Hand Flapping

Does Your Child Have "Odd Behaviors" Like Hand Flapping?

My son has been flapping his hands and arms around  ever

since I can remember, I thought it was so sweet and cute by the

time he was a toddler.

 He would get so excited and up and down his little arms and

hands would go with a grin from ear to ear. This behavior has

shown us the things he wants and likes the most. A couple of years

ago I felt differently about this "odd behavior" my son did.

It seemed useful in some ways so we could tell his wants and

needs from his body language.

Here is an example of an older child hand flapping because he is

excited. It is still cute now, but by the time a autistic child reaches

ten years of age it could become a big issue. Teaching

them self control with these behaviors when they are

smaller can make a huge impact on

their over all self control.



As my son has gotten bigger the Hand Flapping, is not cute and

adorable anymore. He raises his arms and its time to duck, move

or run for cover! He will slap you, repeatedly , and knock

things over. Not to mention that it also freaks people out in public!

What might be "cute" at two years old could be a huge issue by the

time they are big enough to give you black eyes and busted lips! 

My son has developed a nasty habit because I thought it was cute

and adorable. Now we have to break a Stimming habit instead

of redirecting a behavior to something less painful,

like clapping hands.

To know what to do about Stimming behaviors you have to

understand why your child does them. My son flaps his arms because

he is excited. Typical peers his ages are laughing and dancing

around when they are excited.

It is more appropriate to watch my son clap his hands together

than random flapping. It keeps us out of the strike zone and we still

know what he wants. As a parent I can tell you it will not be easy to

redirect this Behavior, but with dedication and perseverance and time

you will be glad you did.

Working with your child on self control and learning how

to over come Autism characteristics is a never ending process.

If your typical five year old was picking his nose in public you would

get on to him because it was inappropriate. Being the parent of an

Autistic child is challenging enough, trust me I

know, but we still have to parent our children by expecting

appropriate behaviors from them

and taking nothing less.

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