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My son is autistic, ADHD, and Tourettes

NAS83659

Hi,

 my son is highly repetitive. He has recently been diagnosed with Tourette’s. I’m use to what he does. I need help to what I can do when he does them on how I can redirect and what I can get him to do something else. He is obsessed with washing machines and he shakes EVERYTHING. He helps me with laundry. I got him a little washing machine but in ABA he shakes everything and wherever we go he finds things to shake. It seems this is a soothing to him when he does it. He does ABA but he won’t stop and it is really interrupting the other children and therapists there. HELP! What things can help him? Thanks

Parents

  • You have hit the nail on the head when you note the shaking is soothing for him.

    The shaking of objects is a stim. Most autistic people need to stim to regulate their emotions. If he is stimming more in ABA that is a sure fire indicator that the ABA is distressing him. Unfortunately one of the goals ABA often has is to stop the kid stimming.

    I am 57. I still stim. The big anxiety stim I have is in my feet. They bounce and bounce and bounce from the ankle whenever I am not standing on my feet. Let me give you a very personal example of what happens if this is stopped. In my 50s, not long before I was diagnosed, I was in a desperately anxious state; not in a good way at all. I was lying in bed with my foot bouncing. I hadn't even realised it was bouncing. It was getting on my husband's nerves as he was trying to sleep, so he placed his leg over the top of mine to stop it. I felt my anxiety sky rocket into abject terror within nano-seconds. I snatched my leg away. Only then was I aware my foot had been bouncing. At that point I HAD to recommence the bouncing in order to bring the anxiety down. Nothing else would have calmed me in that moment.

    Now there are stims for other emotions too. Your son may have happy stims, or excited stims. I have a particular stim which only happens when in deep thought - it helps me think. 

    The anxiety stim is what will be going on in those sessions. Now, most stims are absolutely harmless but clearly you don't want your son to stim with anything harmful or disruptive, so the key is NOT to get him not to shake things, but give him things that it is ok to shake to his heart's content, because your observation is bang on. It soothes him.

    Please do take a long look at ABA and the principles behind it. It's not good at all.  You just can't ask an autistic kid not to be autistic.

Reply

  • You have hit the nail on the head when you note the shaking is soothing for him.

    The shaking of objects is a stim. Most autistic people need to stim to regulate their emotions. If he is stimming more in ABA that is a sure fire indicator that the ABA is distressing him. Unfortunately one of the goals ABA often has is to stop the kid stimming.

    I am 57. I still stim. The big anxiety stim I have is in my feet. They bounce and bounce and bounce from the ankle whenever I am not standing on my feet. Let me give you a very personal example of what happens if this is stopped. In my 50s, not long before I was diagnosed, I was in a desperately anxious state; not in a good way at all. I was lying in bed with my foot bouncing. I hadn't even realised it was bouncing. It was getting on my husband's nerves as he was trying to sleep, so he placed his leg over the top of mine to stop it. I felt my anxiety sky rocket into abject terror within nano-seconds. I snatched my leg away. Only then was I aware my foot had been bouncing. At that point I HAD to recommence the bouncing in order to bring the anxiety down. Nothing else would have calmed me in that moment.

    Now there are stims for other emotions too. Your son may have happy stims, or excited stims. I have a particular stim which only happens when in deep thought - it helps me think. 

    The anxiety stim is what will be going on in those sessions. Now, most stims are absolutely harmless but clearly you don't want your son to stim with anything harmful or disruptive, so the key is NOT to get him not to shake things, but give him things that it is ok to shake to his heart's content, because your observation is bang on. It soothes him.

    Please do take a long look at ABA and the principles behind it. It's not good at all.  You just can't ask an autistic kid not to be autistic.

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