Hi,
I am new to the community and have a 4 year old son who the Educational Psychologist believes is probably on the Autism Spectrum (albeit high functioning), we will have to wait three years for a formal diagnosis as that is how long the waiting list is around here, but from everything we have read and observed the diagnosis seems pretty clear.
Lately he has developed a habit of licking his fingers and hands (and sometimes other surfaces or objetcs) as part of a ritualistsic behaviour, the behaviour is very stereotypical and he has told his Mum that he likes doing this and cannot stop it. Our main concern is both social, in that its the sort of behaviour that may be offputting to other children and adults, and hygeinic, we are worried about his picking up germs as he is quite undiscriminating about this and does not respond to our explanations about the risk of bad tummies, sore throats etc.
We're at a bit of a loss to know the best way to tackle this so any advice would be gratefully recieved.
Thanks
