child chewing everything in sight

Sounds similar to something known as Pica. Pica is the eating of non-food items such as dirt. This is sometimes caused by medical causes such as anemia or lead poisoning. Do you know if the child has been tested for these conditions? Could also be indicative of a dental problem that is relieved by biting on things. I am not saying that it might not be a response to anxiety just all angles need to be looked at. Sometimes medical conditions can lead to behaviors that are considered odd. Could also be a sensory intergration thing that may benefit from OT therapy. Just some suggestions.

I was a chewer as a child — not this bad, but my pencils were all bumpy and forget having fingernails. I think this was related to my allergies, since the desire to chew has greatly reduced and I have nice non-spotted nails since my diet finally got organized. No guarantees, but worth checking out. Try the elimination diet but BE CAREFUL — you can get involved with a lot of snake oil, and there is a risk of malnutrition if you go too far on restrictions.

I’ve had a similar experience with a little girl with one big oral fixation. She would chew up paper, pencils, markers, and anything else she could get into her mouth. I, myself was a bad chewer - I still do chew on my pens and etcera.
Anyway, try letting the child chew gum as long as it will not be a choking hazard. This did not work with my girl, so we made her a necklace with a teething ring type attachment. It sounds childish, but it was the only way to keep her from choking or posioning herself. To keep the other students from teasing we made every student their own necklace.

My ‘chewers’ have been ADD/ADHD and the chewing helped them to stay settled in ‘need to sit still’ situations. Rather than anxiety, in these cases, it was a kind of grounding that served to give them an outlet for their energy while yet sitting still in a chair and controlling other impulses.

My chewers have chewed their hair, their pencils, and their clothes but I’ve not had one that chewed chairs - either at home or school.

It’s often a sensory integration issue. Chronic chewers are doing so because they need the extra stimulation afforded by the chewing in order to concentrate. OT’s experienced in sensory integration issues actually use a chewing gum (I think from health food store) with their students. They give it to them to use whenever they’re being called upon to do some concentrated task in the classroom. As a classroom teacher, I can attest that it helps. If the brain is understimulated, the person often unknowingly is trying to stimulate it by physical activity. Chewing is a common way people do it. It’s actually a good thing, but of course it depends on what you’re chewing. That’s why the OT’s recommend the gum.

www.pfot.com is a web site with occupational therapy products. There are various devices designed for chewers.

I have a great prejudice against chewing gum. Remember that there are still many of us around who learned as children that public chewing and mouth noises are extremely impolite, so if you teach a child to chew gum you are setting her up to be ostracized in large sections of society.
Also, it is difficult to impossible to articulate words clearly with a wad of bubblegum in the mouth. This again sets you up to be ostracized by a numebr of people who don’t care to talk to a slurper, and do you want to trade a chewing problem for an articulation problem? Seems to me you’re just trading one bad habit for another and not trying to find the source.

On the other hand, I worked in a few schools (all levels) that had dropped the old prohibition against chewing gum and allowed it for any student anywhere any time. The experience reinforced and magnified my prejudice against gum. Besides being filthy — floors, desks, and often your clothing covered with someone else’s saliva — and kids pulling gum out of their mouths and twirling it around their fingers (the girls thought they were being so cute, and would do this for hours in class), spreading saliva and germs everywhere in the air and on everything they touched — the kids used it as a form of self-hypnosis. They sat there chewing away and staring into space, not participating in any way in the classroom. True, it was quiet. It also was in no way a learning activity.

I think that chewing gum only serves its purpose of revving the senses in those who are under-stimulated in the first place. I’d never, ever want to give it to everyone! But for those who truly have the need, it DOES serve the purpose of getting their systems going. I’ve seen a difference in the kids who need it.

Somehow an acceptable oral device needs to be provided for this child. Have parents talked to the doctor about possible diet dificiencies, they can cause Pica, talk to the dentist about dental equipment that may help.

Chewing on furniture, plates and anything is very dangerous lead paint or lead contents can be found in many items.

Good luck.

Yes, and replacing it with chewing gum can be equally dangerous in conbtaminated environments where the contaminants easily get in the gum or during physical activity where you can choke.