Arm flapping/jumping

[Anonymous]

My DS is almost three and has developed normally. He has excellent verbal skills, is very social, etc. But for as long as I can remember, he flaps his arms and jumps when he is overwhelmed, nervous or excited. Now that he is getting older, it is becoming much more obvious.

I don't think it is ASD (though admittedly I don't know much about it), because this really is the only symptom. But I am wondering if this is some kind of sensory disorder that I should look into? I have brought it up to the ped, who said not to worry about it, but I am wondering if anyone else out there has had this experience with their child and if they did anything about it.

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

I first took my daughter to a developmental pediatrician for the same reason when she was 3 years, 3 months. Her original diagnosis was SPD and eventually (almost 3 years later) she was diagnosed with Asperger's. Her only symptoms at that early age were the jumping and flapping, stranger anxiety, and some noise sensitivity. It definitely couldn't hurt to get an evaluation, though in your situation it might just simply be a behavior and not a symptom. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

OP here - thank you so much. Could someone recommend a developmental pediatrician who would be good for this?

[Anonymous]

My brother has Down's and he would do this when he was younger and he was happy. I think it was due to his limited vocabulary.

[Anonymous]

Could it be stereotypies? Check out this link
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/specialty_areas/pediatric-neurology/conditions/motor-stereotypies/faqs.html

My son who I believe is "normal" in all other ways, has had stereotypies since he was 3.
He is not autistic, social etc about to enter K.

[Anonymous]

PP. Did you take your son to Hopkins? Just curious. We saw Shapiro who told us that our son waS "normal" but had steriotapies as well. He is three. Wondering if it's worth the drive to Hopkins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Could it be stereotypies? Check out this link
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/specialty_areas/pediatric-neurology/conditions/motor-stereotypies/faqs.html

My son who I believe is "normal" in all other ways, has had stereotypies since he was 3.
He is not autistic, social etc about to enter K.

OP here. PP, thank you so much for posting this! This sounds JUST like my son. I'm going to call Hopkins today!