Hand flapping

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My daughter flaps her hands rapidly when she's trying to think of the right words to express herself, but she sits and rocks when she's anxious. Lately, she's also taken to singing while doing her homework...my husband and I love to listen to her sing

I'm not exactly sure what all falls under the term hand flapping. My son's whole body is in motion a lot of the time. He dances around in odd ways, flailing his arms at times, but i'm not sure if that would count. He does also rock sometimes while perched on his feet in a squatting position or on his knees with his fists on the floor in front of him for balance, usually while he's talking to someone. He's a bit of a gymnast and quite acrobatic, as he's been REALLY into Spiderman since he was 5, and still is at 11. I'm not quite sure how much of it is just high energy or if he is actually stimming. He's a furniture jumper, trampoline trick fanatic, and cartwheels through the living room instead of walking in about half the time. It drives me nuts when he takes flying leaps onto my bed or the couch instead of just sitting down. He also drums on tabletops and things like that. We've been talking about getting him a bongo set, as he actually keeps a decent beat. I know for sure he's stimming when he makes repetitive noises constantly, but that's the only thing i'm sure about.

Peace.

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SAHM to 3 home schooled boys, ages 11 undiagnosed AS, almost 9 NT, and 4 NT. We also share our home with 13 companion animals including 5 cats, 2 dogs, 3 ferrets, 2 aquatic turtles, and 1 chinese water dragon

My possible-AS daughter flaps her hands quite a bit, especially when she is excited or when she cannot think of the word she's trying to say.

The other thing she has done a long time is use her hands as if they were puppets, calling them her "hand helpers." These hand helpers do all sorts of things for her, including helping her do her work and helping her eat her dinner.

My 6-year-old, just diagnosed with Asperger's has been doing hand stims for years. It's not exactly flapping, more waving her hands up in the air with arms held high. A lot of times, she does it while bouncing on her hop ball and it's usually accompanied by vocalizations that sound like laughing, but not exactly. She does it a lot when she's happy or concentrating on something. She doesn't do it in public as much as she did a few years ago, but if she feels comfortable somewhere outside the home, she will often do it.

My 9 yo used to do this a lot when he was excited or thinking. Now, he does this less often.

my son (6) does this all the time when he gets excited it is pretty funny especially when he is doing it while playing computer games...my brother calls him the little bird...lol.
actually he usually jumps and flaps at the same time.

I flapped my hands until I was in 7th grade, when I finally broke the habit. It took many consistent reminders, but it got done.

I will have to run a search on this "hand flapping" phenomena. LOL I thought everyone does it. Is there something wrong with it?

I don' think there is anything wrong with it, I am just concerned that the older my son gets, he will get picked on at school for it. I guess it is out of my control---he will decide if and when he wants to stop it.

I've noticed when intervention is applied to curb the "stims" from my son that they arise is other form. The last type of "stim" went from hand signals to writing in air with an index finger. The kids really seem to love him and the teachers are now diverting his stimming to clinching his fists. Once he accomplishes this I believe that the chances of him being picked on will be less.
Hand flapping was his very first stim that my wife and I noticed at about age 3.

My son flaps sometimes if he is very happy or excited. What he has always done ever since he was a newborn, once he was strong enough...he rolls back and forth when he is lying down. It was the first cue that a nurse noticed and she asked me if he had any type of developmental issues.He was over two years old at the time. I am embarrassed to say it had never even occurred to me til then! I just thought it was something cute that he did.