Searching for other parents who's ASD kids do these things..

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Hi! I have two girls, 3 & 21 months, 3 year old ASD & 21 month old looking more like it everyday. They each have a "behavior" that I have tried to google, with no luck. My 3 year old for about the last 2 years has been doing this "movement" when ever in a seat... she also sometimes does something similar since about 4 months when being held, anyway someone thought that she maybe having a seizure, so I took her to a neurologist and he laughed and said she was "pleasing herself". Everyone, even my dad said that is ridiculous because first of all she looks like she is in pain and second, if seated that long, she will do it up to 4 hours! She does it both when she is happy and upset, though when upset it is more intense. After long periods of time doing it she does start to "space". Just wondering if anyone else has seen this? And then there is Lillian Dorothy, my 22 month old. now I know there are a lot of kids out there who head bang and rock, but this is getting ridiculous! I am having to have her fitted for a helmet next week because she is starting to really mess up her skull with all the lumps. She sits and wacks her head against the was continuously! She is not upset usually when doing this either. she also does it in her crib, her routine is to rock her self on hands and knees at bed time and throughout the day, but it is the whacking her head on wall and crib that I am concerned about! So if anyone has seen this one please let me know..when I google it, it just talks about mild forms, typical toddler stuff, there is nothing TYPICAL about this!-Thanks

It's called stimming.

My little sister would lay on the floor and shake rather oddly, and my parents thought it was some kind of seizure before she was dxed with autism.

Yeah, it is called stimming and it is fairly common. If you want more info than you might want to read the book I mentioned in your other thread. It covers a lot of common questions.

Hi- I started the rocking on my hands and knees as a baby in my crib, and I'd butt my head on the wood of my crib, hard enough to move my crib! I would sit upright and bang my head on the back of the couch and walls, and every night before I went to bed, I'd bang my head on my headboard with my pillow over it. I did this until I was 14!! I've never been diagnosed with anything, but my AS son reminds in some ways of myself, but he is way more severe than I ever was. My parents said the banging was weird, but that it was obvious to them sort of self comforting (I also sucked my thumb until I was 11). I seemed smart and otherwise normal, so they never were too concerned about it. I quit doing it in public early on, and even in front of my family by the time I was about 10. As far as I can tell, it didn't mess me up. lol Anyway, none of my kids do that, but wanted to offer some assurance. As far as your other daughter, have you looked up tics?

Hi guys, thanks for your feed back. I knew my 3 year olds was stimming, but that is what you think my 21 month old is doing too, when she is beating her head on the wall? I admit that this one is worrying me because she is "damaging" her head, leaving large bumps all over the back of her head. Normally, with the 14 and 3 year old I let them just do this, they do it because it helps them right? But the baby, she is actually hurting herself, even though she seems to enjoy it, so maybe when I get her the helmet it would be ok to just let her do it then? Or should I try to get her to stop even then? Thanks for your input guys!

I'd take a guess and say she's trying to provide one form of stimulation to drown out another that's she's having problems coping with. The problem is if she ends up doing this for too long, the action will become connected to the feeling, and eventually she may just end up doing it regardless of any unpleasant stimulation, just because now the action stimulates those feeling on it's own.

Might be an idea to try and find out if there's something like strong lights/smells/certain textures that set her off, although it could be really hard to track down, as it may even be caused by her thinking about something that happened previously (why a lot of aspies have to get something like cognitive behavioral therapy when we get older, so we have more control about what we think about. It's all to easy for an aspie to obsess over something that can drive them further into depression, or to sink into an obsession they enjoy, to avoid thinking about something unpleasant).

If she's seeking the firm pressure that a lot of autistics seem to enjoy, compared to us not liking light touch at all, then banging may be the only way to get the pressure high enough, as she's not strong enough to press her head against something firmly enough to find it satisfying (there's a few threads about lead weighted blankets on forums that might give a bit of insight into this)

Thanks guys! I really appreciate all of the input. humanoid5, yep that is pretty much what she IS doing! I am glad to know that you grew out of it, did you have bumps all over your head? Lillian, my daughter, I noticed this morning has BIG bumps in 3 different spots and she has hair stubble there, because she has rubbed the hair off, poor baby! But I am getting an appointment to have her fitted for a helmet, so maybe that will help! and thanks polarity for bringing up the weighted blanket idea-I had not thought of that for this situation! Tracker, I know that a more recent development in Lillian is that she can not handle her sisters screaming, or any other kids screaming, she either bites them, or if I am closer, then she bites me! And buryuntime, yeah I do believe you are right about stopping her and her moving on to something else, again, like biting Mommy! Some days I tell her it is a good thing she is adorable! Thanks again to everyone who offered ideas!