My son is High Functioning Autistic. Is this why he sticks EVERYTHING in his mouth?

Savannah - posted on 12/17/2009

Quoting Renae:

Depends. It is normal for babies ages 5-12mo to put everything they touch straight in their mouth. How old is he?

I believe Autistic kids do have sensory issues though so it could be that, again depends on his age.

Coltan is almost 3.  My middle son is 16 months and never puts anything in his mouth.  That's why I was wondering.  He has started to lick hair now, too.  he really gets into it. 

Renae - posted on 12/17/2009

Depends. It is normal for babies ages 5-12mo to put everything they touch straight in their mouth. How old is he?

I believe Autistic kids do have sensory issues though so it could be that, again depends on his age.

Jackie - posted on 12/17/2009

My son who turned one last week sticks EVERYTHING into his mouth ive found him eating paper ... books magazines reciepts you name it so i wouldnt worry i think its jus a baby thing!

Sharon - posted on 12/15/2009

I work with autistic students and there are a lot of behaviors that deal with them just calming themselves down when they over stimulated. I have many students all over the spectrum that chew on paper, chew on their shirts, their fingers, etc. just to stimulate themselves in order to calm down. I would personally make a list of the behaviors you are concerned about and ask the doctor, therapist or specialist about them. Some may be because of his age and some may be contributed to his autisim but only a someone who knows a great deal about this field would be able to point you in the right direction.

Savannah - posted on 12/15/2009

Thanks Jenn! Thats a great idea! :)

~Jennifer - posted on 12/15/2009

Another thought - you might try getting him a 'vibrating' teething ring - they sell them in the baby sections of most stores (I got ours at wal-mart) - it was just a little star shaped teether with a handle on it that would vibrate when my son bit down on it - he LOVED it.....we went through dozens of them - lol.



(can't find it at wal mart's site, but Toys R us has the exact one we used to use - $7.99)



http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp...





(he's almost 5 and he'll still occasionally grab one of them to 'chew on')

Meagan - posted on 12/15/2009

I am a special education teacher. Yes his autism could definitely be the reason for this. Children with autism have sensory issues that can cause them to put odd things in the mouth as well as like odd tasting foods. Teachers (at least good ones) DO NOT get MAD about these behaviors at all, it's part of their disability that they cannot control. But, ways to keep this behavior from happening should be discussed... Hope this helps

~Jennifer - posted on 12/14/2009

Quoting Kahlia :

Unfortunately I am not able to help you with your question but I hope I am able to assist you in another way. I have been conducting research on chemicals and their health effects on the developing fetus, babies and children for some time now. This has lead me in many different directions and one of those directions was to the connection between Autism and diet. I recently read an article that was written by a women who has a son who was diagnosed with Autism. She was able to 'cure' his Autism through strict dietary changes. You may have already looked into this but if not then it is definitely worth looking at for your sons sake. The article I read was adapted from the book Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder: A Mother's Story of Research and Recovery by Karyn Seroussi. Published by Simon & Schuster February 2000.
She also had listed the following websites:
The Autism Network for Dietary Intervention (ANDI) http://www.autismndi.com/
The Autism Research Institute www.autism.com/ari/
You can also find loads of information if you google Autism + diet + cure
I wish you and your son the best of luck and hope that this information has been helpful to you both.

The GFCF (Gluten free Casein free) diet has been shown in SOME children to make improvements, but it doesn't work for ALL kids on the spectrum.  We tried it for nearly 6 months with our son, and there was really no MARKED improvement in his 'behaviors'.   The only thing that has made an improvment (for us) has been occupational and behavioral therapy(ies).

The diet change can be worth a try, but they say to start by removing wheat, then dairy, (then soy, then eggs, then corn if you don't see improvement from just taking out the wheat and dairy)  It pretty much leaves a short list of menu options (my son refuses to eat meat of any kind, so our list was even shorter)  It's also INCREDIBLY expensive to buy the pre-made GFCF foods, and most often you will find yourself having to make most things from scratch.

I'm not saying that it's not worth a try, but I would also hesitate to call it a "cure'

That just raises people's hopes way too high.

Katherine - posted on 12/14/2009

For some reason paper is a big hit these days. I don't think it has anything to do with autism, I've been hearing about this a lot.......very odd. My 9mo loves eating paper too, and someone else said their child(toddler age) ate paper. Sometimes it's a result of being deficient of something in their diet, sometimes it's just a weird thing they do.

Theresa - posted on 12/14/2009

Children with autism often have sensory issues. When they have sensory issues they want to touch and feel things. Sometimes it's certain textures and sometimes it's certain fabric types. Some children will put things in their mouths to "feel" them. If he is putting things in his mouth that could be dangerous you should talk with his doctor or special education teacher, if he has one, to find out ideas on how to get him to stop. My son has been diagnosed in the autism spectrum as well and is high functioning. He always had to be rubbing the carpet during circle time at school. He also needed to sit next to the wall during lunch so he could rub his hand on it. These sensory things are the little quircks that we need to learn to adapt to with our ASD children. We also need to be advocates for them at school to be sure teachers aren't getting mad at them for these behaviors as long as they aren't bothering other children. My sons teachers had to let him sit a little ways away from other children so that when he rubbed the carpet he wasn't bother them. He also has to learn that he could only rub the carpet that was directly in front of him. Good teachers will work with kids.

Kahlia - posted on 12/14/2009

Unfortunately I am not able to help you with your question but I hope I am able to assist you in another way. I have been conducting research on chemicals and their health effects on the developing fetus, babies and children for some time now. This has lead me in many different directions and one of those directions was to the connection between Autism and diet. I recently read an article that was written by a women who has a son who was diagnosed with Autism. She was able to 'cure' his Autism through strict dietary changes. You may have already looked into this but if not then it is definitely worth looking at for your sons sake. The article I read was adapted from the book Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder: A Mother's Story of Research and Recovery by Karyn Seroussi. Published by Simon & Schuster February 2000.

She also had listed the following websites:

The Autism Network for Dietary Intervention (ANDI) http://www.autismndi.com/

The Autism Research Institute www.autism.com/ari/

You can also find loads of information if you google Autism + diet + cure

I wish you and your son the best of luck and hope that this information has been helpful to you both.

Laura - posted on 12/14/2009

I'm no doctor, but first things first how old is he?