Hitting yourself?

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Hi All-

I am the parent of a 6 yr old boy diagnosed as PDD-NOS. He has always flapped his hands, but recently he has started slapping his head sometimes with the palms of his hands, and sometimes he hits himself with his fists on his head. He seems to be enjoying it, he is not doing it during a meltdown or anything. I was wondering if any of you do this or have done it when you were younger. What do you think makes you do this if you do. I am just concerned because I don't want him to hurt himself, although it doesn't really seem to cause him pain????

I do this sometimes.

I like the vibration and the jiggly/snappy effect on my vision, and when I stop it feels like my brain is "refreshed" and "ready to go again". Probably doesn't make much sense.

I also like resting my head on bus windows when I'm on the bus for the same effect, but without it looking quite so odd...

i can think of some things i did like this. it sounds like its ok cuz he aint hurting himself. stimming aint a problem itself so i wouldn't be too concerned.

Yeah, I do this all the time. I beat my chin with the tops of my wrists and punch myself as well (not hard enough to cause any serious pain but I have bled before doing it. I prefer more forceful stimming than some aspies do. The number one reason why I do it is excitement over something. I've noticed that if I don't do it I can feel jittery or overwhelmed. I need repetitive motion and that's why I flap my hands wildly or shake my body around. It releases tension and certain motions can feel quite nice. Sometimes repeating song lyrics will have the same effect.

I hit the sides of my head a lot, whether I am happy, sad or in a meltdown. It is a self stimulation thing. I am not 100% sure why I do it, except that it feels as if it relieves a mental pressure if that makes any sense. I like the feeling a lot and it keeps me calm.

I stopped doing this. Maybe I should start again?

I used to hit myself out of anger, though I haven't done so since I've been living on my own.

I think my son does it too more out of excitement. Sometimes I notice he might seem a little frustrated when he does it, but mostly during times of excitement. Jellybean, do you think this is related to your Tourette's or AS?

He could potentially be doing it to enjoy the endorphin flow, its mildly sedating and euphoria inducing (wee!).

I have found that I hit myself in the head in a certain spot it will be sedating and make me slightly happy.

I do this when really angry and frustrated, but only when I cannot find the word to explain to someone a concept that is fundamentally simple, or is simple to me. I hit myself repeatedly with my fist on my head until I am stopped or I notice I am bleeding (or pass out) which ever happens first

Yes, I do that and do not know why. I think I only do it at home. I hope.

I don't do this myself because I have a more mild condition but some stimming.

Perhaps exploring other stimming alternatives might help him find an alternative to this?

I tap my head lightly on things (chairs, walls, ect) when relaxed and when I can't think I hit my head with my palm/fist to try and 'make' my brain 'work'. Also, if it's too noisy at school I drop my head onto the desk, hard. It hurts though.

I'm more of a scratching sort of person. Scratching myself, that is.

Apparently, I hit my head against a wall for 30 minutes whilst away on a trip when I was 13, then the people I was sharing a room with made me stop. I was quite happy/hyper at the time.

I also hit other areas of my body as best as I can punch them and throw myself (backwards) into walls. I find running into walls (forwards) relaxing, it's something about the impact, I think.

Thanks for all of the input====I am sure one of these is the reason my son does it. Right now I am just calmly asking him not to do it, and trying to get him to maybe tap his hands on his legs or something. I really don't know what else to redirect him to though. Right now he isn't really hurting himself, so I will just keep an eye on it. Thanks!

It is my AS definitely. I do get Tourettic head hitting/punching/slapping, but it feels different. With the TS its quite sudden and doesn't give me any sensory pleasure. With the deliberate head hitting, I feel calmer for doing it.