Licking?

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Yes - my daughter licks. She likes to lick faces sometimes - it REALLY bothers me when she does it to me.
She also used to chew clothing (when she was in the 3-4 year old range). She had a pacifier until she was 3 (yes, boo hiss, I'm a bad mother - the ladies on Baby Center told me so). She is very oral - always put things into her mouth and still does - it has gotten better from where she was as a toddler, but she does still do it.
The other thing that she does is lick her fingers and then rub the saliva on her eyelids (or sometimes just around/near her eyes). I'm not sure what that is (maybe something to do with the slippery feeling?), but I'm sure that it's some sort of stim for her. Anyone else do something similar?
Since we're on the subject of behaviors, she also "collects" things -when she was a toddler, she always collected sticks whenever she was outside at daycare (or home, for that matter). Her cubby was full of sticks (small twigs, actually) - so much so that they had a container that she could stick them into (so that the other children couldn't get to them as well ).
I simply cannot take her into a store without her picking something up - I used to refer to her as my little crow - she can spot a tiny, shiny thing from a mile away. She will pick up anything from money to sequins, to gems that have fallen off of clothing, to strings/yarn, to broken bits of hangers, to the size things that go on the top of the hanger, rubber bands, safety pins..............the list goes on and on. Both hands and her pockets will be full by the time we leave the store.
Oh...and ROCKS, jow did I forget them? - she must have 30 pounds of rocks (most of them unremarkable to my untrained eyes) stashed in her room.

Gardengirl, I'm laughing about the babycenter thing. Some of them can be so judgmental, right?
Thanks for your response on the licking, I'm getting used to it, but it's still a little weird. As for the collecting, dd isn't quite as bad as your daughter about that one, but she does pick up tons of sticks and rocks when we go for walks. I let her keep them for a day or so, but then we throw them out.

Thanks again to everyone else for helping me understand this quirk of my daughters. I'm new to this whole world so learning all the details like stimming is going to take me a while.

Hi, yep my 3 year old PDD daughter has always been a "licker" too! The floor matts at the barber shop her daddy owns and the one that drives me the most insane, the floor matts at her uncles car repair shop! That one is just dangerous! YUCKY!! She will also suck on her hair. My undiagnosed 21 month old sucks/chews on her fingers all day. I do believe that this is pretty typical of ASD kids. and if I remember correctly, there was a question whether or not she did this on the ASD questionnaire I filled out when having her evaluated. So I would not worry too much, unless she starts licking the matts at your auto local auto body shop ..just try to distract her away from it, I sometimes wonder if they are using their sence of taste the same way we use our sence of touch? With my daughter, giving her an apple slice seems to work well.

I used to lick everything as a child. It drove my mom crazy. I remember doing it and it had nothing to do with taste, I simply wanted to feel what the texture would feel like to my tounge. Maybe I can have my mom post on here about it.

Hi Guys,

My 5yr old ASD son chews his right hand (never the left) when his emotions run high, generally when excitable. Like his stimming, stepping and swivelling actions - i just let him go for it if he or anyone around is no danger. Other times i can modify his activities so distracting him. He has good and bad days - i notice illness and low energy can trigger some of the symptoms.

Interestingly, he hardly used a pacifier, chew toys or other materials. Although he does have sensory interests with touch (different materials, wet or cold etc.) and oral (ie. food stuff).

He's a happy go lucky kid who enjoys life, i'm just aware of his sensory behaviour and accept this is part of his character.

Cheers

My 8yo son licks people. He isn't diagnosed with anything, although he does have major food issues (as in there are about a dozen things he will eat, and 4 of those are potato products)
He also chews his fingers and toes, to the point where he has needed antibiotics on occasions to treat infected toes. His fingernails are really short and his fingers are sore, but if I put that bitter tasting stuff on his nails to stop him, he wont eat anything at all.

I wasn't sure if the licking was a possible sign of asperger's, but The more I read, the more of his little quirks are signs.

I checked out chewlwry, and maybe He would take to a bracelet if it was not too girly (though he probably wouldn't be as bothered as his class mates would be lol)

I used to lick EVERYTHING as a kid too. It drove my mother, who probably has some form of OCD crazy. I would litterly lick everything I could get my hands on. I remember doing it. I just wanted to see what the texture of the object would feel like on my tounge. As an adult, the only thing I really get the temptation to lick is my pet lizard. She's all sorts of diffrent textures and I wounder what those textures would feel like on my tounge.

I would bite my nails down to the point where they would bleed. My mom tried a taste adversive but it didn't work. I would just wash it off and when I couldn't have acess to a sink, I would just lick it off. I would also bit my toenails when there were no more fingernails to bite. I would just let loose and do it anywhere I pleased at home, but at school I would go into a restroom stall and do it. I liked how it felt to bite my nails. I used to want to grow my nails longer but only so I would have more to bite. I still chew my nails until the bleed but getting me out of the stressful school enviroment did help a lot. I haven't chewed my toenails in years.

I had a stim where I would flick my toes and would do it so bad I would rub them raw. I still do it on ocassion and have scars from where they were rubbed raw. I sometimes need to chew things as an adult. Gum or special things made espicaly for autistic people won't do. They are too soft and don't give me the pressure sensation to the gums I am trying to get in the first place. I need something HARD. I use chew toys meant for dogs that are agressive chewers. Sometimes my teeth itch on the inside and chomping down on something REALLY HARD is the only way to stop it. The weird thing is that it were certian teeth that always itched and they always itched the most when I was stressed. I was seriously having those teeth pulled it was so bad.

Our 4 year old son licks everything as well. The couch is a very soft suede that gets covered in saliva rings form him licking it I am always using suede cleaner to buff them out, his fingers, his shirt, he licks the hard wood floors, condensation off anything, and I have even caught him licking my deodorant stick. We use chewy tubes http://www.amazon.com/PS-AND-QS-CHEWY-T ... B0018C0HTI, as well as dum dum lollipops (I like the small size so he doesnt get a huge load of sugar), as well as smoothies or milo through a straw.

I licked when I was little. I used to lick people too. Now I like licking my baby sort of. I put my mouth on his cheeks and lick.