Son keeps putting things in his mouth

[suze79]

Hi

 

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice. My son keeps putting things in his mouth and chewing and seems to do it totally unconsciously. He puts anything in his mouth and chews it.

 

We have been home edding for a couple of months but when he was at school he would chew his shirt/jumper/jacket. He has now stopped eating his clothes and has now moved on to whatever he can lay his hands on. Usually small things. He is 10 but I still worry that he may accidently choke on whatever he his chewing. Is there anything I can do to make him stop or should i just accept that this is what he does to comfort himself? Its upsetting when he does this because I think I am doing something wrong or else why would he be seeking comfort in this behaviour? Or is this just part of asd?

 

Most recently he has been saying he is very very hungry. He eats well although does not have a particualrly varied diet and hates the feel of certain textures in his mouth, he seems to be eating constantly. I am begining to wonder if he just wants the feel of food in his mouth. He gets very upset when I tell he has had enough to eat.

 

Any insights/advice would be gratefully recieved.

 

Thanks,

 

Susan

[KezT]

Depending on his abilities, and what you wnat there are two options as i see it:

 

Either a) accept that chewing/biting is somehting that he needs to do - in the same way that some autistic people like to tewar paper or flick switches or bounce balls and buy him a chew toy (there are grown up teething rings type things available) I know there have been threads about this, but I am sure someone else can post a link if you want....

 

or b ) keep reminding him each and every time he does it, and hope that it stops being an automatic thing and starts being soemthing he recognises that he is doing, and therefore can stop.

 

My son is AS and we went for option b. It does tend to work as long as you really do remind himEVERY time he does it - and explain that you are not telling him off, just telling him! However, I also have to say that my son has moved onto a different automatic action each time we stop one. I am starting to think it may be a matter of finding one that is not absolutely terrible and letting him be His current "thing" is groaning, which is driving me even more nuts that chewing his clothes, bouncing the ball or smacking his lips - all of which have been previous things

Edited November 27, 2009 by KezT

[chris54]

The mouth especially the tongue has a lot of nerve ending. Have you ever noticed how something when in you mouth seem much bigger than it really is. It is common for babies and young children to put every thing into their mouth as a way of investigating it. If we look around in the natural world we see that most animals use their mouths to investigate their environment. As we grow older we realise this is something we don't do, not openly at least.

 

I would think that in the case of an older child/adult it is part sensual pleasure part habit part comfort. The most common approach is to use distraction to occupy their mind and so forget about the undesired habit.

I know in the real world this don't work as well as the professionals would have us believe and we end us just keep telling them, the child, not to do it.

 

I think that the idea of giving the child a definite thing to chew on is one approach that may be a short term solution, but may not go down to well with professionals.

 

As for food, assuming he is getting a normal diet, any addition try to make high bulk low calorie food, that's assuming your worried about him putting on weight.

 

No real answers there, just my thoughts.

Edited November 28, 2009 by chris54

[Sally44]

Does your son have alot of sensory issues?

As already mentioned the mouth is very sensitive and mouthing behaviour is often seen.

I went to an interesting seminar by a woman called Olga Bogdashina. She has a number of books out. She has two children on the spectrum.

Her view is that all the senses bring information to the brain to make sense of their surroundings and what is going on.

Many on the spectrum have problems with sensory perception. It can be over or under sensitive, or can fluctuate between the two.

Sometimes certain senses switch off to allow other senses to function.

 

So I would say the help of an OT with suitable experience of sensory issues might be able to help with this.

 

You need to look at each of his senses and try to get them onto a better balance if possible.

 

For example, to get my son out of the house we used to have to use Irlen glasses, a hat or hoodie, ear defenders and a small toy to hold. That helped with his visual/auditory and tactile senses. It helped reduce over stimulation and allowed him to remain calmer.

 

Have you asked your son what is good about chewing things? (try not to ask 'why' - it is hard to answer).

 

He may use it as a way of perking himself up to do school work.

Or as a way of distracting himself and calming him if he is getting over stimulated.

He may lose body sensation and be using chewing as a way of keeping himself grounded in the environment.

 

There is quite a long list of what he could be doing it for. If any of the above makes sense, it may help you begin to experiment to see what reduces or increases the behaviour. That should help you get your answer.

 

For example my son jumps and runs about when he is trying to concentrate. The OT explained that when he gets up from his desk and jumps or runs, this is not avoidance behaviour because he returns to his seat and continues with his work. So he needs this physical input to help him concentrate. So school use pulling on things, pushing on the wall, frequent physical breaks to help keep him in the optimum state to concentrate.

[frazzled]

Try restricting the chewing to something that you choose. We go for chewing gum, but before that used 'chewy tubes'. which were recommended to give the same sort of sensation, and also the rubber wristbands that you can buy for charity type fundraising. Otherwise it got to be a concern with all sorts of garbage being chewed.

 

You could also try to redirect to fiddling with something in the hand, such as a piece of blu tack, rather than something in the mouth.

 

I also use another tactic of 'allowing' the chewing at home or in the car, but not elsewhere.

 

I think the sensory seeking is something that you have to try and live with, just try and adapt it to something that is rather more socially acceptable.

[suze79]

Thanks for all the replies it has given me a few things to think about that I hadn't considered before. I tried telling him every time i see him doing to it to stop but he really freaks out and thinks i am giving him into to trouble. I think i will try this again but change my tone and language and hopefully get a better response. I think this is something that we will have to live with I just worry that he is overly anxious.

[Paula]

My son used to chew a lot when he was younger.................i got something called chewee tubes of the internet for him there designed to provide stimulation whilst chewing..............there easy to locate just run a search for chewee tubes.