Why does an mildly autistic 4 year old boy eat strange things?

Question:He eats wood off the deck and stairs, he eats plastic beach balls, he eats the paint off the doors and stairs, he eats sand, he eats his nails, he eats peoples hair, he eats cotton, the sofa, his clothes, the bedsheet, stirngs that come out of the fabric. why is he doing this all of the sudden? Although he is getting better because he is getting therapy but all of the sudden he started to this and i dont know why. Does anybody have experience with this or has heard of this before and what are we supposed to do to treat it? thanks in advanced



Answers:
He needs physical stimulation. It is possible that chewing or biting causes the release of endorphines and therefore it is comforting for these children. My brother is also autistic. He does the very same thingl
One of the children in our autism group does engage in biting everything with no discrimination as to what it is. I noticed the last time we saw him he was now wearing a bandana around his neck which everyone was encouraging him to put in his mouth. His mother said that the therapist recommended using this as a way of keeping him from getting hurt or sick. I didn't ask her why he does it but my guess is it's probably a coping mechanism for stress. Many autistic children engage in behaviors when the environmental stimuli is too much for them to handle. It's just part of the condition. If you're not watching the therapy maybe you should so you can see if there are particular things that might be bring about stress in your child. Suttle changes in his behavior will more easily be notice by you than his therapist.
It sounds like PICA~ It is another neurological disorder. When I looked it up at Wickipedia it gave the definition as:


Pica is an appetite for non-nutritive substances (e.g., coal, soil, chalk, paper etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch). In order for these actions to be considered pica, they must persist for more than one month, at an age where eating such objects is considered developmentally inappropriate.

Talk to your doctor
Good luck CN
My daughter has two reasons, one is (as mentioned above) coping with stress. The other is due to her sensory integrative dysfunction. She is very seeking of sensory input, and something that very young children do for sensory input is mouth them (just look at any drooly baby!) If he has made great improvements, then it might be that he's finally reaching a developmental stage that he skipped as an infant and is learning that way. I would definitely increase occupational therapy that deals with sensory input, both fine motor and gross motor (swinging, jumping, willabarger brushing), and have lots of sensory time (at least an hour a day, broken up into 20 minute segments), at the sand table, water table, just bins of stuff to play with. The more opportunity they have to engage appropriately, then the less likely they are to choose inappropriate times and things to chew.

If he picks a bad chewy, like wood or plastic (which my daughter still eats sometimes) then provide an alternative like an OT chewy tube, or a hankerchief.

The good news is that OT time where he's playing sensory stuff is a wonderful time to do speech, as their brains are otherwise engaged and they are more open to learning and listening. Good luck
This could be a reaction to stress, instead of repetitive motion or sound. Another possibility is PICA, which is the ingestion of non-food items, especially soil. Please check with the doctor.
Generally this is a sensory issue. If you have an Occupational Therapist ask them to give you a list of foods that help with this compulsion/sensory seeking. The child should have a sensory diet profile by now if he does not yet have one.

Some examples are for chewing:
licorice, pretzel rods
Crunchy:
chips
pickles

If the boy is a picky eater sometimes all you can do is keep introducing different foods. Usually after seeing it after 3 or 4 times, an autistic child will try it. But I really encourage talking to an Occupational Therapist.

Best wishes!
with autism people have texture things. they are either very sensative or extremly intersted in them. our tongue is a great waay to feel textures. I know it sounds odd. My son is 7 and we had to always be careful when outside for he is into trees , plants, animals, and insects. This summer has been. better. with plants we must be ccccarefull for there are alot that are poisenous when you put them in the mouth. i do not want to scare you just help so the little one does not get sick or worse
If he has autism, it may be because he does not know what is socially appropriate to eat, adn what is not. However, it may not be as obvious as this. Perhaps he needs the oral stimulation. Try getting him a teething-type toy to chew on and see if this helps.
Hello, there are no answers for why individuals with Autism eat only specific foods however; there is a site that will help you with answers to questions you have.
good luck,
ls

More Related Questions & Answers...
Financial Aid
Higher Education
Home Schooling
Homework Help
Preschool
Primary & Secondary Education
Quotations
Special Education
Standards & Testing
Studying Abroad
Teaching
Trivia
Words & Wordplay
General - Education

Financial Services:

1PLs (30-day Loans)