Hand and finger licking in need of some advice.

Hi I am quite new to this, I have a 10 year old son who has learning disabilities and is awaiting assessment for Autism, he has always had a thing about putting his fingers in his mouth to the point that fingers on one hand look different to those on the other. Over the last few months this has been getting worse and he has been licking the palm of his hand also, he doesn’t appear to realise he is doing this. Along with this came a strange breathing thing where every so often he does a sharp intake of breath with a jump. I’m worried about how this may affect his lungs and also the germs he is going to pick up. We’ve spoken about it but as mentioned before he doesn’t realise he is doing this, he has started to feel different to other kids at school and I’m also worried they are going to start noticing him doing this too. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as we are really struggling as it is at the moment. Thank you. 

  • Hi, 

    You may like to contact our Parent to Parent service who offers advice and support to parents and carers of children with autism. This service is confidential and run by trained volunteers who are all parents themselves of a child or adult with autism .
    You contact the team on 0808 800 4106. Please leave a message and the team will call you back as soon as possible at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends. Or alternatively you can use contact the team via web form: www.autism.org.uk/.../enquiry.aspx

    Hope this helps, 

    SteveMod 

  • Have you tried offering him a sensory item to replace using his fingers? These are a bit more hygienic as they can be washed and sterilised.