Hi I am new hear and need help with stim issues for long car rides My dd is a 5year old downsydrome child with many selfstim and tick times. I need to pick up my mil. I hate to have my child bite herself on an 8 hour drive and be board. Any ideas? She can't talk yet or read or write. It will just be us in the car. Myother kids will be in school.

thanks for help

Hi Happy Mom,

My dearest friend has a son with William's, autism, ticks, etc. He is verbal but has wonderful tantrums and meltdowns. I got to be with him today for two!

As for sensory issues on long car rides may a suggest a DVD player with wireless headphones or just volume. There are soft balls with spikes for a better word. They are fun to squeeze and addresses sensory issues. Leap frog has book that go into a player and she can play games with it and press to read stories. Bring along favorite drinks, popcorn and things that are easy to clean out of the car.

Also don't forget to take a 10 minute break every hour. Stop at a park, cemetary, a walkway and let her get out and take a break for both of you.

As a very last resort, I have been known to give my DS benadryl for long flights. I don't want to get into right or wrong, it works for us.

I hope this helps, may I also suggest reading "the out of sync child" and the follow up about play.

All the best, April

What about clear tubing to chew on---I can't remember the exact name for it but I think they use it with fish tanks. I've read somewhere, perhaps in "The Out of Sync child" that it can satisfy that need to chew. My ds used to chew on his shirts until they got holes----thankfully, for some odd reason he stopped. Now he's into nose picking---oh, joy!

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I never thought of this until goodnightmoon's posting about the tubing, but I have a 14 month old. Would any of the teethers for babies help with the biter/chewer? Whoozit makes this cool one with flexible tubes around it; I think I spent about $9-11 on it. DD always likes the soft rubbery ones better - just make sure your child can't chew through it - dd has on one of hers that shouldn't even on the market. The other one she likes is the little rubbery with a hard center when you bite down that vibrates. I got it at BabiesRUs. Depending on the sensory issues, it will either be too much of a sensory input with the vibration (my son never liked his vibrating bouncy seats, but dd does), or will be perfect. If biting clothes is an issue, notice what fabrics are preferred and give dd a little sheet of it to chew. Knots are sometimes very welcome.

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