Blocking nose and blowing hard

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Our 8-yr-old daughter has Asperger's Syndrome. She is fairly high functioning but we have had some ongoing difficulties that I would love to get some suggestions or input on. I've broken them into separate emails for clarity of topic.

She has been plugging her nose and then blowing hard, which makes fluid and sometimes blood leak out of the corners of her eyes. We have explained how extremely unsafe this is and what could happen, but she doesn't care or understand. We still catch her doing it when we're not around or looking. I know she does it because she likes the feeling of the pressure, and we haven't been able to help her find a way to create the feeling another way. Any ideas on this one?

I sometimes press the bones either side of my nose together hard, but i think the subjective effect might be the opposite sensation - (decompression?).

Ive done the blowing thing lightly for relief when my ears have been blocked up, but it leads to headaches within a few days. I suppose you could point out that any headaches/discomfort at any point throughout the day are caused by the blowing? (apologies if thats insultingly obvious)

good luck anyway.

I had a severe problem doing that when I was younger, and still do it to a certain extent. For me it was an obsessive conpulsive disorder. I can't remember exactly why I did it, but it was part of my daily life.

I don't think it's anything to do with the feeling of pressure. You could try asking her why she does it, then work from there. Squeezing my nose and stuff was part of my irrational fear of germs. I knew it was wrong, but could not stop, maybe thne first step is helping her realise that it's daminging and wrong, so she chooses to help herself.

She probably does it in private because she is scared of being told off. I can understand compltely, but it has to be your daughter that wants to stop.

see if you can get someone to help her figure out why she's doing this~what is she getting out of this....if she has an OT, they could help with ideas for helping your daughter release pressure if that 's really what her reasoning is. OT techniques can be effective in reducing or even eliminating undesirable behaviors.

I would suggest talking to her doctor and see why she has the need to do this. I have had a problem for almost the past year now where my tubes that are suppose to drain pressure from my ears to my nose are either plugged or not working properly and the doctor cannot do anything except tell me to do as your daughter is doing.

I have to agree - go to an ear specialist to rule out cronic ear infection / liquid that could be making it hard to hear. It is SO annoying not to be able to hear, and I imagine even more so if she is hypersensitive to noise or has a problem filtering background sounds. My son had ear problems and adenoids for years, and I think a lot of kids with Aspergers/autism may be really susceptible to infections due to a slightly "wonky"immune system!
If it isn't somatic, try ignoring it, as bad habits tend to feed on big reactions. If you can't do that, because you're worried about her eyes, try a reward system: 10 stars, one a day for not doing it = something she REALLY wants. My experience is that it works best if there are 10 boxes for stars/tics, and a picture of the reward underneath, so it is all very organised and visual. If she "slips" - don't punish her, just don't give her a star that day. If she starts doing again at the end of the 10 days, make a new reward system. This has been SURPRISINGLY effective with my son and has rid him of some of his rather "perculiar" habits. (I didn't think it would work when it was suggested to me - but I swear by it now!)