vocalizations - stim? tic? huh?

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My 4yo AS has recently started all kinds of vocal/verbal/oral noise making- raspberrying (w/ classmate complaints that he is 'getting them all wet'), airplane noises, random stuff. The only thing he did like that in the past was click his tongue (which drove me BONKERS at bedtime, come to think of it). He's doing more hair touching (mostly mine, other kids' ) , kicking at home while lying down...

He recently started ABA, but they were mostly doing baselines when he started doing this stuff. He's on summer schedule, - same private daycare center but all day instead of 1/2, I can't figure out what this is. It really bugs me that his peers dont' like it- but I don't know how to figure out if there is a sensory issue i'm not getting at here- something he needs or something he is overhwlemd by? I"ll ask the OT but I'm not sure they will well, know what's going on since they don't see him in his normal environment. I will check in w/ his neuro because I don't know how to tell if these are tics. The last thing I want to do is ask him to suppress or stop a behavior without meeting a need behind it...

Thoughts?

Possibly a stimming behavior -- the ABA people need to identify all possible functions of the behavior in order to identify the right course of action for it. If this is happening in a specific environment or situation it may be triggered as part of his anxiety response to the stimuli in that environment or situation. This is why identifying the functions of the behavior is so important.

From your brief post it sounds like there are some changes in his environment lately? If this is true, the behaviors may be coming about because he is anxious and unsettled about the changes. My DS had a real problem for a while in school last year with kissing his classmates. It was definitely was related to anxiety. We had to work really hard with him to stop as it was upsetting for his peers as he would do it when when they told him not to. I think that's what i would focus on in your case, the things like blowing raspberries which is obviously unsanitary and basically unsafe.

You might read this post, it is also about tics, and there is some information websites to help you understand the difference between stims and tics.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt189705.html

Here is another website that has a chart about what different types of self-stimulatory behaviors meet which sensory needs.

http://www.tsbvi.edu/seehear/archive/mannerism.html

Well,
-talked to OT. she doesn't suspect it is sensory
-SLP stresses praise for quiet times, OT also stresses redirection (mouths are good for talking).
-BCBA will examine.
he has been punished (taken out of play) at preschool for this- though also w/ not listening to teacher? Btu I find-- most important is the BCBA comes up w a plan and that the preschool staff follow it and do NOT punish him, because that makes him more anxious. I believe anxiety may be involved in this.
But I find that I'm still concerned this may be a tic. I can't find anything in any of the links generously shared that makes it clear either way--- I think I need to put the call in to the neurologist and let her be the judge. I am worried about him being stressed out by other people's reactions.. sigh.

I'm surprised OT doesn't suspect this is sensory when you look at the behaviors:

- hair touching (texture)
- kicking at home (sensory input)
- blowing raspberries (this may be sensory -- lips together and coming apart in rapid succession)
- the actual noises may be tics of some kind, for example, some people keep clearing their throats.

I'm also curious what the response is when he engages in these behaviors at school, is he getting out of tasks (therefore these serve as escape function), is he getting attention (attention seeking) -- this is for BCBA to identify of course. Maybe the BCBA will suggest non-contingent rewarding (praising when not engaging in that behavior), but I'm more interested in the function, because you may see behaviors shift from not addressing some underlying issue (anxiety? sensory? escape? attention seeking? etc.)

good luck and please let us know what happens!

^^ This.

I am sorry I cannot provide more help. My daughter had issues from kinder to 3rd grade because her stim was very distracting, socially inapropriate, and she did it mostly inside the classroom. That was her way of coping with boredom. Her stim allowed her to substract herself from her environment. We found a great behavioral therapist who helped our daughter to overcome her stim. She did not switch if for another, just stopped doing it. Now, about 4 years later, she is able to recognize when she feels the need of stimming and what she does is that she changes the activity she was doing (trigger) until the urge passes. Unfortunately I cannot tell you what the therapist do, but it worked immediately and like a charm. All I know is she helped our daughter to recognize and control her impulses. Maybe you can try with a therapist.

Ilka -- That is amazing that your daughter can now identify the trigger! Thanks for sharing this with us, I'm definitely going to keep this in mind as my child grows as well. I'm also wondering if this isn't the reason why some parents have their children receive cognitive behavioral therapy as the children grow.

could be a stim -enjoying the sound or the way it feels to form sounds est. Sometimes when I don't know what to do in a social setting I fall back on phrases or sounds.

Jojo's mom here,

Hi Mamabird, It sometimes does not matter how the watch was built, only if it runs. Even if is somewhat neuro in nature you can teach them quieter more acceptable ways to to stim. When you begin a behavior mod program several things are important. Target one behavior. Reward imediately like has not rasberried for30 min, gets rewards. when that behavior modified about minimum
six weeks then start on the next one. if he relapses step back until progress regained. Use the mildest punishment for the shortest time to get their attention to avoid creating ODD.
Sounds to this old mom, they are trying to move too far, too fast and that is why he is self stimulating.
Also when you begin a mod program it will get worse before it gets better. They should be assessing at least once a week if their mod program is working. It definitely seems like a stim though....also figet toys help too.

This is why I support therapists and not psychologists. Psychologists did nothing for my kid. But with therapy we started to see results in weeks! Our child was diagnosed when she was 8, and she's being receiving therapy since then. In the beginning she attended 3 hours a week: 2 hours individual therapy and 1 hour group therapy, because she needed to learn how to behave inside the classroom. After 1 year the therapy was reduced to two hours of individual therapy per week. The issue is new things keep surfacing all the time, as she grows up and have to face new situations she is not prepared for, so I think we will keep her on therapy as long as she needs. Her therapist is our friend and my kid loves her very much. I feel we are blessed because we were able to find the right help for our daughter.