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I like to chew things.

Amy

Hello

I am someone with Autism but I have only just been diagnosed and this is my first post here. I have noticed this site is very complicated and confusing so I hope I have done everything correctly.

I am 16 and left school on Friday. I am hoping to go collage next year. 
Now I know that I have autism not much has happened to help me. I have done research and learnt a lot about myself that I never knew and worked out why I have always felt different from everyone else. 

One of the things I always do is to chew things. At the moment it is these rubber bracelets. No-one knows about it because I am too ashamed to tell them so I only ever do it when I am alone. It really helps me because if I do not chew then my mouth hurts sometimes-but if I chew too much my teeth hurt. I think it hurts if I do not chew because I am shy and do not talk very much at school so I do not use my mouth. 

I have found these things online which are made in Canada and designed for children with sensory issues. Without trying to 'promote' them in any way because I do not know if this is allowed or not. Basically they are necklaces that have a rubber shape on the end for a child to chew or fidget with. 

I think one of these sounds amazing.. I could wear it to collage and it would help me so much. But, the problem is that I would have to talk to someone about it (like my mum) and ask her to buy one for me. 
Another problem is that if people picked on me for it. I have been bullied all my life so I am used to it, but it still scares me that new people will do it and I do not know why. 
I am not trying to look like the best teenager around and I do not want to have friends, but I think that to do the best in collage I will need to join in with people sometimes and this will be hard anyway but made even harder if everyone thinks I am a baby.

Can I have some suggestions for what I should do about this please?

Amy 

Parents

  • hello, 

      I'm also new to the site if it helps, I'm 18 and I got diagnosed when I was 16 I didn't really get much support so like yourself I did a lot of research about Autism and one thing I've found out through experience is that it's a learning process I'm still finding out new things about myself and how autism affects me however I've just found out about autism classes where you and your parents can go and get help and support by professionals I'm currently on the waiting list but have heard nothing but good things maybe perhaps you can look into classes near you. I also love to chew on things right now it's my lanyard from college it has teeth marks all over it, I found it helps a lot whenever I'm anxious or my senses are overloaded as it helps to keep me grounded. I to have discovered something similar to what you're describing it's a brick stick that looks like a lego brick and comes like a necklace I'm very much looking forward to it being delivered as I have found out that my teeth hurt if I chew on my lanyard for a long period of time however not chewing it making everything worse. I would highly recommend telling your mother about maybe getting the bracelet you've describe as it will help your teeth in the long run, I was also scared about people knowing I chew on things and knowing I was autistic but I told my teachers and I'm now finally getting support in my work, I've also told the people in my class about both being diagnosed and chewing and I can honestly say they didn't have any problems with either but they were fascinated about it all and asked many questions about both. I feel as though it has made college a lot easier now they know because now they know that sometimes it takes me longer to understand something or that I often say things in what can be considered a very straight forward way and whenever I do so they help me to understand that it may not have been appropriate and what a better way of saying it would have be. I would also recommend researching body language, facial expressions and how to recognise emotions as this helped me a lot in social situations as I was more aware of what was happening around me and how to give of the right messages. 

Reply

  • hello, 

      I'm also new to the site if it helps, I'm 18 and I got diagnosed when I was 16 I didn't really get much support so like yourself I did a lot of research about Autism and one thing I've found out through experience is that it's a learning process I'm still finding out new things about myself and how autism affects me however I've just found out about autism classes where you and your parents can go and get help and support by professionals I'm currently on the waiting list but have heard nothing but good things maybe perhaps you can look into classes near you. I also love to chew on things right now it's my lanyard from college it has teeth marks all over it, I found it helps a lot whenever I'm anxious or my senses are overloaded as it helps to keep me grounded. I to have discovered something similar to what you're describing it's a brick stick that looks like a lego brick and comes like a necklace I'm very much looking forward to it being delivered as I have found out that my teeth hurt if I chew on my lanyard for a long period of time however not chewing it making everything worse. I would highly recommend telling your mother about maybe getting the bracelet you've describe as it will help your teeth in the long run, I was also scared about people knowing I chew on things and knowing I was autistic but I told my teachers and I'm now finally getting support in my work, I've also told the people in my class about both being diagnosed and chewing and I can honestly say they didn't have any problems with either but they were fascinated about it all and asked many questions about both. I feel as though it has made college a lot easier now they know because now they know that sometimes it takes me longer to understand something or that I often say things in what can be considered a very straight forward way and whenever I do so they help me to understand that it may not have been appropriate and what a better way of saying it would have be. I would also recommend researching body language, facial expressions and how to recognise emotions as this helped me a lot in social situations as I was more aware of what was happening around me and how to give of the right messages. 

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