Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Stimming Behaviors Explained in Three Steps

Today I want to touch on stimming and what level of stimming is acceptable and what is not. If you have some stimming behaviors that concern you I am here to help you understand that you are not alone in this-there are many, many others who suffer bullying, alienation and confusion regarding out of control stimming that affects their health and anxiety levels. On the contrary you may find your stimming behaviors to be useful to you and allow you to multi-task or focus on your studies.

Before I go any further in this post I want you to understand that my ability to articulate is based in real life experience, having understood all aspects of stimming from the harmless and productive to life threatening levels of stimming. This is meant to promote tolerance for the autistic individual and help them accept themselves for who they are in all instances while gaining control over destructive habits.What inspired me to begin talking about stimming or self stimulation today is the overwhelming lack of knowledge regarding the subject.


Level 1-Harmless and Productive Stimming

Rocking
Bouncing legs
Moving Constantly
Balancing objects 
Fidgeting
Hand flapping



Level 2-Distracting Stimming Behaviors

Any of the above in excessive amounts which cause the person on the spectrum to avoid social activities or be placed in special classrooms due to the level of disruption.



Level 3-Dangerous Stimming Behaviors

Teeth grinding
Tearing into skin with fingernails
Biting nails
Self mutilation such as cutting or pulling out hair
Hitting oneself in the head 
Biting oneself 


Now that we all understand what is acceptable stimming behavior and what is not we can all relax a little. If an autistic person is a level 1 stimmer they are probably just coping the best way neurologically and physically. They may choose to stim to relieve stress. In my case I tend to rock more around fluorescent bright lights. After the GFCF diet hand flapping stopped altogether. Though teeth grinding and biting is an issue that rears it's ugly head every once in a while, as an adult I have learned to manage my stimming behaviors with this simple and common sense three step system.

Lever 2 stimmers may experience social alienation and feel they are not part of things. This is mostly due to the overwhelming attention they may receive due to constant stimming that may disturb others who are less informed. While this level of stimming is not always dangerous it is important to the individual to assess themselves and decide what level of social activities are best suited for them.

Level 3 stimming should be addressed as soon as you see the evidence in yourself or someone else. Violent teeth grinding causes migraines and destroys teeth over time. Pulling out hair or skin picking cannot be safe in any amount as it is harmful to the person and opens them to infection. Harmless stimming behavior=harmless. Dangerous stimming behavior=not harmless. Easy as cake.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Things I Would Never do Without

Hi guys- today I want to share with you some things I would never be seen without and how I use regular (and not so regular) tools to cope with life and daily events.


1. Go-Girl Feminine Urination Device

This little darling allows me to urinate without having to touch any public toilets-since I am not too good at squatting over a toilet and would rather avoid the possibility of touching the seat I got the go girl to empower me during my travels. As I enjoy travelling on long road trips this comes in handy. I use it hiking, on the side of the road on deserted country interstates and generally any appropriate area when my bladder is full (public restrooms disgust me and border on a phobia). Considering that I need tons of water to keep hydrated this is the only way for me to travel without having to constantly use public restrooms. Just a word of warning-if ladies hear you using it in a public restroom you might have to explain yourself-I've gotten some weird looks! Spread the world and use a go girl feminine urination device.




2. Hearos Earplugs

These are pretty good earplugs but I'm sure there are better ones out there. For now they work for me and block out a lot of noise. Having a conversation with these, however is not easy to do because, well, they work. If you are like me you might end up yelling at someone right in front of you and that's annoying. They are small and I have always dreaded the earmuffs as they tend to scream "hey, everyone, look at me-I am eccentric!" And since everybody already knows that I thought, hey, why not be on the discreet side and use some natural colored earplugs from Hearos. At least I won't embarrass myself.




3. Vapur Bottle

BPA free vapur bottle was patented in the US and should absolutely not be bought from Amazon as they have knockoffs from China that fall apart and are made with toxic chemicals so please buy these from the main site if you want to buy one to avoid getting ripped off. Great things about these is that I can't break it, it's BPA free, it can go in the freezer and it keeps me hydrated everywhere I go. People with epilepsy need more water than other people so I am constantly drinking. What's great about these is they can fold up when you're done so no bulk. Another pro is they are great for the environment if you used to buy all your water in disposable bottles.





4. Silk Clothing

Silk clothes have been a great service to me as some days I wake up with the scratchies all over. It's a sensitivity overload that makes me have to pull up my hair as even the feeling of my hair against my skin is painful like hundreds of needles poking into my flesh. Silk clothes don't need to be expensive if you are on a budget. Try Dharma Trading Company for inexpensive bulk silk fabrics and clothes. You are sure to find what you are looking for in a gift for you or your autistic friend or family member. Silk feels smooth and soothing against the skin as it is close in composition to the makeup of human skin containing many of the same amino acids that skin has. Autistic people who suffer from skin sensitivities will find wearing silk to be a great natural therapy to heal and naturally treat skin disorders.






5. Leather-Soled Shoes



The fact that people with autism tend to suffer from mitochondrial problems is enough to wear Minnetonka Moccasins and others like them but I also wear them because of the extreme comfort and reliability. All of my shoes are flat without rubber soles as rubber cuts you off from the earth's natural supply of information. People tend to experience more attention problems and mood problems with thick rubber soled shoes as it disrupts normal neurotransmitter activity. Wearing natural shoes and going barefoot as much as possible has grounded me and allowed me to work in harmony with myself. Some other benefits leather shoes and barefoot walking have given me are clearer thoughts, a better heating/cooling system and awareness of my body. Less tripping over things and feeling out of sorts-I became a barefoot enthusiast years ago and have been one every since!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

What Helped Me

I really don't know where to begin and even through all the parents who have contacted me and positive feedback from exuberant well-wishers I still stare at an empty post wondering what on EARTH to start with, first. So I am going to be as direct as possible and tell you what helped me.

For me autism has always been the sort of thing that was a double edged sword. The allergies to milk and wheat plagued me for most of my life until I accepted my intolerance to them and their hold over my health. Once I eliminated the things from my life that had negative influences on me and my behavior, I took control of myself and my life. I sincerely believe this post will help someone in their quest to understanding how to make autism work for them. As individuals we are all unique and what works for me will not solve everyone's problems. Still, my experience is valid as is yours and I look forward to hearing your feedback in some form or another.


Gluten-Free Dairy-Free 

The GFCF diet literally changed my life. I went from being an adult with echolalia, disturbing stimming behaviors and allergies to being a focused, down to earth human being after 6 months of gluten-free dairy-free living. My seizures were significantly reduced, my thoughts were clearer, I could feel things in a more articulate way and I gained significant muscles mass. These are only a few of so many positives. On top of that it worked immediately. The first two days I felt it and you could see a new look about me-an aura of health that was naturally who I was all along.


Deprogramming

A lot of people on the spectrum experience a constant influx of negativity about their person.

"You are a freak."

"Why can't you be like your sister?"

"You are a troublemaker."

Hearing messages like these (or worse) all your life will stay with you if you do not take measures to cleanse them from your mind and body. In my life I had to eliminate toxic people in order to stop being toxic. When we surround ourselves with people who respect us and admire us, we take on the crystalline shape of well being.

Some messages may not be obvious-maybe you or your child have hundreds of unspoken subliminal messages bombarding you on a daily basis and you have spent so long blocking them out that you think they cannot hurt you. This is wrong. Taking the time away from toxic relatives and people who do not have the capacity to appreciate you and/or your child is the only way to pave a new life for him or her-a life of freedom and self acceptance. Only spend time around others who build you up.


Focus on Strengths

The great thing about character strengths is that everybody has them! Even the most challenged individual can choose to focus on strengths. As a parent there is good news for you-you can choose to focus on your child's strengths and encourage them to fix their weakness-all in one! As an adult on the spectrum you can recall all the things in your life you were good at and build on them. Temple Grandin encourages children and parents to focus on strengths and hone skills that can become useful later in the workforce or during apprenticeship. As an individual with autism, I found focusing on my many strengths to be of great service to myself and others-something that was as natural to do as breathing. Entrepreneurial skills enabled me to start my own company and begin writing books, not to mention other endeavors. The fact that many spectrum users are already gifted in one area or another means focusing on strengths should come naturally.


Advancement and Adaptation

Because of my obvious differences, normal life experiences like driving a car and having shallow friends did not have the same appeal to me as it did to others. Some autistic people may go through long periods of time where their sensitivities to loud sounds, inability to tolerate small talk and other senseless (but quite necessary) rituals and rackets along the way limit their daily life experiences and make them a ghost to others. I have gone through long periods of isolation simply because it made sense to me because the activities that others considered normal did not enrich my life (and I consider myself to be fairly outgoing when I want to be). Adaptation, however is imminent and earplugs, for instance have made things possible for me that were otherwise impossible such as going to a movie, seeing fireworks and surviving the loud noise of city sirens. When it comes to advancing myself and enriching my life I have a piece of advice that someone very dear to me has always said: "It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission." Don't worry-he's not a complete psychopath. What my friend is trying to say here is that there is always somebody who will tell you that stuff is SO hard and that it takes SO much time to accomplish until you decide not to even try out the plan you had in the first place. I was told learning languages was hard, sewing was hard, entrepreneurialship was hard, blah blah blah. People want to make things seem harder than they really are and make you afraid to try new things. Why? We can give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they really mean us well but in the end it doesn't matter. Nay saying is damaging. When you want to advance yourself then do what you want to do and not what others think you are good at.  If you know your aunt says negative things like "if you start your own company you might not sell anything" or "you need a permit for that" when she obviously know nothing about what she is saying then save the drama and tell her after the fact. It will be harder for her to say something negative about your endeavors once you have succeeded-why? Because people love to follow.

Recently, after years of intimidation I finally got the nerve to buy a sewing machine and start butchering some fabric-it was very therapeutic to me to find another skill to enhance my life with. Now making my own clothes and other items is a skill I can build on to further enrich myself. If only all those years I hadn't talked to myself the very way I heard others talk. The fact is that I can learn new skills and keep mastering them, one by one!

Having autism for me has a lot of advantages. For one realizing that things that other people think is hard is not so hard has instilled me with more personal confidence than what I might have had without autism. Adaptation has helped me to plan ahead of events and take better care of myself so that I can enjoy the same things in life that other people do. Advancement has given me an outlet as I am very high energy and require many different sources of stimulation.

I plan to share much more about myself and my life in the coming posts to this blog and hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Having touched on the physical, emotional, mental and social aspects of autism I have to say that it is a never ending journey for me that is a constant challenge. However, once you have gotten past a thorn on the stem of this beautiful rose I can only encourage you to keep climbing. Autism is meant to survive and I accept it-thorns and all.