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Obsessive Biting

Mrs. Bojangles

Hi I have a 8 year old daughter who is diagnosed with ASD and her teacher told me she's started biting frequently throughout the day. I noticed she does it at home too, at tea she bites her knife and fork, she bites pencils and has started biting her skin. I don't think it's stress related and I don't think it's a reaction to anything as she seems to enjoy biting things. I bought my daughter a chewelry necklace so she can have it within easy reach all day but she's not using it but continues biting everything else within reach.

I don't know what to do about it. I've tried talking to her and encouraged her to use the chewelry necklace but she's not shown any interest in it and I worry she's going to damage her teeth the way she keeps on biting things.

Parents

  • I also have a daughter (age 7) with ASD and a chewing fascination. Chewelry necklaces have become a staple of her wardrobe since we got her diagnosis around age 4. Thankfully for us she chews on the necklace mostly, but every so often we catch her still chewing her pencils and such.

    She’s always struggled with it, but it was worse before the necklaces. She used to chew on her crib as a baby/toddler to a point we were afraid she was going to perforate her internal organs with wood chips. To solve that, we found a specialty long sleeve pajama shirt that covers her hands and soft railing guards to prevent her from accessing the wood. She eventually grew out of that specific chewing fascination.

    A couple things you can check out with your GP to see if these could be part of the problem:
    1. Your GP can check for iron levels. Low iron can cause people to want to chew more.
    2. If your GP has reason to believe that pica could be an underlying cause, you could get treatment for that specifically.

Reply

  • I also have a daughter (age 7) with ASD and a chewing fascination. Chewelry necklaces have become a staple of her wardrobe since we got her diagnosis around age 4. Thankfully for us she chews on the necklace mostly, but every so often we catch her still chewing her pencils and such.

    She’s always struggled with it, but it was worse before the necklaces. She used to chew on her crib as a baby/toddler to a point we were afraid she was going to perforate her internal organs with wood chips. To solve that, we found a specialty long sleeve pajama shirt that covers her hands and soft railing guards to prevent her from accessing the wood. She eventually grew out of that specific chewing fascination.

    A couple things you can check out with your GP to see if these could be part of the problem:
    1. Your GP can check for iron levels. Low iron can cause people to want to chew more.
    2. If your GP has reason to believe that pica could be an underlying cause, you could get treatment for that specifically.

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