Do children with ADHD engage in the self stim behaviors that one sees on the spectrum

[Anonymous]

or generally not

[Anonymous]

Probably you should be more specific.

[Anonymous]

What exactly is self stim behavior? Can you give some examples? Is it something that a child does that in his/ her own world and unstoppable? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

If you mean rocking back and forth in a chair for extended periods of time, head banging, finger flicking, hopping up and down while flapping hands to the side, fluttering fingers in front of the face, etc.--probably not.

[Anonymous]

Mine does not.

[Anonymous]

No...stimming is primarily an autism chacteristc

[Anonymous]

No, but some kids who are on meds develop behavioral side effects that present sort of like self stim behaviors. They go away when the meds stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No...stimming is primarily an autism chacteristc

Stimming is often listed as one of the characteristics of autism. However, stimming is also a characteristic of many kinds of neurologic problems. It is not "primarily" an autism charactistic.

[Anonymous]

It would probably help if you clarified what you meant.

I've seen ADHD kids who will clench/unclench their teeth or open and close their mouths, wiggle/rock in their seats, etc. That's pretty typical. But if you're talking about hand flapping and head banging - no.

[Anonymous]

Some ADHD kids have SID that might be common with 'stim's--but like PP's said, they won't exhibit the more severe ones like head-backing, flapping...But they night jump more than a typical kid or not be able to sit still in a chair or on the floor as long as their peers, imo.

[Anonymous]

DS has ADD and SPD, never displayed any stimming. Does need a lot of reassurances, so he has a tendency to ask the same questions just to "make sure" as he needs a predictable environment, but never any spectrum-like behaviors like what others have described.

[Anonymous]

I have seen some stim behavior in children with ADHD but usually it is not as pronounced as kids on the spectrum. I've seen foot tapping, slight hand flapping, hand/finger clenching, rocking. But these usually show up when they have been asked to sit for a while and they get bored. It's not as rhythmic nor as drastic as autistic kids show.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have seen some stim behavior in children with ADHD but usually it is not as pronounced as kids on the spectrum. I've seen foot tapping, slight hand flapping, hand/finger clenching, rocking. But these usually show up when they have been asked to sit for a while and they get bored. It's not as rhythmic nor as drastic as autistic kids show.

It would be unusual to see any kind of hand flapping (or even clenching) in a child with only ADHD. That's pretty classic for ASDs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have seen some stim behavior in children with ADHD but usually it is not as pronounced as kids on the spectrum. I've seen foot tapping, slight hand flapping, hand/finger clenching, rocking. But these usually show up when they have been asked to sit for a while and they get bored. It's not as rhythmic nor as drastic as autistic kids show.

It would be unusual to see any kind of hand flapping (or even clenching) in a child with only ADHD. That's pretty classic for ASDs.

Wow, a simple new test for autism!

Except it's not. This is the terrible problem with the "checklist" approach to Dxing ASDs.

I was a "flapper" and jumper as a kid, almost through elementary school. No autism here.

Next theory?

[Anonymous]

I have two ADHD kids, both who stimmed in various ways. Being on the spectrum was ruled out for both. I think there is a lot of cross-over in these neurological disorders that it makes sense to me that even though a child isn't ASD, he or she can exhibit ASD behaviors, maybe in milder ways.