what would cause my autistic kid to put his tongue on something metal?

Question

and I believe it is because it is cool and soothing. So I give him ice chips when I catch him doing this. I would love to ask him why but he can't talk he is autistic.

Answer 1

Again, sensory issues. Or PICA. SInce many children dont recieve sensory information the way normal people do, they explore their environment in different ways, including their mouth. I would highly recommend, if you havent already, get your son (im assuming) into an intensive behavior therapy program. This behavior could prove dangerous. He could put something or lick something that could poison or harm his little body. Intensive behavior therapy could also target increasing vocabulary with a program such as PECS (picture exchange communication system) and decreasing problem or maladaptive behaviors such as licking or eating inedibles. Try to find an ABA Program such as that offered by Pacific Child and Family Associates. I put the links belong about PICA, PECS, ABA and Pacific Child.

Answer 2

Autistic children have alot of sensory issues. I agree that it is probably cool and soothing to him. When it comes to the sensory sensitivities, they can either be over stimulated or understimulated or a combination of both. your son is craving the metal because his tactile sense is understimulated. I think giving him the ice chips is a good idea, but it would be better if he didn't get them as aresult of sucking on the metal. He is going to associate the metal with the ice chips. It would be better if you could get him to associate the ice chips with a more positive behavior. You could also use all kinds of things to stimulate the tactile sense, bins of rice, a swimming pool, they have infant or toddler pools if your child is young or can't swim,but he needs to be supervised, a swatch of velvet or silk or some other fabric, feathers, all sorts of stuff. People may not agree with reinfocing the tactile sensitivity, but the fact is, your child is autistic and certain aspects of the autism will most likely always be present.Understimulation is not as easy to adress as overstimulation and he will likely always need to have his tactile sense stimulated. So at least you can teach him that certain things are okay while others are not. I, myself , have an autistic child, and I think that alot of times, people put too much emphasis on trying to get their kids to be normal and that just isn't realistic. Most likely, your son will always have certain autistic behaviors no matter how much he improves with therapy. With my son I work on the behaviors that will help him function in life, like speech and self help skills and I figure if he wants to play in a bin of uncooked rice because if it feels good to him, then he isn't hurting anyone. Having an autistic child is tough and overwhelming, but it is also rewarding. Though my son is very complex, it is those complexities that I have come to appreciate just as much as I love everything else about him too .I wish both you and your son the best.

Answer 3

I agree that autistic children tend to get a lot of feedback through tactile self-stimulation. But keep in mind that if you give him crushed ice every time he licks metal, you are inadvertently reinforcing this unwanted behavior. He may actually crave the proprioceptive, tactile and auditory stimulation from the crunching of the ice MORE. An autistic client of mine also liked chewing crisp lettuce, carrots, and uncooked spaghetti noodles. Eating kinda-big ice chips is hard on the teeth. Try alternately giving him something else to put in his mouth or better yet, try to divert his attention to another activity such as popping bubble wrap with his fingers or playing with homemade, edible clay.

Answer 4

Most likely just curiosity. Autistic children, especially those who are toddlers and preschoolers, are very sensitive to touch, so any object with a different texture, whether it be smooth metal, or a squishy stress ball, will gather their interest.

Answer 5

If you notice, little children love sticking things into their mouth all the time. They grow out of it as they are taught not to, because "that's dirty." Yet you still see adults - like me - chewing on the end of thier pen.

My point is that it is natural to want to explore things orally. The autistic child just doesn't grow out of it as easily as most of us.

I would imagine he likes the cool & smooth texture. If you are concerned with hygene, but not as much with appearances, you could have a couple of safe, clean metal objects (like a spoon) in a baggie in your purse to give him so he will be less likely to lick the door handle at the grocery store. (that was the kind of thing my nephew would do.) It might look odd for him to walk around WalMart with a spoon in his mouth, but not as odd as licking the shelves.

On the talking front, one thing I have used with my niece is to buy a "talking photo album" (Radio shack has them for about $10), put educational pictures in them & record the words with each picture. My niece thinks this is just a cool toy. She punches the buttons & tries to mimic the words. "Green Beans - You love to eat green beans. They are the color green." Her vocabulary has increased significantly since I got these for her.

Answer 6

Autistic children are very tactile. I think you are wise in assuming that it is being done for the cold. I wish you all the best.

Answer 7

maybe its natural curiousity also, when i was little i put my tongue on a metal pole in the winter and got it stuck there...you here about these things, but you know how kids are. gotta try everything :)

Answer 8

the cool sensation, smooth texture, color maybe.
when i was little i used to be like that with metal stuff. everything im my kitchen used to be steel frigidare stuff. and I loved it! I dont know. Im still facinated by it. hehehe sorry i had to share that!
but i like the smooth texture and i like to touch it. it' weird. but when i see it. I gotta touch it..and hold it. you know what I mean?

Answer 9

Its the texture of it.