Finger biting has gotta stop...PLEASE HELP!

I don’t know anything about this really but there are some posts on teaching LD students board that might be helpful. It sounds like obsessive behavior and a teacher posted regarding that. Also the parenting board has a similar discussion started by Laura.

Beth

I know that this is not very common but there must be a few cases out there of children that have self distructive behavior. My son does not hurt others and is one of the nicest, quietest children aound. Please, if you are reading this and have either experienced anything like it or know of a case, please reply. I am desperate to find some ways to minimize this behavior. Any suggestions???

Hi Ann Marie,
You write that he is one of the quietest, nicest children around.
I just wonder whether that could actually be the problem?
Where he may not feel comfortable or be able to really express himself?
Ironically, the term;’bite your tongue’, when telling someone to shut up, comes to mind?

Does it vary from day to day? Maybe you could keep a daily diary for a while, and try and identify sorts of things that seem to trigger or increase it?
It could be a response to frustration?
Maybe he needs to become a bit ‘noisy’ and not so nice?
Become more comfortable with expressing himself?
Perhaps a children’s drama group could be helpful with his verbal expression?
Also a martial arts group could be good for his physical expression?

I dont know if this is relevant, though it occurred to me that ‘Expression’ could be the underlying issue?

Geoff.

:D

OK,. I was hoping somebody who really knew somethig would post here, but if we are just brainstorming, here goes:

I would use disinfectant/antibiotic intment and novocaine ointment, mixed. Disinfectant to get the sore to heal, and novocaine becasue there are probably some nerves working there. I would anoint the area very generously, pad it with gauze, and then tape around it with old-fashioned athletic type adhesive tape. I would start this on a Friday afternoon so as to have a whole weekend to get a start on it. Then I would keep an eagle eye on the child every waking hour for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If the hand goes into the mouth, stop it. Explain that you are helping the fingers to heal up. Do NOT yell or criticize, which will make the anxiety worse. The first day there may be a hundred incidents to stop but hopefully fewer and fewer as healing starts. If you are really lucky, you have some teachers who will join in for the school week, stopping the hand every time it goes into the mouth (for health reasons alone.) He doesn’t go to bed until he is *really* tired, and keeps the bandage on while sleeping. If he bathes at night, you supervise the hands while bathing and then re-bandage after the bath. In the morning he does regular cleanup with the bandage on and you re-bandage (with *lots* of good strong old-fashioned adhesive tape) before school. If he comes back from school with the bandage in good shape, small reward; if removed or chewed, removal of privileges. I would keep this up for a week or two and then see if the size of the bandage could be tapered off. Also at the same time, an eagle eye to make sure he isn’t replacing one tic with another. This is a long hard job but I have managed to get some kids’ behaviours changed by strict application of similar policies.

PS - I forgot to mention:
I had a really awful infected cut on a knuckle one time. It is hard to heal a knuckle anyway because you keep re-contaminating it when you use your hands. The infection got into the layers of the skin and was a brute to heal. I found myself chewing on it because it thickened and was very irritated. I used the above technique to get the healing started — constant soaking in antibiotic ointment ,plus novocaine ointment to stop the irritation and the cycle of picking that came from the thickening and irritation. (I do NOT use the ointment with cortisone, which has other risks and side effects).
These skin infections can include different organisms. I found with this and other deep skin infections that the usual medications were not always successful. Sometimes these infections/irritations involve not only the usual bacteria but fungi and other strange things. Besides the regular triple antibiotic ointment and lanacaine, I mixed in some Monistat (don’t tell the kid what else it’s used for!!) and some sulfur-based Clearasil. Apply very very generously and cover to keep it there. It makes a horrible goop, but it sure does promote healing.
After you get healing, try using Neutrogena hand cream (the basic greasy stuff in the tube, not scented) two or three times a day, to keep the skin supple and prevent further cracking.

If this behavior is still occuring I suggest you look into cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT/ERP) with a psychologist specifically trained in it. There’s a chance this could be OCD (which is often misdiagnosed). You’d have to get your child evaluated by someone very knowlegable with OCD (and from what I’ve learned that can sometimes be very difficult to find. A good university anxiety disorders clinic would be ideal!).

A surprising amount of children with OCD seem to start out with SID and it sort of morphs into OCD during adolescence. I’m not saying everyone with SID gets OCD, but many children with OCD started out with a SID diagnosis. I don’t quite understand it. Perhaps it’s just part of spectrum disorders. But it’s an odd coincidence. A lot of OCD kids have tactile issues. By the way, ERP is shockingly effective for tactile defensiveness!

What does the ERP stand for?

(I couldn’t help but wonder if it involved electricity with your “shocking” modifier :-))

Hi Sue!

ERP is Exposure Resonse Prevention. This is a type of therapy used for OCD. (Not quite electricity, although sometimes exposures can be like a bolt of electricity striking! Not the easiest therapy, but very effective).

My kids have SID and Asperger’s (to varying degrees). Sounds like your son needs oral stimulation maybe… all that biting. I know my youngest ASID son needs chewingand I also (with my SID) get urges to bite and chew. Since heis onhis hands, I would suggest some sort of bracelet he can chew, maybe those rubber ones that are so popular now. I made a chewing neclkace for my SID 9 yr old. I used tubing (from his nebulizer. He cut it in 2 inch peices and strung the peices. He goes and gets it himself now whenhe needs. Let your son be part of the process. SID kids need to have control.

Designate a time/place where it IS OK to chew his fingers. This worked well for my Aspie when he would get obessivebehaviors (like smelling people, LOl). Like, you wanthim to use his bracelet at school and when out of thehouse, but when he is pplaying in hisbedroom, he can chew his fingers. Givinghim a place where he is safe to do his stims is important to many kids, and knowing they have that safe place to stim often allows them to use something else (ike the bracelt) during the rest of the day and even to eventually discontinue their behaviors.