Many people correlate hand flapping with only Autism, however this is not the case. All children could exhibit a hand flapping behavior when they are in a heightened emotional state including when anxious, excited, and/or upset.
Is Hand Flapping Normal? Yes, flapping hands is normal behavior, but only if your child outgrows it by 2-3 years of age. If it is accompanied with other worrying behaviors such as not making eye contact, lining up toys, not responding to their name, etc.
Although a common sign of autism, hand flapping does not mean your child definitely has autism. Many other children flap their arms when excited, particularly at a young age.
Stimming does not necessarily mean a person has autism, ADHD, or another neurological difference. Yet frequent or extreme stimming such as head-banging more commonly occurs with neurological and developmental differences.
Stimming is self-stimulatory behaviour which is also known as stereotypic behaviour in layman's term. Even adults engage in stimming behaviour by biting nails, twirling hair, pacing around the room or tapping pen on the table. Sometimes the stimming behaviour can be quite annoying to people around.
Some children do hand flapping during early development phase but the key is how long these behavior lasts. If the child grows out of these behaviors, generally around 3 years of age, then it is not much worrisome. But if a child hand flaps everyday then there is cause for concern.
Stimming might include: hand and finger mannerisms – for example, finger-flicking and hand-flapping. unusual body movements – for example, rocking back and forth while sitting or standing. posturing – for example, holding hands or fingers out at an angle or arching the back while sitting.
Stimming is not included as a symptom of ADHD in the last Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders (DSM), the guide used by clinicians to diagnose mental health disorders. Stimming, however, is included in the DSM-5 (the most recent edition) as a symptom of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
There is no way to stop stimming, but parents can take steps to understand and reduce their child's self-stimulatory behavior.
Self-stimulatory behaviors (also called “stimming”) are things your child does to get extra sensory input when he needs it, such as hand flapping, rocking, biting himself, head-banging, or scratching himself.
Hand flapping and autism
Hand flapping can present itself as a stimming behavior in many ways, including: Moving fingers vigorously. Clicking fingers. Moving arms.
ASD can sometimes be detected at 18 months of age or younger. By age 2, a diagnosis by an experienced professional can be considered reliable. However, many children do not receive a final diagnosis until much older. Some people are not diagnosed until they are adolescents or adults.
“But they don't have loss of language, repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping or toe walking or severe language deficits,” Barkley says. With ADHD, Bertin says, there are often executive functioning delays which involve behavior, attention, organization and planning.
Squeezing a ball or small fidget toy. Squeezing “theraputty”, playdough or clay. Pressing hands together firmly (in a prayer position) Pressing hands firmly against another person's hands, such as a long sustained high five.
Some autistic children don't show traits of the condition until age 5 or later, new research suggests1. Others show a few mild features at age 3 but only later meet the criteria for diagnosis. The findings suggest that autism traits are not always apparent by 24 months, the typical age for screening.
If you suddenly feel happy or sad, it may trigger you to stim. You may flap your hands when you're happy or begin to bite your nails when you're upset.
While stimming typically refers to repetitive movements, as Howard described, it can also include staring at stimuli (such as lights), or making sounds (noise-making or humming), Dr. Davidson noted. Stimming is commonly associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Dr. Davidson explained.
Stimming can take many different forms: visual: staring off into space, drawing, spinning things like pens or coins. verbal/auditory: repeating sounds, excessive giggling, constantly clearing throat. tactile: rubbing fingers, chewing/biting nails, chewing the inside of cheeks.
While we often associate stimming and ADHD with negative emotions, self-stimulatory behaviors can also be related to positive feelings. Happy stimming in ADHD is when someone stims to show pleasure instead of as a way to help them focus or calm down.
Causes of stimming
Autistic people of any age may stim occasionally or constantly in response to excitement, happiness, boredom, stress, fear, and anxiety. They may also stim during times when they are feeling overwhelmed.
Masking is a word used to describe something seen in many children with ASD – when they learn, practice, and perform certain behaviours and suppress others in order to be more like the people around them.
It's believed that people with autism stim for different reasons such as when they are stressed, excited, anxious, or overwhelmed. Some people may stim because they are oversensitive to their environment – and can be a calming distraction.
Some common examples of stimming (sometimes called stims) include hand flapping, clapping, rocking, excessive or hard blinking, pacing, head banging, repeating noises or words, snapping fingers, and spinning objects.