All About Kids The Newsletter About Taking Care Of The Ones That Matter Most
“Why DoesMy Older Child Chewon Everything? ” (continued)
The stress we’re talking about could be everyday stress – when kids are frustrated, mad, or tired. Or, it could be the added anxiety of going to a new place, starting school again, etc. Chewing will typically increase relative to the amount of stress, AND relative to how well children deal with stress. Chewing is an easy way for kiddos to calm themselves because: 1. It’s a known motor plan. 2. There is always something nearby that they can chew on (whether or not it’s safe/appropriate) – a shirt, pencil, toy, something picked up off the floor, etc. 3. They can also control what goes in their mouth, which is something that many kids don’t get to do very often. Sensory Needs/Stimming Chewing as a calming mechanism is especially common for children who have autism and/or sensory processing disorder (SPD). Individuals with sensory issues process the world differently, and often times it can be very overwhelming. Lights might be brighter. Sounds might be louder. Touch might be painful. And so forth. Short for self-stimulation, “stimming” is one way that individuals with sensory issues organize themselves and manage all of the extra sensory information bombarding their systems. Stimming is typically anything repetitive, such as flapping one’s hands, rocking back and forth, spinning things, repeating certain words, chewing, etc. Body Awareness/ Proprioception We process the world around us through our senses, one of which is the lesser known “sixth sense” called proprioception. Proprioception is our ability to know where our body is in time and space. It’s how we process input from our joints and muscles in order to move and position the body. When children have difficulties properly interpreting this information, it can pose a whole host of problems. You might see them crashing into things, have poor motor control, have the “wiggles” and not be able to sit still or focus, and/or many other things. These kids in particular require what’s called a “sensory diet” of activities to regulate their systems. This is something an occupational therapist puts together. It’s catered to each child depending on their needs, and typically includes some sort of heavy work activities. If there isn’t a sensory diet in place, or if for some reason they’re not getting the right amount of compensatory proprioceptive input at any point throughout the day, they may try to self-regulate on their own. And often times they do this through chewing because again, it’s something that they know, have access to, and can control, and it provides proprioceptive input to the jaw.
Oral Awareness Some individuals have what’s called “oral hyposensitivity,” which is a fancy way of saying they have limited to no sensation in their mouths. To use a comparison that’s probably more relatable, imagine that for some reason you have decreased sensation in your fingers. How would you compensate? You would probably press on things harder, grip things tighter, maybe seek out things that are textured and have a lot of tactile information to them, and so forth. Similarly, individuals with limited oral awareness may seek out activities thatprovide increasedoral feedback,suchaseatingcrunchy foods,stuffing their mouths with food, grinding their teeth, and/or (you guessed it) chewing on non-food items. It is possible, however, to “wake up” the mouth and increase sensation. Concentration Have you ever chewed gum during a test? Or chewed on a pen cap or pencil while trying to concentrate on something? If not, then odds are you know someone who did/does. This is because chewing can be a very effective way to increase focus and block out other distractions, especially since it’s a repetitive movement. Chewing also activates muscles in the jaw down into the neck, which provides added stability that is grounding, particularly for children with decreased motor planning.
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