My granddaughter has mild autism

I'll call her Breeze. She's 7, very pretty, has a very sparkly personality. She's also quite tall for her age, and extremely thin for 2 reasons; she doesn't have an appetite and she is in constant motion. Mostly rocking. The rocking is almost violent while she sits, not so bad when she does it standing up...she stands with one foot in front of the other and shifts her weight from one foot to the other. Occasionally she'll also sort of turn her wrists out and wiggle her fingers. She's very attached to a green fuzzy blanket. Even wants to take it into the bathroom with her, which I discourage. She's ok with that if I hang it on the door or over the chair outside the bathroom. She doesn't cry or yell for it, ever, she just says she needs it.

She is very engaging when you have her attention, she talks and all, and has an amazing wit and sense of humor for a 7yr old, but if you don't take the time to engage her she'll turn on her radio and sit and rock with her blanket, "Princess Greenie"...wraps a corner of it around her finger and smells it. She has a back-up "greenie" for when her "Princess" is being laundered, and she can tell them apart immediately though they look identical to everyone else.

She's in 1st grade with the rest of the kids her age, and gets average grades. Struggles with spelling, and even when she knows the correct spelling of a word, she'll spell it "her way", except during a test at school. She loves life, enjoys it thoroughly, is always smiling, always joyful. And she is quite openly friendly, everywhere she goes, people are attracted to her like moths to a flame.

Up until about 2 weeks ago, I babysat Breeze and her 9yr old brother when Mom and Dad had to work on the same night; 2 or 3 nights/wk. The past couple weeks, their oldest brother's girlfriend has been sitting. She's 19 or 20. A nice girl. Loves the kids. But she was yelling at Breeze about the rocking. I saw her do that and lost it. Talked to Mom and Dad about it and they told the girl to stop yelling, and Breeze said she did stop yelling but still tells her, "sharply" (Breeze's word), Breeze! No Rocking!

It's driving me nuts. Mom and Dad talked to the girl about it and she said she knows a kid with autism and the parents were told to discourage the rocking, but what does a 19/20yr old know about it?Maybe she knows a kid with autism, maybe she's full of it. Mom and Dad have an appointment with a pediatrician in a couple weeks. Meantime, I'm going to ask to babysit. As long as Breeze has something to do, play with her dolls, paint, etc., the rocking is kept to a minimum. I just think that if it's something she needs to do, maybe we shouldn't keep telling her not to.

Do any of you have any experience with a mildly autistic child? I'm going to do some online research, but personal experience would be more meaningful. I'm also wondering if autism is progressive. I'll look that up, too. Breeze is such a charming, wonderful little person, I'm concerned this young babysitter is going to "wreck" her.
(might not get back to this til tomorrow..i.e.: later today. Thank you!)
 

It's called "stimming" and it's a self-calming behavior. Some kids rock, some "flap", some make noises. It's a way to deal with what is unendurable to them. Unfortunately, it can be "unacceptable" to most people, folks who don't understand autism. It can be annoying...loud...visually disturbing. There are a lot of methods to lessen stimming, but seldom can it be stopped.

We all stim to a certain level. I drum my fingers when I think hard. Some people twirl their hair. Some tap their feet. Some move to the music in their heads. Bouncing your knee, twiddling your thumbs. Nail biting is stimming. It's whatever comforts us when we are uneasy. Children on the spectrum have a lot of things that make them "uneasy". It could be the noise of two people talking, it could be too much visual stimulation, it could be just someone looking directly at them. Sometimes it's just the color yellow or the sound of a mixer. The big difference between your biting your fingernails and a child on the spectrum flapping their arms violently and screeching is just the degree of intensity.

We have to remember that most of us are "on the spectrum" in some manner. It ranges from so low as to be totally unnoticeable to extreme. That's why they call it "the spectrum".

As to whether stimming should be discouraged, well.....there are as many theories of how to raise an autistic child as grains of rice in your dish of pilaf and the proponents of each theory are immovable in their beliefs. I think most theories deal with how to train the child to fit into a society that isn't going to accept them as they are. If a child can be redirected to a less-obvious method of stimming, that would be great. But I doubt stimming could ever be totally "stopped" and I don't think it should be. The child needs that outlet in order to deal with a world that he can't deal with otherwise.
 
I used to work with someone who had an autistic son. He went to a natural doctor, took his son off of harmful sugar and carbs, and starting him detoxing with some herbal alternatives/supplements. There was much improvement in his son's case. He felt guilty for the son's birthday and bought him a cake, after the child ate a big piece of the cake, his condition worsened again, he threw the cake in the trash.

Here's another boy's story of his autism, and info about the condition. Best wishes for your granddaughter, don't ever give up hope, things for her can improve. :love_heart:

 

A girl with a more severe case of autism uses typed words to convey her feelings....worth a looksee for anyone who loves someone that's struggling with this condition.

 
People are turning to a ketogenic diet for help with many health problems, and autism is one of the things that a ketogenic eating plan can help, along with such seemingly diverse illnesses as Alzheimer’s, seizures, and even schizophrenia.
It has long been known that sugar reacts in our receptors just exactly like heroin does, and can cause delusions and other mental issues.
A ketogenic diet is one that limits most carbs, and fuels the body with fat ketones; so it is similar to a low-carb diet.

Johns-Hopkins University has used the ketogenic diet for many years to treat and reverse epileptic seizures, and it works when nothing else does.
There is a great movie about that , called “First, Do No Harm”, with Meryl Streep, and based on a true story.

Our brain andour body can run on either sucrose (which is what most diets fuel us with) or it can run on fat ketones, depending on what our diet consists of.
While it might not be the total answer for autistic people, it is at least something that could be explored and tried out to see if it helps.
Here is Dr. Mark Hyman talking about this, and there is a huge amount of information on the internet for anyone who wants to check this out further.

 
It's called "stimming" and it's a self-calming behavior. Some kids rock, some "flap", some make noises. It's a way to deal with what is unendurable to them. Unfortunately, it can be "unacceptable" to most people, folks who don't understand autism. It can be annoying...loud...visually disturbing. There are a lot of methods to lessen stimming, but seldom can it be stopped.

We all stim to a certain level. I drum my fingers when I think hard. Some people twirl their hair. Some tap their feet. Some move to the music in their heads. Bouncing your knee, twiddling your thumbs. Nail biting is stimming. It's whatever comforts us when we are uneasy. Children on the spectrum have a lot of things that make them "uneasy". It could be the noise of two people talking, it could be too much visual stimulation, it could be just someone looking directly at them. Sometimes it's just the color yellow or the sound of a mixer. The big difference between your biting your fingernails and a child on the spectrum flapping their arms violently and screeching is just the degree of intensity.

We have to remember that most of us are "on the spectrum" in some manner. It ranges from so low as to be totally unnoticeable to extreme. That's why they call it "the spectrum".

As to whether stimming should be discouraged, well.....there are as many theories of how to raise an autistic child as grains of rice in your dish of pilaf and the proponents of each theory are immovable in their beliefs. I think most theories deal with how to train the child to fit into a society that isn't going to accept them as they are. If a child can be redirected to a less-obvious method of stimming, that would be great. But I doubt stimming could ever be totally "stopped" and I don't think it should be. The child needs that outlet in order to deal with a world that he can't deal with otherwise.

That's what I think, too. If she didn't need to rock or "flap", she wouldn't. It's ok to tell her to slow down when she rocks violently, but it's easier to just find something for her to do, and she's all for it, especially if you say Let's go to the park (loves the swings) or Let's get your bike out. Her Mom will say, "Hey, Breeze, let's dance." She loves that one.

Thanks for the response, jujube. Some good stuff there. Honestly, I don't even think it's possible to make her stop rocking. Seems a little cruel to insist she stop. Her grandmother did something pretty cool; she cut the end off one of Breeze's "greenies" and made a neck scarf out of it, so she can actually wear a bit of her blanket out shopping or whatever and even to school.
 
People are turning to a ketogenic diet for help with many health problems, and autism is one of the things that a ketogenic eating plan can help, along with such seemingly diverse illnesses as Alzheimer’s, seizures, and even schizophrenia.
It has long been known that sugar reacts in our receptors just exactly like heroin does, and can cause delusions and other mental issues.
A ketogenic diet is one that limits most carbs, and fuels the body with fat ketones; so it is similar to a low-carb diet.

Johns-Hopkins University has used the ketogenic diet for many years to treat and reverse epileptic seizures, and it works when nothing else does.
There is a great movie about that , called “First, Do No Harm”, with Meryl Streep, and based on a true story.

Our brain andour body can run on either sucrose (which is what most diets fuel us with) or it can run on fat ketones, depending on what our diet consists of.
While it might not be the total answer for autistic people, it is at least something that could be explored and tried out to see if it helps.
Here is Dr. Mark Hyman talking about this, and there is a huge amount of information on the internet for anyone who wants to check this out further.


Thanks so much, Happy Flower Lady.
 
Thank you, SeaBreeze. The song on your video, Eye of the Tiger, is one of Breeze's favorites. Some of the famous people w/autism surprised me.

Good information. Thank you all.
 
I'll call her Breeze. She's 7, very pretty, has a very sparkly personality. She's also quite tall for her age, and extremely thin for 2 reasons; she doesn't have an appetite and she is in constant motion. Mostly rocking. The rocking is almost violent while she sits, not so bad when she does it standing up...she stands with one foot in front of the other and shifts her weight from one foot to the other. Occasionally she'll also sort of turn her wrists out and wiggle her fingers. She's very attached to a green fuzzy blanket. Even wants to take it into the bathroom with her, which I discourage. She's ok with that if I hang it on the door or over the chair outside the bathroom. She doesn't cry or yell for it, ever, she just says she needs it.

She is very engaging when you have her attention, she talks and all, and has an amazing wit and sense of humor for a 7yr old, but if you don't take the time to engage her she'll turn on her radio and sit and rock with her blanket, "Princess Greenie"...wraps a corner of it around her finger and smells it. She has a back-up "greenie" for when her "Princess" is being laundered, and she can tell them apart immediately though they look identical to everyone else.

She's in 1st grade with the rest of the kids her age, and gets average grades. Struggles with spelling, and even when she knows the correct spelling of a word, she'll spell it "her way", except during a test at school. She loves life, enjoys it thoroughly, is always smiling, always joyful. And she is quite openly friendly, everywhere she goes, people are attracted to her like moths to a flame.

Up until about 2 weeks ago, I babysat Breeze and her 9yr old brother when Mom and Dad had to work on the same night; 2 or 3 nights/wk. The past couple weeks, their oldest brother's girlfriend has been sitting. She's 19 or 20. A nice girl. Loves the kids. But she was yelling at Breeze about the rocking. I saw her do that and lost it. Talked to Mom and Dad about it and they told the girl to stop yelling, and Breeze said she did stop yelling but still tells her, "sharply" (Breeze's word), Breeze! No Rocking!

It's driving me nuts. Mom and Dad talked to the girl about it and she said she knows a kid with autism and the parents were told to discourage the rocking, but what does a 19/20yr old know about it?Maybe she knows a kid with autism, maybe she's full of it. Mom and Dad have an appointment with a pediatrician in a couple weeks. Meantime, I'm going to ask to babysit. As long as Breeze has something to do, play with her dolls, paint, etc., the rocking is kept to a minimum. I just think that if it's something she needs to do, maybe we shouldn't keep telling her not to.

Do any of you have any experience with a mildly autistic child? I'm going to do some online research, but personal experience would be more meaningful. I'm also wondering if autism is progressive. I'll look that up, too. Breeze is such a charming, wonderful little person, I'm concerned this young babysitter is going to "wreck" her.
(might not get back to this til tomorrow..i.e.: later today. Thank you!)

I don't have an opinion to contribute to this topic, but if I can add in a bit of info that came up in a recent work project, these little doodads are often helpful: https://fidgetspinners.com/collections
From what the project said, the children benefit when they can focus/concentrate on the toy, and it reduces the other behaviors.

Also, as far as my opinion will go- if the self-calming behaviors are anything like nervous tics, trying to make the child stop can make it worse.
 
I don't have an opinion to contribute to this topic, but if I can add in a bit of info that came up in a recent work project, these little doodads are often helpful: https://fidgetspinners.com/collections
From what the project said, the children benefit when they can focus/concentrate on the toy, and it reduces the other behaviors.

Also, as far as my opinion will go- if the self-calming behaviors are anything like nervous tics, trying to make the child stop can make it worse.

I agree. And she's so happy and joyful all the time, it obviously works for her. I read last night about fidget spinners helping with rockers and hand-flappers. Her brother has several and she likes them. I'm going to get her one or two of her own...in pink.
 
My younger granddaughter has autism. She "twirls," usually at the end of the day just before bed or when things are really stressful.

The hardest part for me as a Grandma is when I babysit for my daughter (night shift), I don't know how to handle when granddaughter gets really frustrated (usually at being hindered from doing something she wants to do but would not be wise) and she looses her "stuff". I still have the bruise on my forearm from where she bit me--hard--last time I was there. Daughter happened to be in the house when this happened and she dealt with it but I'm trying to learn more about how to manage.

I'm reading up on the "Autism Speaks" website (they have a whole section for grandparents) but it is a whole new learning curve.
 
My grandson is now 20 and has what is called high functioning autism. He never did the stimming or rocking. His disability manifested in a totally different, violent way. The right medication was finally found and that, along with therapy, is allowing him to lead a mostly functioning life.
I would HIGHLY suggest therapy for your granddaughter. Go to the people who are educated in this disease and know what is the right and wrong way to handle it. They taught Sean how to react when he felt an episode coming on and that alone has helped him tremendously.
Diets...eliminating red food dye from their diets etc, helps some and not others. They are all so individual, as are the way they are affected.
please, if you can, get her the help she needs from the experts. Not family doctors, or from people who “knew somebody” or on things you find on the computer. Some of it is good, informative etc. but the experts who know Breeze will know what is the best for HER own little individual sweet self. She sounds absolutely delightful, and surrounded by a ton of love and support. That is half the battle ❤️🥰❤️
 


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