My daughter bites her hands when she is anxious, frustrated or excited. I mean she really bites, and bites hard. This behaviour is distressing, and left unchecked and can escalate to other forms of self-injurious behaviour, which can impact her safety. We have worked with school and therapists to try and reduce the instances of hand biting and have been largely unsuccessful.
At NNF we work with companies that have great ideas but can’t attract the capital needed to make a difference in our world of autism. An entrepreneur we met with wants to develop affordable sensory toys based on decades of play therapist experience.
He showed me a chewy toy the size of finger and said the chewy needs to reach the back teeth. Most chewys are bigger and my daughter uses her front teeth to bite them. I thought I’d try the toy and gave it to my daughter at a moment of frustration – what did she do? She popped it into her mouth and used her back molars to bite on it – she bit twice and was done. Quite remarkable and encouraging and I am so appreciative for the insight! Time will tell how well this will work but so far so good! Sometimes it is the simple things that can solve a big complex problem.
There is a lot of parent- and therapist- “know-how” out there that we need to access – I was very fortunate to have a meeting with this entrepreneur, who has had quite of bit of sensory play experience and came across a potential solution to a significant problem.
Getting our shared experiences out to the broader community can only be helpful. We at NNF relish working with likeminded people to make a difference for those we love.
What are some bits of “know how” you have learned in your experience? Share them with our “Not Just a Dad” community!