Stop Your Autistic Child's Hand Flapping At Home: Discover How
Table of contents:
Stop your autistic child's Hand Flapping at home: Discover how.
Why Do Autistic Children Hand Flap?
Redirecting Hand Flapping in Excitement
Redirecting Hand Flapping in Normal Situations
Clapping and Personalized Rhymes
Engage with an Object (Sensory Input & Focus)
Talk and Connect (Building Social Engagement)
About 70% of children with autism exhibit hand flapping as a common stimming behavior. You've come to the right place if you're a parent looking for practical solutions to control hand flapping and encourage your child's growth.
This guide provides useful behavioral techniques and parenting advice that you can use at home.
Why Do Autistic Children Hand Flap?
It's important to comprehend why autistic children flap their hands before attempting to address the behavior. It frequently serves as a means of communication or sensory regulation.
Source: Pexels.com
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Some children use hand flapping to express intense excitement or joy.
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Others may hand flap due to boredom, or as a way of seeking attention or sensory input.
Redirecting Hand Flapping in Excitement
Holding both hands gently while introducing the word "Clapping" is a great way to redirect your child who is flapping their hands out of excitement.
Then, guide them through the action of clapping.
This teaches them that clapping is an alternative and socially accepted way to express strong emotions. Consistent practice is key until they begin to clap independently when excited. This is a positive behavior modification approach.
Redirecting Hand Flapping in Normal Situations
When hand flapping occurs in normal, non-exciting situations, the goal is to redirect the behavior toward a more functional or engaging activity. Here are some effective strategies for managing stimming at home:
Clapping and Personalized Rhymes
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Take both of your child's hands and gently assist them in clapping when they begin to flapping their hands. At the same time, begin reciting a customized rhyme that might include their name. If your child's name is John, for instance, you could sing:
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John is a decent boy.
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John is a sweet boy.
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John will play now.
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John is Mama's son.
Benefits:
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It helps your child learn their name and improves response to name, while gradually reducing the repetitive behavior of hand flapping.
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It's a fantastic communication skill development tool.
Engage with an Object (Sensory Input & Focus)
When your child's hand flaps, gently hold both their hands and offer them a preferred food item or a sensory toy. Start practicing eating or playing with them.
This actively diverts their attention and can provide appropriate sensory input, helping to minimize the urge to flap.
Benefits:
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This strategy can also help your child develop functional skills like independent eating or play.
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A major benefit here is not only that it can reduce hand flapping, but also it helps your child learn to associate actions like eating or playing with specific needs (like hunger or wanting to engage).
Talk and Connect (Building Social Engagement)
If your child is flapping their hands, take both of their hands gently, sit them down with you, and engage them in conversation.
For example, you can label and point with their hands.
Say, "This is John,"
and then, pointing to yourself,
"This is John's Mama."
Benefits:
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This helps with sitting tolerance and joint attention.
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This reinforces social interaction skills and strengthens the parent-child bond, and deepens their understanding of your relationship with them. also offering a valuable alternative to stimming behaviors.
By implementing these consistent and gentle behavioral interventions, you can significantly help your autistic child to reduce stimming behavior and promote more adaptive behaviors at home.
Note:
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The strategies for reducing hand flapping mentioned above are a starting point. As a mother, you're in the best position to observe your autistic child's unique needs.
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The main goal is to replace hand flapping or any other stimming behavior with a more functional or socially appropriate activity.
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Feel free to choose any behavioral intervention or replacement behavior that you find easiest and most practical to implement with your child in your home environment.
“Trust yourself and have faith in your child's potential. With just a little patience and consistent effort, your child can lead a fulfilling and independent life.” _TM
FAQs:
Q1: What is hand flapping?
It is a Common self-stimulatory behavior (stimming) often seen in autistic children.
Q2: Why do autistic children flap?
They may flap from excitement, boredom, or to seek attention or sensory input.
Can hand flapping be stopped?
Yes. The aim is to redirect it to more functional behaviors, significantly reducing it.
Q4: How to redirect excitement flapping?
Gently guide them to clap, teaching it as an alternative expression.
Q5: What about flapping in normal situations?
Use rhymes & clapping, engaging objects, or conversation to redirect.
