[SENco-forum] compulsive behaviours

He is not stressed because he is doing unconsciously the thing that soothes
him.
If you try & stop him he may become stressed.  It is a delicate balance.  My
son did similar things and we extinguished them by physically stopping him
or reminding him.  You are right about the teasing or irritation factor from
others.  One boy dragged a pencil and scored the length of my sons arm
driven mad by the incessant humming.

With extinguishing, unlike doing it with an autistic child,  each repetitive
thing was replaced by something else. So the trick is to stop when you find
something that he can do that does not irritate anything else.
Sadly we went one stage to far and he now clicks the joints on each finger
and it makes me feel sick.  It is also causing damage to his joints.  We are
trying a stress ball, but he forgets to take it everywhere!

You could try a stress ball and also for any other fidgety, doodling chair
swinging pupils so he is not the odd one out.  Distracting the habit in one
place - desk- might reduce it elsewhere.  OCD or even these repetitive
things only become a problem when it causes stress not to do it, or it
escalates to a point where it interferes with daily living.

I was looking at Tourettes Syndrome today and tic-ing is a repetitive thing
that can be any motor orientated movement as well as sound or speech ( inc
swearing) that is repetitive and involuntary and had been in place for a
year.  They recommend not trying to interfere with the 'tic'.
http://www.tourettes-disorder.com/symptoms/symptoms.html

Sharon Tringham
-----Original Message-----
From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
[mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk]On Behalf Of
Anusianena at aol.com
Sent: 04 May 2007 19:37
To: senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk
Subject: [senco-forum] compulsive behaviours

Dear all
Any ideas / suggestions for a Y5 boy who displays a number of low-key
repetitive compulsive behaviours eg tapping the desk or chair several times
before
standing, tapping the door as he goes through, on occasion touching his
food
before putting it in his mouth, tapping the bars in the swimming pool
several
times before climbing out etc etc.  he does not seem to have any  obvious
obsessive thoughts or anxieties, is settled in school, bright, well  liked
and
popular with staff and pupils.  When spoken to, he is aware that  he does
it,
but just says it is a habit and he can't stop.
Are we looking for something which might not be there?  Just feel that  at
some point his peers may pick up on his "habits" and be unkind - or should
we
refer him somewhere?

any suggestions appreciated.

Anusia

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