Stim, Tic or sensory? And whats the difference?

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My son does alot of finger chewing, toe chewing (when at home and barefoot) and shirt chewing. Is this a stim, tic or something related to sensory.

He has both aspergers and tourettes and it's sometimes hard to tell the diff.

Stim = self stimulating
Tic = urges that he can't control.

Am I right?

It's a stim. I used to chew shirts. I still do chew sheets, and my nails look mangled. However, I'm a classic autie and not an aspie, as if this make any real difference.

Chewing seems to be a common AS stim. My son's shirts used to get destroyed like you wouldn't believe. But, some things time does help with. He would rather have a carrot now, although pencils still take a beating, his shirts are mostly left alone.

Unfortunately, while a stim may be within his control, it IS something he needs to do to self-calm. You can encourage redirection, but try not to make an issue of it. Straws are good, if you are looking for a replacement.

I agree DW. I never stop him. I know he needs to do it. I just feel bad when he chews them raw. I have tried other substitutes but he always goes back to the chewing of the fingers ect.

Anyway, I always thought it was a tic, but then again I wonder if there's really much of a diff between a tic or a stim....

I see a tic as something the child would eagerly be rid of ... a stim, not so much. They enjoy their stims.

Thats an interesting way of putting it. My son has a lip licking tic and HATES it because it eventually hurts. So that I'm sure is a tic. Poor guy, just when we hope it's gone and won't come back, it does. The only thing I can tell him is it will be gone in a few weeks. Not much else we can do as meds never worked for him for the tics.

My NT 6yr has always chewed his clothes since he was a toddler. He now chews his hands, pencils, toys etc.

He has had some OT for his sensory issues and with allot of deep pressure, this 'chewing' seems to have almost stopped.

He now asks for chewing gum or some ice to suck on (suggestions from the OT). Maybe the ice numbs the need to chew, I dunno, but it works!!

So for my child it is a sensory thing. Craving that deep pressure. Id say for each kid, they have a different 'reason' for chewing!!

We tried chewing gum and it didn't work. He likes his fingers LOL.

We tried stress balls but he would chew it to bits.

The only thing I could think of were chewing necklaces, but the ones I found online were very floresent and very girly.

Why can't they make one in an Army pattern???? He would love that!