Chewing non food items

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Why do autistic people chew on non food items?
And how would crunching ice help the mouth sense and auditory sense?
Thanks in advance

I think people with autism need to 'experience' things in ways other people don't. They may touch objects a lot to get to know them, or analyze auditory or tactile sensations.

Personally, I would rather bleed to the point of needing a virus-infested transfusion than chew ice, or watch someone else chew it, but that's just me.

Last edited by Grey_Kameleon on 24 Feb 2008, 5:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

My [NT] friend used to eat ice all the time and she was told it can be a sign of anaemia. Not quite sure why!

Some non autistic people chew on things as a nervous habit... like nails or hair

by the way, Grey_Kameleon, is chewing ice really that bad?

Chewing on ice is something my father, grandfather, and quite a few other relatives on my paternal side do. It's bad for the teeth, though.

As for chewing on stuff, I find I just need something to exercise my jaw. It's like feeling the need to rock in a rocking chair, or pace back and forth. It's a nervous habit for me to relax.

Ok, this kid chews ALOT and seems almost addicted to ice cubes.
And crunching ice isn't that bad.

"If it's wrong, then I never want to be right!"

GoatMan, oscuria, Poppa doesn't like the ice chewing, he tries to tell Damo is is bad for his teeth but he doesn't listen
Damo's OT said it is better to chew ice than toy cars lets say and he gets water even tho it is frozen

It's quite worse, I'm afraid.

Why do you say that?
I know it may chip the teeth but they will fall out in a year or so anyway. I think it is better to chew ice than other stuff that isn't food.

I was joking. I just can't stand having ice touch my teeth at all.

I used to chew ice quite a bit.

Apparently I used to chew on other things. My sister said I used to eat mud!

I remember being in someones house and there was a pink pill in a key tray. I impulsively put it in my mouth. It had a sweet outer coating but inside was really, really foul so I spat it out. I believed it was rat poison at the time.

I don't know how to answer your question I don't know how anyone else senses. It is a nice feel and sound. I plan to make a thread about how people experience heat and describe it the best I can.

I don't think it's a Asperger thing. I've seen a lot of people do it.

Not chewing the fat topic

As a child, I had a condition called pica and I would chew and eat pencils, including the metal that housed the eraser. Later it was ball point pens, but the ink tasted terrible. I even swallowed glue (the kind made from dead horses). Now, that I think about it, this was strange, but it may have been a form of stimming and the feel of the stuff in my mouth. Other kids would deride me, but the teachers ignored it (they were probably too embarrassed to tell my mother). Classmates were not understanding, to say the least.

I put other things in my mouth too, including whole erasers, marbles, pieces of leather from shoes; the entire list escapes me at the moment. I had a need to feel these things in my mouth. Perhaps there were vitamin and mineral deficiencies, especially when I tried to chew chalk (calcium?)

I still have a minor pen chewing interest, but then many adults do this, but I no longer chew graphite, wood, rubber, metal and other school related items.

Autistics can be more tactile seeking than others,and have a stronger need for this input,it's sensory related, but there are other causes.

Am will chew on anything,including own flesh,computer game cases,clothes that am wearing,wood,if outside-sticks,
the top part of the bed [wooden],games controllers,koosh balls,shelves,cables etc.

I used to chew on wood pencils to relieve stress when I was in school.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE chewing on crushed ice. The kind you can buy at Sonic drive-in. It actually helps me relieve stress. It fills me up and helps me not eat fatty foods I'd otherwise be eating.

I have seriously thought about buying a crushed ice machine.