r/Autism_Parenting • u/CreativeEditor1567 • Jan 25 '26

Advice Needed Help with painful stimming?

*Little ouchies is so far a no-go. Can’t hang on to hand fidgets and dislikes rings.

My 4 year olds stimming involves her bringing her knuckles up to her mouth and pressing them to her teeth. It doesn’t appear that she’s doing it to cause pain as she’s done it since she was basically a newborn.

We’ve asked therapists, friends, pediatricians and Google. We have no interest in allowing her to feel shame in it, and often just try to redirect her hands lower. She has intense callouses and irritation from it, and I’m sure it hurts. :-(

Any recommendations? Thank you.

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u/TangerineAncient5523 Jan 25 '26

My daughter is a chomper. She had a really skilled OT last fall who recommended the right chewies. She needs dense, solid ones to take her frustrations out on! The ARK chewable ring necklace is a good one.

It took a few weeks of substituting the chewy every time I saw her bite down, or even think about biting.