In the Autism community where I "hail" from there is a saying "Be careful what you wish for" ---with our children we are always wishing or hoping or thinking if only our child would do this or that--- wouldn't it be nice if they could wake up tomorrow and be "normal": WHATEVER N O R M A L IS !
What many of us have found that often times this "train of thought" backfires! Mostly with behaviors; many of the people I know who live with Autism have fought to interrupt and redirect a behavior only to find that; the child will replace that behavior with one that is even more annoying or destructive.
One of my mentors warned me of this situation early on and it has become almost something I have to laugh about when I find myself succeeding at "conquering" a behavior. Because Dak has replaced it with one that is even more irritating!
The rule of thumb is to assess the behavior and decide whether you and your family can live with this ritual and whether or not it is a self injurious behavior. If you can tolerate it --My advice is leave it alone --believe me it will pass--It may be 2 or 3 years but it will go away E V E N T U A L L Y. I know it seems like a lifetime but one day you will realize POOF it's gone. The only "ticks or behaviors" I do battle with are self -injurious . If the child is beating his head into a wall, ripping the cuticles from his fingers or {my personal favorite} twisting the hair out of his head --you really must address these. It wont be easy and you may not succeed in a timely manner but I maintain that if you stay at it be consistent you will prevail!
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