outgrowing stims
Irrational Number
self-regulating behaviour in time?
Pillbug sometimes flaps a lot and
sometimes not that much. But, I
have not been able to to figure out
why. It's not necessarily correlated
to stress level or activities in that
day.
-- Anita --
Terry Jones
It's doubtful whether you outgrow the *need* for them, although you
may learn more acceptable / less visible substitutes (and more control
so that you are better able to put them off until you get home or
otherwise away from the public eye).
Also remember that the effect is *cumulative* - It may be something
which has been building up over several days. And it's not just
obviously stressful things - Activities you *enjoy* can also be very
demanding - so you also need to learn to pace / 'ration' these.
Terry
Chakolate
@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:
Tristan doesn't flap, but he needs some sort of sensory activity every
few hours, or he starts hitting things - walls, furniture, his head,
whatever.
His best sensory activity right now is a Rice Box, a plastic box filled
with about 25 pounds of uncooked rice. (We put a sheet under the box to
help keep the rice grains from wandering off.) He digs his hands into
it, buries things in it, et cetera, and in five minutes he goes from
bouncing off the walls to being completely calm.
Anyway, the Rice Box has been such a boon to us I like to pass on the
idea.
Chak
--
I would like at least one political party in this country to be willing
to say that sex is fun and an important part of being human.
--PZ Myers, http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/
Irrational Number
> On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 05:47:25 GMT, Irrational Number
> <nos...@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>>Just curious, does one outgrow
>>self-regulating behaviour in time?
>
> It's doubtful whether you outgrow the *need* for them, although you
> may learn more acceptable / less visible substitutes (and more control
> so that you are better able to put them off until you get home or
> otherwise away from the public eye).
>
> Also remember that the effect is *cumulative* - It may be something
> which has been building up over several days. And it's not just
> obviously stressful things - Activities you *enjoy* can also be very
> demanding - so you also need to learn to pace / 'ration' these.
Okay, this makes sense. Pillbug does flap
when he's happy, or when something is very
exciting.
-- Anita --
Irrational Number
> Tristan [...]
>
> His best sensory activity right now is a Rice Box, a plastic box filled
> with about 25 pounds of uncooked rice. (We put a sheet under the box to
> help keep the rice grains from wandering off.) He digs his hands into
> it, buries things in it, et cetera, and in five minutes he goes from
> bouncing off the walls to being completely calm.
>
> Anyway, the Rice Box has been such a boon to us I like to pass on the
> idea.
I have a clear plastic box with different sized
beans in it. He does like run his fingers through
it. I got the idea from his therapy class. I just
hadn't thought of it as a calming thing. Maybe I'll
try it next time! ;)
-- Anita --
Chakolate
I got the Rice Box idea from a therapy class, too.
I think of his need for it as a sort of disconnect - his brain loses
touch with his body for a bit, and using the RB makes them get back on
the same wave length.
That may not be what's actually happening but it sure fits the
phenomenon.
Chris
--
It's hard to type with a cat in your lap
"Terry Jones" <terry...@beeb.net> wrote in message
news:m7vc129auk9ji5811...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 05:47:25 GMT, Irrational Number
> <nos...@nospam.com> wrote:
>
> >Just curious, does one outgrow
> >self-regulating behaviour in time?
> >Pillbug sometimes flaps a lot and
> >sometimes not that much. But, I
> >have not been able to to figure out
> >why. It's not necessarily correlated
> >to stress level or activities in that
> >day.
> >
> It's doubtful whether you outgrow the *need* for them, although you
> may learn more acceptable / less visible substitutes (and more control
> so that you are better able to put them off until you get home or
> otherwise away from the public eye).
very true. I certainly haven't outgrown my stims though I've learned to hide
them a bit
>
> Also remember that the effect is *cumulative* - It may be something
> which has been building up over several days. And it's not just
> obviously stressful things - Activities you *enjoy* can also be very
> demanding - so you also need to learn to pace / 'ration' these.
>
ooooh! why didn't I think of the cumulative effect before. <ponders>. I
suppose I knew that, but just didn't consciously think about it.
I don't think stims are always about stress. I stim when tired. I stim when
understimulated.
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Chris
--
It's hard to type with a cat in your lap
"Irrational Number" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:pNIRf.1622$HW2...@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
Chris
... but I wonder how I'd keep that cats out
--
It's hard to type with a cat in your lap
"Chakolate" <chakolateDea...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9786A127866E5c...@204.153.244.170...
Chakolate
news:44178f49$0$23031$6d36...@titian.nntpserver.com:
> I want one!
>
> ... but I wonder how I'd keep that cats out
Get a box with a lid - any sort of storage bin you like. And don't
forget the sheet - you'll find the rice has the habit of wandering off by
itself.
Red Panda
> His best sensory activity right now is a Rice Box, a plastic box filled
> with about 25 pounds of uncooked rice. (We put a sheet under the box to
> help keep the rice grains from wandering off.) He digs his hands into
> it, buries things in it, et cetera, and in five minutes he goes from
> bouncing off the walls to being completely calm.
>
> Anyway, the Rice Box has been such a boon to us I like to pass on the
> idea.
With my son, it was a bean box, containing a variety of
dried beans. He liked the texture better, and the little
escapees were much easier to find on my off-white vinyl
flooring. (important for me, with my sensitive little feet!)
--
Red Panda
Chris
<ponders>
--
It's hard to type with a cat in your lap
"Red Panda" <redpanda2...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:VINRf.727$%d....@tornado.socal.rr.com...
Chakolate
For his birthday, I'm going to give him a button box. I found a website
that sells a pound of plastic buttons for 4 USD - that's about 800
buttons, according to them. :-) I figure he'll not only be able to dig
in it, he'll be able to sort, count, and just do all sorts of things with
it.
Singer
>
> For his birthday, I'm going to give him a button box. I found a website
> that sells a pound of plastic buttons for 4 USD - that's about 800
> buttons, according to them. :-) I figure he'll not only be able to dig
> in it, he'll be able to sort, count, and just do all sorts of things with
> it.
>
You reminded me of one of the things I like best about visiting my
great-grandmothers farm. She had all sorts of interesting things in the
attic and basement, and I was free to explore & I always spent some time
playing with the jars of interesting old buttons. Sometimes I would
count them, sort them in various ways (size, shape, colour,
material,...), spread them over the floor in patterns like a mosaic, or
just enjoy the feeling & sound of running my hands through them or
letting them fall through my fingers and land in the pile. Sometimes
she would let me keep some of them, and I would pick out the prettiest
or most interesting to string together in necklaces or use in craft
projects. There were so many different kinds - more than most sewing
stores had - that she had saved over the years. I think they just got
thrown in the trash after she died :-(
Chakolate
> You reminded me of one of the things I like best about visiting my
> great-grandmothers farm. She had all sorts of interesting things in
> the attic and basement, and I was free to explore & I always spent
> some time playing with the jars of interesting old buttons. Sometimes
> I would count them, sort them in various ways (size, shape, colour,
> material,...), spread them over the floor in patterns like a mosaic,
> or just enjoy the feeling & sound of running my hands through them or
> letting them fall through my fingers and land in the pile.
This is precisely what I did with the box of buttons at my house, and
what I'm hoping Tristan will want to do with these.
Red Panda
> Red Panda <redpanda2...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:VINRf.727$%d....@tornado.socal.rr.com:
>
>
>>Chakolate wrote:
>>
>>
>>>His best sensory activity right now is a Rice Box, a plastic box
>>>filled with about 25 pounds of uncooked rice. (We put a sheet under
>>>the box to help keep the rice grains from wandering off.) He digs
>>>his hands into it, buries things in it, et cetera, and in five
>>>minutes he goes from bouncing off the walls to being completely calm.
>>>
>>>
>>>Anyway, the Rice Box has been such a boon to us I like to pass on the
>>>idea.
>>
>>With my son, it was a bean box, containing a variety of
>>dried beans. He liked the texture better, and the little
>>escapees were much easier to find on my off-white vinyl
>>flooring. (important for me, with my sensitive little feet!)
>>
>>
>
>
> For his birthday, I'm going to give him a button box. I found a website
> that sells a pound of plastic buttons for 4 USD - that's about 800
> buttons, according to them. :-) I figure he'll not only be able to dig
> in it, he'll be able to sort, count, and just do all sorts of things with
> it.
I have bought buttons in bulk from craft/fabric stores, for
about the same price. I have never actually counted how many
there were in a bag, though.
One thing I did for my son when he was little was sew a
variety of buttons on a teddy bear. He loved it, I think
because he found fidgeting with the buttons to be soothing.
(So did I...I wonder where that thing went...)
--
Red Panda
The autist formerly known as
inadvertantly that one has not, for instance I would have thought that I had
outgrown spinning objects, however I recently discovered whilst on the
telephone, that I was spinning a pefectly spinable cupboard knob without
even realising I was doing it.
Hand flapping is however confined either to warming my hands up, (when you
can get away with it socially) and as a stress reaction.
Rocking is something I do quite a lot, and often just because it seems
natural and comfortable to me, though I suspect it has something to do with
a poor sence of balance.
But when all is said and done, when I pick up my flute and play it, what is
that but a socially acceptable stim ?
--
şT
L'autisme c'est moi
"Space folds, and folded space bends, and bent folded space contracts and
expands unevenly in every way unconcievable except to someone who does not
believe in the laws of mathematics"
"Irrational Number" <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:NNsRf.1454$HW2...@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
Irrational Number
>
> One thing I did for my son when he was little was sew a variety of
> buttons on a teddy bear. He loved it, I think because he found fidgeting
> with the buttons to be soothing. (So did I...I wonder where that thing
> went...)
I love this idea. I will try it!
-- Anita --
Catriona R
>You reminded me of one of the things I like best about visiting my
>great-grandmothers farm. She had all sorts of interesting things in the
>attic and basement, and I was free to explore & I always spent some time
>playing with the jars of interesting old buttons. Sometimes I would
>count them, sort them in various ways (size, shape, colour,
>material,...), spread them over the floor in patterns like a mosaic, or
>just enjoy the feeling & sound of running my hands through them or
>letting them fall through my fingers and land in the pile. Sometimes
>she would let me keep some of them, and I would pick out the prettiest
>or most interesting to string together in necklaces or use in craft
>projects. There were so many different kinds - more than most sewing
>stores had - that she had saved over the years. I think they just got
>thrown in the trash after she died :-(
I used to love playing with my mum's tub of random buttons when I was
younger - there weren't as many as I'd have liked but there were lots of
different shapes and sizes and colours; I loved looking at them all and
playing around with them. Wow, that takes me back; I'd completely forgotten
that until I read your post!
--
Catriona (22, AS)
abwx
a while ago Catriona R wrote:
> I used to love playing with my mum's tub of random buttons when I was
> younger - there weren't as many as I'd have liked but there were lots of
> different shapes and sizes and colours; I loved looking at them all and
> playing around with them. Wow, that takes me back; I'd completely forgotten
> that until I read your post!
> --
> Catriona (22, AS)
Buttons!
Chris shared this thread with me, because she saw the similarities with
what I have been doing recently with beads (mostly Hama beads and
Perler beads -plastic beads you fuse with an iron but also "ball
mosaic" that aren't quite beads since they lack holes, but are so close
to beads in apperarance that I supplement the supplied balls with
purchased beads --
http://blockplay.blogspot.com/2006/02/ball-mosaic.html and
http://blockplay.blogspot.com/2006/03/large-bead-design.html ).
That reminded me of the button box from my childhood, which I had a
chance to inspect last night, though it turned out most of the buttons
were missing -- http://kvack.blogspot.com/2006/03/rugs-and-buttons.html
-- even though it's only been about fifty years.
"Random buttons" are especially cool, but unfortunately, that term can
also be taken as PTSD triggers, and unfortunately ASA developed too
many random buttons that would trigger me.
Back to the original topic of this thread, I think that ASD kids should
be encouraged to recognize stims and calming activities as coping
skills that they should learn to apply before the need becomes
critical, rather than waiting until they can't help it.
Alan Winston
Seattle
AS, 56
Hylander
Rarely unless it's health threatening. I've only outgrown banging my
head on the couch because my mom told me that I'd be like "one of
_those_ kids". (My mother didn't think I was autistic as a child, she
does realize it now).
H
Catriona R
>"Random buttons" are especially cool, but unfortunately, that term can
>also be taken as PTSD triggers, and unfortunately ASA developed too
>many random buttons that would trigger me.
<snip>
>Alan Winston
>Seattle
>AS, 56
Hey, good to see you again! :-) Shame ASA triggers you; I used to enjoy
reading your posts. Hope things are going alright for you currently,
anyway!
--
Catriona (22, AS)
Chris
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Being *able* to do something does not automatically imply that it is easy
or undemanding." - Terry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Catriona R" <catrion...@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bdbj2256m4olmp9qj...@4ax.com...
Catriona R
wrote:
>I showed alan your reply. He thinks your a schweetie
Hehe :-)
--
Catriona (22, AS)
Chris
I think he likes to confuse me
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's hard to type with a cat in your lap
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Catriona R" <catrion...@totalise.co.uk> wrote in message
news:g8lr22h2p82vchjvl...@4ax.com...
Catriona R
wrote:
>He said "i think of her whenever i run across old groceries in the cupboard"
>
>I think he likes to confuse me
Lol that is indeed confusing - sounds like he thinks I'm mouldy or
something :-P
--
Catriona (22, AS)