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[quote=Anonymous]OP, I come from a family of fidgeters and my feeling, in general, is that everyone has weird habits and that, as long as they aren't harmful or gross, who cares?

But sometimes they are harmful and gross. I have had surprising (to me anyway, surprisingly easy, I should say) success at shifting the habit/urge to something that is less harmful or more socially acceptable. I have never tried to totally eliminate a habit. My mom did with me and siblings and it never worked. I have a fidgety habit and I just learned to hide it or not do it if she was around. But I would describe trying to stop like having an itch and making an effort not to scratch. Yes, you can do it maybe even the whole school day but eventually, when you get nervous or distracted, you give in. Anyway, I have had a lot of success with my kids in replacing or slightly shifting the fidgety habit.  I usually go to the sensory-friendly stores for neurodiverse kids and buy a bunch of things. Not that it matters, but my kid with the worst habit (would twirl hair and then yank when falling asleep and had a little bald spot) does not have any diagnosis (other than me diagnosing him with trichotillomania at age 4 or 5). No autism or ADHD, maybe a little anxiety but not at a clinical level. It was almost like a soothing ritual for him. Anyway, I went to an online store and bought a bunch of toys and had him try them and we found one that worked. He is 16 now and over the years, like every 3-4 years, he'll have a little recurrence and I find him some fidget and the behavior shifts.

FWIW, the mouthing/biting thing is one of the easiest to figure out because so many people have it and have already sought solutions. (I have one of those too!)

I try not to make my kids feel bad about these habits. I do think they are just urges and that they are easier to substitute than eliminate. [/quote]

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