult to read social cues and to self-regulate. Our goal in kids is to find a replacement for the unwanted behavior, in the form of a desirable or harmless behavior that would also help address
their sensory needs. This can be done by the parents themselves or with help from their therapists. As they get older, they learn to self-regulate by indulging in alternate activities or asking for a break.
 

About Author

Nazia Talat

Nazia Talat PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of Delhi. She is an educator, environmentalist, and an autism mom. She loves to learn more about what goes inside the beautiful mind of her son. She strives to create a world that cherishes neurodiversity.