Increasing stims

I have an 9 year old son who has very HFA. Overall he does really well. Lately he has started rocking when he is in a setting where he needs to sit still i.e. church, school. He "hums" at times now especially when he is running. He has always "flapped" which is for the most part unchanged. He is an A honor roll student but we are now getting notes that he is having problems focusing in class, hasn't been able to complete his classwork and his grades have dropped slightly.

We've gone through many stages over the years but it just seems like some of this is a step backwards which we haven't experienced.

We've tried multiple "natural" vitamins/minerals to try to help with focus and attention span. Usually I can come up with a new game plan but right now I am just at a complete loss as to what to do next??

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Well boys do start puberty at around age 9-10 so that is something to keep in mind. Also stimming is done for two reasons stress control, or to provide pleasure. Sadly little research is done on the above two things I just talked about.

Hi DeterminedMom!

It is never fun to see a new behavior emerge, especially one that "looks funny" to the outside world. It is common, however, for stims to emerge at different times. My own son started a new one just this year; he's 14 and has begun steepling his fingers, then flipping them down...and up...and down.

The tough thing about stims is that you're always trying to figure out: Does this behavior serve any function, or is it random? Is it a response to a sensory issue, or is it soothing anxiety, or helping in some other way? And how do you balance that with how disruptive it might be, or how much it adds to the other kids' perception of your child as different? (Of course, we all work to get others to understand and accept, but the more outward behaviors disrupt things, the harder that is.)

Often, behaviors that aren't that disruptive are left be. Another option is to try to teach that certain behaviors are OK in private, or at home in front of the TV, say, but not OK at school.

You also mentioned issues of attention. These are very common in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Again, if these begin to really interfere in ability to learn or function, it may be time to consider talking to a psychiatrist about the possibility of trying some medication, or other therapies. A psychiatrist might also be able to provide input about the stimming behaviors.

One last thing: It is actually very common for children with ASD, especially those high functioning enough to be out in a regular classroom, to have a hard time right around the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade. This is when they fall the most obviously behind in social understanding. I commonly hear parents say that their high functioning child with ASD is "3-4 years behind socially and emotionally." That isn't so glaring in Kindergarten, but it is glaring by late elementary school. Another thing you might consider as time goes on, especially if it turns out social stress or loneliness are becoming a problem, is a social skills group (which often also function as a support group). See our recent article here: http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/ian_research_reports/treatment_series_social_skills_groups