Wooooooooo!!

This picture tells two stories.

First- I caught MissG mid stim.

{I have talked briefly about stimming in this post at Different kinds of normal}

Nick Walker defines stimming this way-

"To stim is to engage in movement and/or in other activity that stimulates one or more of one's senses, for the purpose (whether intentional or purely instinctive) of regulating one's own sensorimotor experience and/or state of consciousness. Examples of stims include (but are certainly not limited to) such activities as rocking, hand movements, humming, drumming, touching a surface, or gazing at running water. Functions of stimming include (but are certainly not limited to) self-calming and self-soothing; inducing, enhancing, or responding to experiences of sensory pleasure; regulating sensory input; integration of information; and accessing specific capacities and/or states of consciousness."

MissG licks her face as a way of regulating sensory input. She does it when concentrating hard, when stressed, excited and tired. Before we realised the licking was a stim we tried to get her to stop. She would say "I can't help it". Now we know what it is we don't ask her not to do it, we focus on teaching her how to care for her skin by encouraging her to use a cream on her face to help protect and heal the skin. She likes the feel of the cream, fortunately, so it is easy to get her to use it. Now we are trying to help her remember to use it without being prompted. I hope that at some stage she will replace the licking with use of a chapstick or lip balm as it will mean her face won't be sore. In the mean time, she licks and her skin is often quite red. 

Second- "Josh and the Woo Woo" is MissG's favourite book. (This is NOT a sponsored post!) It tells the story of a little bunny who struggles with all loud noises, until he hears a steam train for the first time. It's cute, and she can relate to it. She also loves when I read it and do the Woo Woo's really loudly and as much like a train whistle as I can. She asks me to read it pretty frequently, and as she is beginning to be a reader herself likes to join in pointing to words she recognises. She pretty much has it memorised now. Tonight she asked for a piece of paper, and shortly after appeared to show me that she had written "Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" on it. She asked for her photo to be taken. 

So, here is a very proud and excited MissG, stimming and showing me her writing and her favourite book.  Wooo!