Where To Go For Help With Stimming
Occupational therapists can help you look at environmental adjustments to support your child.
If your childs behaviour is causing your child harm or hurting other people, speak to your childs GP, paediatrician, psychologist, another health professional working with your child, or school support staff.
Imperative Declarative And Interrogative Pointing
Types of pointing are traditionally further divided by purpose, between imperative and declarative pointing. Imperative pointing is pointing to make a request for an object, while declarative pointing is pointing to declare, to comment on an object. As Kovacs and colleagues phrases it, “‘Give that to me’ vs. ‘I like that'”. This division is similar to that made by Harris and Butterworth between “giving” and “communicative” pointing.:1578 Determining the intention of pointing in infants is done by considering three factors:
Declarative pointing may further be divided into declarative expressive pointing, to express feelings about a thing, and declarative interrogative pointing, to seek information about a thing. However, according to Kovacs and colleagues interrogative pointing is clearly different from declarative pointing, since its function is to gain new information about a referent to learn from a knowledgeable addressee. Therefore, unlike declarative pointing, interrogative pointing implies an asymmetric epistemic relation between communicative partners.
Types of communicative pointing may be divided by linguistic function into three main groups::43
What Is Finger Isolation
Finger isolation is the ability to isolate and use the fingers one at a time in functional tasks. The fine motor skill of finger isolation is the development of being able to isolate or individually use each finger of the hand. Counting one finger at a time, tying shoes, typing on a screen or computer keyboard, finger games like Where is Thumbkin?, and opposing one finger to the thumb are examples of finger isolation.
When children are developing they begin to use each finger individually as infants, children tend to use the hand as one solid unit. Finger isolation is one of the first important developmental milestones that leads to childrens ability to write well with a pencil, type on a keyboard, play a musical instrument, tie shoes ect!
If youre wondering how to see if your child has good finger isolation, you can ask yourself:
- Does your preschooler or kindergartner avoid pointing?
- Do they tend to gesture in the direction of an object instead of pointing?
- Do they use their whole hand to grasp objects rather than one or two fingers when that makes more sense for the size of the object?
- Do they struggle to manipulate coins, turn a page of a book, tie shoes, or other task requiring refined movements?
Then adding a few finger isolation activities and games might be helpful for your child!
Read Also: How To Calm Down An Autistic Child
Help My Toddler Is Crossing Fingers
If youre concerned, or even freaking out that your toddler is crossing their fingers, thats a normal reaction. Sometimes, older babies will start to cross their fingers too. While worrisome, its impressive that babies and toddlers are able to cross their fingers because it requires some dexterity
But, its not typical.
Take a deep breath, youre in the right place. Lets get started with addressing the elephant in the room
The Link Between Pointing And Autism: Why Pointing Is Important For A Child With Autism
Much like eye contact, pointing at things in the environment, or rather the lack of pointing, is one of the early red flags for diagnosis for autism. So what is this link between pointing and autism?
Pointing matters. It shows that the child is noticing the world around them and that they want to share that with someone else. It is the first indicator that socially mediated reinforcement is important to the child. But its not just that. Pointing, and gesturing in general, is a huge building block for language. It is also one of the earliest purposeful actions a child can engage in to have an impact on their environment.
For children, pointing is one of the first ways they experience control. If I point at this item, someone will get up and give it to me. When I point at that item, someone gets excited and starts talking to me and clapping. This is how children learn that the things they do can change their environment.
As we mentioned, pointing is not something that comes naturally for children diagnosed with autism or developmental delays. Early intervention helps.
The core deficit of autism to avoid social interaction makes pointing much less valuable to them. Children with autism often must be taught to point and to respond to pointing.
You May Like: Is Swaying A Sign Of Autism
Delay In Gesture Production As Early Index Of Ld
A large body of work has described developmental continuity from gestures to words with consistent evidence of tight developmental relations between gestures and language and of a crucial role for pointing gesture in early language development .
The above findings suggest that the study of gesture development may serve both as an indicator of infants communicative-linguistic level and as a tool to identify children at risk for LD . However, it is still unclear whether common indexes of LD, such as frequency of gesture production and production rate of specific types of gestures, like pointing, may be early indicators of enhanced LD risk for infants from different and heterogeneous populations, such as Sibs ASD and ELGA infants, who will eventually exhibit LD.
Building Upon Pointing: Responding
Teaching a child to respond to pointing is also a valuable joint attention skill, and there are many opportunities throughout a natural day to practice responding to pointing.
Try to consider your childs motivation first and foremost. What are they interested in and are likely to attend to easily? If you are giving a bite of a very favorite food, use that opportunity to practice pointing. As your child is looking eagerly at the food, point and label the food, and then give the yummy bite with lots of excitement.
In doing this over and over, you teach your child that your extended finger indicates something worth paying attention to and something that they are likely to enjoy. In the future, they are likely to look at the things that you point to if you practice in this way.
When you are linking your pointing finger with items, choose items that are 1) interesting to the child and 2) close in proximity to the child. Start by pointing at items that are within two feet of your child, labeling them, and making it fun for your child to pay attention to that item.
You can also begin to introduce the term look into your childs repertoire, so that they will begin to understand that when someone says look they should follow the pointing finger to the item of interest.
Always remember to consider motivation when learning a new skill. Use the point and look lessons when you are playing with something that a child really enjoys.
Read Also: Do Autistic People Get Married
Low Rates Of Pointing In 18
Reduced rates of pointing were observed in the Sibs ASD-LD group at 18 months. This result extends previous work by LeBarton and Iverson , who found that Sibs ASD-LD produced fewer pointing gestures at 24 and 36 months. Interestingly, even Sibs ASD-no LD exhibited a lower rate of pointing with respect to Sibs TD at 18 months. This is consistent with a study by Mitchell et al. , who found delays in gesture production, assessed through the CDI, in Sibs ASD even when those with LD were excluded. In addition, a very recent study, measuring gestures with the CDI from 8 to 14 months, found lower gesture production in all Sibs ASD, with the lowest production observed in Sibs ASD later diagnosed with ASD, followed by Sibs ASD-LD and Sibs ASD-no LD . Interestingly, a similar trend was observed in the current study, with Sibs ASD-LD exhibiting the lowest rate of pointing, whereas the difference in pointing rate between Sibs ASD-no LD and Sibs TD was less pronounced. Taken together, these findings suggest that the communicative-language domain may be particularly vulnerable in Sibs ASD even in absence of LD, and that a lower rate of pointing at 18 months is a common marker in these infants.
Helping Autistic Children And Teenagers With Stimming
Many autistic people feel they should be allowed to stim because stimming helps them to manage emotions and overwhelming situations. But if stimming is hurting your child or affecting their learning, social life and so on, it might be best for your child to stim less often.
You might be able to reduce your childs need to stim by changing the environment or helping your child with anxiety. Also, stimming often reduces as your child develops more skills and finds other ways to deal with sensitivity, understimulation or anxiety.
Changing the environment If your child finds the environment too stimulating, your child might need a quiet place to go, or just one activity or toy to focus on at a time.
If your child needs more stimulation, your child might benefit from music playing in the background, a variety of toys and textures, or extra playtime outside.
Some schools have sensory rooms for autistic children who need extra stimulation. There might be equipment children can bounce on, swing on or spin around on, materials they can squish their hands into, and visually stimulating toys.
Working on anxiety If you watch when and how much your child is stimming, you might be able to work out whether the stimming is happening because your child is anxious. Then you can look at your childs anxiety and change the environment to reduce their anxiety.
Don’t Miss: Can You Donate Eggs If You Have Autism
Point Whenever You Can
One of the best ways to get kids to learn is to repeat something. Point at things even when you arent talking to your child, but you know hes around and observing you. Children follow by example and absorb what they see around them.
Most children start pointing to objects on their own from the age of 12 to 15 months. Younger siblings generally develop certain skills quicker, because they emulate their older siblings. However, if your toddler is not pointing with the forefinger by 15 months and not making any gestures by 12 months, consult your paediatrician.
Remember that each child is different. Some even skip the pointing milestone and it doesnt make them autistic. Have you experienced something similar with your toddler?
When You Should Be Concerned About The Development And Use Of Pointing:
Each baby’s development varies, however, you will typically see pointing develop between 10 and 15 months of age. If your baby is not able to do the following by 18 months, seek out professional help.
- Look at objects you are pointing at nearby initially and far away by 18 months.
- Whole hand pointing .
- Point at objects of interest declarative pointing.
- Pointing with index finger at an item of desire imperative pointing.
- Looks at objects that are named first and then points at them.
- Makes a choice of 2 objects.
- Gives you an object when asked.
Read Also: What Is The Life Expectancy Of People With Autism
Please Can Someone Explain Why Pointing With The Index Finger Is So Essential 15
Duediligence · 07/04/2012 13:48
Hello,A few weeks ago someone posted a question about pointing. See www.mumsnet.com/Talk/behaviour_development/1420031-How-important-is-pointing-with-hand-not-finger-at-15-months. I imagine they were concerned about red flags for autism. It sort of got to me. I can’t seem to forget about it – because my DD doesn’t really point with her index finger. My partner will say she does, but it doesn’t really look like it to me. If anything, she only ever really uses it to point at things in books.When gesturing towards something she likes, she will, like the other poster’s son, use her hand mainly.Is the most important part of pointing the joint attention/raising attention to something? This is what I understand the issue to be, which is why I can’t understand why the index finger is so specifically important, and why it’s on the MChat quiz thingie.My DD gestures a lot towards what interests her. She’s 17 months. She has a few words, but jargons tons, and I thought she understand a lot – but since I read that post, I feel like I’ve been scrutinising her so now I’m not sure. She’s very lively, interactive, great eye contact, friendly, shows people things, gives other children toys, seems sociable. But is this enough to not be concerned? Should, for example, i be concerned she only has a few words? And can children learn to point with index finger later?Thanks for reading.
saintlyjimjams · 07/04/2012 14:23
Duediligence · 07/04/2012 14:33
How Stimming Affects Autistic Children And Teenagers
Stimming isnt necessarily a bad thing, as long as it doesnt hurt your child. But some stimming can be self-injurious for example, severe hand-biting.
Stimming can also affect your childs attention to the outside world, which in turn can affect your childs ability to learn and communicate with others.
For example, if a child flicks their fingers near their eyes, they might not be playing with toys so much and not developing play skills. When the child is older, if theyre absorbed in watching their hands in front of their eyes in the classroom, theyre not engaged with schoolwork. Or if the child is pacing around the fence in the playground, theyre missing valuable social opportunities.
You May Like: What To Buy For Autistic Child
Is Finger Crossing A Sign Of Autism
You may have wondered or even Googled to find your way here is finger crossing a sign of autism?
The answer is, not exactly. There are many other more important signs that a child may have Autism Spectrum Disorder , including, but not limited to:
- Poor social interaction and connection with others
- Delayed speech development
- Repeats words or actions
- Prefers to be alone
Did you catch where child always crosses fingers might fit in as a sign of autism?
Children with ASD may have repetitive words or actions. But, not all kids with autism do and some kids have repetitive words and action and dont have Autism.
Crossing fingers constantly is one of many unusual actions a toddler or child may make. Also, related to the hands, some kids will repeatedly rub their fingers together or twist their fingers.
More common repetitive behaviors are hand flapping, rocking, or spinning in circles.
However, even those actions dont necessarily indicate Autism though.
When a childs healthcare providers give a diagnosis of Autism, theyre looking at a variety of factors, primarily social skills and interaction.
If you see some of the signs listed above, and your child has the repetitive behavior of crossing their fingers, then its possible your child may have Autism. But, you dont have to figure that out on your own. With the high prevalence of ASD, pediatricians are usually very receptive to a parents concern and can help direct you to how to get an evaluation.
Development Of Finger Isolation
Finger isolation typically develops in the baby at around 6 months of age as they begin to pick up small pieces of cereal. It progresses to pointing, and then with in-hand manipulation. Finger isolation is so important in fine motor dexterity in every task that the hands perform.
There are other components of fine motor skills that contribute to the precision of isolating fingers in activities:
- isolates the precision side of the hand from the power side of the hand allows for, and requires isolation of fingers and joints during motor tasks.
- In-hand manipulation-In hand manipulation includes moving objects within the hand and refined isolation of digits and joints on the fingers contribute to this skill.
- Arch development- This hand strength allows for fingers to move in isolation of one another.
- Opposition- Finger and thumb opposition of the thumb to the fingers also plays a role in finger isolation. This ability to oppose the thumb to a single digit allows for more refined and precise grasps on objects.
- Open thumb web space- Similarly, to oppose the thumb to the fingertips, an open thumb web space is necessary.
You May Like: What Does Low Functioning Autism Look Like
Discover Short Videos Related To Autistic Kid Sticks Up The Middle Finger On Tiktok Explore The Latest Videos From Hashtags: #stickingupthemiddlefinger #dontstickupthemiddlefinger #stickthemiddlefinger #shestickupthemiddlefinger #dontstickthemiddlefinger #isidntstickupthemiddlefinger #istickupthemiddlefingeralot #hadtostickupthemiddlefinger #stickingupthemiddletoefinger #didnotstickupthemiddlefinger
TikTok video from Lil : “#funny #laugh #foryou #fypviral #hehe #iloveyou #tiktok #hoho #jucticeforjohnnydepp #funny #morechips #ted #classroom #class #middlefingerup #downsyndrome #tedddd #lily”. original sound.
69.1Kviews|
709 Likes, 26 Comments. TikTok video from Weeb : “Toddler sticks up middle finger “. original sound.
29.3Kviews|
6.5K Likes, 76 Comments. TikTok video from Irisa and King Darius : “#myautismstar #middlefinger”. I thought He stuck up his Middle Finger.. Juicy.
87.9Kviews|
46.5K Likes, 1.1K Comments. TikTok video from OH MADDY! : “Maddison started finger posturing many months ago. #toddler #earlysignsofautism #autism #speechdelay #stimming #fyp #signsofautism #pie”. Her developmental therapist just asked me the other day if she moves her hands in front of her face. | FINGER POSTURING Is a sign of autism. | Yes! She does!. original sound.
3.6Mviews|
111.6K Likes, 157 Comments. TikTok video from OH MADDY! : “Just a random Maddy moment. #toddler #baby #earlysignsofautism #advocate #fyp”. At first I didnt know what she was doing. | But then it was obvious when I seen her hand. | She was finger posturing.. original sound.
5.2Mviews|
5.6K Likes, 73 Comments. TikTok video from ollie : “#finger #fyp #foryou #4you #4u #lol #lmao #funny #child #middlefingerup”. IM DEAD. original sound.
151.8Kviews|
744.4Kviews|