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#1 2008-03-03 10:40:37
- bendybear
- New member
- Posts: 1
Biting self
My son 3 1/2 mod-sev autism has been biting ALOT lately, his poor arm looks awful, sometimes its in anger or frustration and other times it seems sensory, any suggestions to divert his mouth to something less painful or to stop it completely?
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#2 2008-03-04 07:12:20
- cjkellie
- Member
- Posts: 25
Re: Biting self
I have this issue too. My son just started biting when he began puberty. He will bite his hand when highly frustrated. Something that has helped here - hasn't stopped it but it has decreased it - when Chad is upset we count to 10 and finish with soft touch,, kinda like a high 5 but I keep my hand low and say soft. This way I know he is calm down. We have been working on this for about 3 years. Now when he is getting frustrated I can often say "soft touch" and he will bring his hand out to mine. It's just redirecting him - I also have noticed that when he does bite his hand he isn't biting as hard as he used to. His doesn't bruise himself much anymore..
This is a tough issue. It just hurt me so much to see him hurting himself. Chad will also smack himself in the back of his hand on his head. I just try the counting and it has worked for him. Good luck
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#4 2008-03-06 06:04:05
- olds442
- New member
- Posts: 1
Re: Biting self
I'm no expert but we have a child at school that bites us and herself.We have her bite a teething type toy pillow something other than us or herself. It has lessened but not solved the problem. Maybe he can do that or try to redirect him into doing something else. I hope this will help
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#5 2008-03-06 09:14:27
- SHERBEAR
- New member
- Posts: 1
Re: Biting self
My Michael also started biting himself on his arms when he was about 3 1/2. After trying many interventions, that were reccommended by his OT therapists and behaviorist, we were unable to find any redirection or therapy that worked.
At age 5 , our peditrician wanted to medicate him for SIB. His arms were a mess!
At the same time all this was all happening, I attended my first DAN! Conference in Boston with 3 good friends who also are moms of beautiful boys who have Autism.
During that conference I had the great honor of meeting Dr. Andy Wakefield AND talking with him about my Michael. He told me it was a very good possibility that the biting, along with other symptoms he had, were caused by pain from LNH or Lymphoid Nodular Hyperplasia. He suggested I should get him scoped ASAP.
I went home and started researching. I made an appointment w/ Dr. Krigsman in L.I. and had Michael scoped and he also swallowed a pillcam.
Dr. Wakefield was right. Michael did have pretty severe GI disease just as he had thought and he was in pain and unable to tell me. He would bite himself to release the natural endorphins to decrease his pain.
Michael recieved treatment for the inflammation and pain and today at age 9 is a completely different boy. The biting stopped, the tantrums stopped and he talks. He talks so much that I find myself asking him to please be quiet!
I never thought in a million years those words would come out of my mouth!
Just another perspective to consider.
God Bless,
Sherry
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#6 2008-05-21 16:23:54
- LisaAutismAdvocate
- Member
- Posts: 111
Re: Biting self
Does he have an Occupational Therapist? A couple things come to my mind...it does sound Sensory and like he is looking for a way to calm himself down. I think a good start would be to get him more Occupational Therapy and sensory imput...or a sensory diet. Have you tried Brushing or a Weighted Vest? When Richie was 3 the Brushing just made him more hyper...but I know it helped some kids....so its worth a try. But what did help him was a Weighted Vest. Also a Chewy tube for him to Chew on. Other sensory things you can do with him....Get a Great Big Box and let him Play in it, A mini Trampoline or an old crib matress works too....a ball pit, Swing. Something else that comes to mind...when richie was that age...he would also take baths, to calm down, because he loved water. Alot is going to be trial and err.....till he finds another calming activity to replace the biting. But one thing I did learn...when I increased richie's daily activity level...the behaviors decreased some....and he was more able to focus better on tasks.
Figure out which of the activities work best...maybe vibrating teething toys too....or toothbrushes....and what you can do is make a PECS Choice Board for him...and let him Choose which one he wants from there...so you are working on his Communication Skills too.
Hope this helps some.....
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