Chewing on shirts

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Do any of you do this, or any of your kids with AS? My son likes to chew on his sleeves and his shirt collar. Is this just a way to relieve anxiety? Thanks.

The thought of chewing fabric makes me want to vomit - sensory issue there I think. However, I did chew my hair pretty compulsively as a kid, so it could be a similar thing.

no but sometimes i like chewing on wet rags and sucking the water out of them

I used to chew on my shirt to stim. Now as an adult I chew about 9 pieces of gum per day.

so is it to relieve anxiety? my son can go through a pack of gum in a minute. no joke.

I did this allot up until I was about 11. Any long sleeve shirts I had got holes all in the cuffs. I used to get in trouble for it, I also had jackets with strings in the hood that resembled shoe strings and I would chew on those as well.

Wow, I thought my son was the only person who does that! He insists they're warm, and he'll bring them to me every few minutes to run them under the tap to warm them up.

My older son chews on his collar. I kept finding little tiny holes in the exact same places on his shirts. I couldn't figure it out until one day I noticed that when he's concentrating on something that he chews on his shirts. I think it's just a stim, kinda like how I always chew my nails, and lips, except it's with fabric instead.

That was a verrrrry hard habit for me to break. I don't even remember when I broke it, but I just had to chew every shirt I would wear.

yes, my son does the same. his collars and sleeves will get all stretched out and soggy because of it.

Yes, the same for me. All my old, thin shirts have holes in them because I used to chew them. At some point, however, I quite doing so.

I used to do this all the time when I was little- seriously, I have a sweatshirt that I owned in elementary school, and the neckline and sleeves are destroyed. (My aunt, who gave me the sweater wasn't too happy...) I'll still do it every once in a while, I guess, but not enough to actually put holes in it. I've learned my lesson.

did it just relax you or was it a habit with no purpose?

I used to do that frequently but quit at age 13, after my dad caught me sucking on one and told me "...people wash their ass with that rag. You could get hepatitis doing that!"

I chew the end of my ties whilst im at work if that counts

I did it when I was 5-6, in first grade. I had dresses that had little ties on them, on the collar. My son started around the same time sucking on his shirt collars and did it for about 2-3 years. He doesn't do it anymore.
As an alternative, we provided cold rags, which he liked as a baby.

for me it was never about anxiety, but about stim and concentration.

Chewing (specifically gum) has Been theorized/Proven (can't find the actual study) to improve mental function. A lot of oral stims are related to concentration for me, and there is actual science to back up the fact that people can actually think better when they are chewing.

I work in a creative, technical job, and when I am stuck on a problem, or when I need the thoughts to flow more quickly, I pop in a piece of gum.

I have always sought out chewy candy and chewy gum, I have also always chewed on pens, shirts, etc.