Help me understand something

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Hi! I'm pretty new here as you can see. My 2 year sold was diagnosed pdd-nos when he turned 2 in March. We're told it's extremely mild (so far anyway) He does some stimming things and I have a few questions about that that I'm hoping someone can help me with.

He spins himself and walks (runs) in circles and seems to have a ball doing this. He'll actually say "spin, spin, spin" as he's spinning, get dizzy and fall down and giggle. He also does this side staring thing while he's doing other stimming type things like walking back and forth along a fence and sometimes just side stares at things like he's getting a different view on it. I actually understand (I think) what he's getting from the spinning and going in circles but I can't pinpoint what he's getting from the side staring. Anyone here who did/does this and can you tell me what it did for you, how it helped? His speech therapist is kind of trying to get me to intervene on these to try and stop the behavior but I don't know if I agree with that. Not while he's only 2 at least and won't understand why I'm making him stop something that makes him feel better. I'll worry about it more when he's older and can hopefully he tell me himself how he feels.

Any insight?

Thanks bunches!
Lynne

Spinning can be fun. If he's having a good time and not hurting himself, what's the problem? If he's doing it constantly, he'll probably get over it after a while. I like to look at spinning fans. Others like to look at spinning objects or tops. Maybe show him some spinning objects and get him to associate the word spin with the spinning objects. His spinning is probably a stim. I used to spin for a little while and then I quit. I stopped getting dizzy though...you may find that your son will stop staggering around after he spins. That might get him to quit. If you try to intervenene and force him to stop, he may have a tantrum or meltdown...not immediately after, but soon after. Just let him do his thing as long as he's not injuring himself or others. He'll be okay.

Oh I definitely don't have any problem with him spinning. I let him do it till he's done which for his is usually only for about 2 or 3 minutes if that. I see no harm in it at all and he seems to have fun with it. He does look at fans and wheels too and other spinning things. He doesn't usually do any of these for too long and then moves on. And if I do interrupt he has no problem with that either. As a matter of fact, he's not much of a tantrum thrower at all under any circumstances. He transitions well from activity to activity and doesn't require routine. The thing I'm most curious about though is what type of stimulation he's receiving from the peripheral staring. When he looks sideways at things I'm left wondering how that is stimulating his senses or what that behavior is fulfilling. I'm hoping that if anyone here has done or does this they can give me some insight into what may be going on in his head. I know we're all different but maybe someone has some ideas? I don't really want to stop it, I just want to understand his world a little better. I especially wouldn't want to stop it if he needs it for his psychological well being. I don't care how it looks to anyone else, his feeling good with himself and the world is what's most important to me. If down the road he still does this and is concerned about how others perceive him, then we'll tackle the issues. But not at 2 when he can't really tell me what he wants.

Ok, I'm babbling. I just want to help him as much as I can. Thanks very much for your response!

I think you sound like a great parent witha health attitude(not worried what "others" think...part of the down fall of civilization IMO)I hope he wasnt given diagnoses based on this kind of steming...playgrounds are desighned for selfstemming...swings,slides,those cool things that spin in circles....all based on adrinaline released when we temporarily lose our sense of balance...it just feels good!The head tilt ....the only thing I can think is that it might help him focus on a specific item....if you look straight on to horizon you can get sensory over load...to much info coming in ,but if you turn your head sideways you lose the horizine effect and it is easier to focus on a sigle object and all its details.....its like taking literally....a new "perspective" on something can help you understand it better....make anysense?kind of hard to explain in words...have you tried doing it and seeing how you feel/see?

Thanks krex! I think I know exactly what you mean. To simplify things greatly, it's like adjusting the brightness on a tv set. When it's too bright it's hard to look at and you can't focus but turn down the brightness and everything comes into focus and is understandable. That definitely makes sense to me. I have tried doing this myself to try to gain his perspective but I just get out of focus and dizzy. I'm thinking if that was his experience he definitely wouldn't be doing it.

Thanks so much! I'm really happy now that I think I understand this.

Lynne

I sometimes look at things in a different way - from the side, above or under my glasses, with my glasses to the side, with crossed eyes, etc. I think for me it is just having a new perspective. I usually do it when I'm bored though, I have to say. But perpective is what I'd go for at the moment.

The Dizzy feeling is part of what I think he enjoys....the loss of a sense of balance matbe annoying to some but kids seem to love it....I used to but now get nausious in those situations...no more rollercoasters for me...he may outgrow this as I did, but we are all unique.Thank goodness!