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Has Anyone Experienced Stimming Behavior Of Opening Eyes Extremely Wide In ASD Children?

A MyAutismTeam Member asked a question 💭
Lewisville, TX

My daughter has been exhibiting what appears to be a new stimming behavior. It all started a few months ago during a vacation to the beach in Florida, my daughter started to open her eyes extremely wide every few moments for no apparent reason. This continued for several weeks and persists now during school and when she gets home. She also will tug at her bottom eye lids, causing some slight bruising as she does it frequently. She recently received a full eye exam--her first, which she did GREAT… read more

October 1, 2012
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A MyAutismTeam Member

Gosh I wish I had an answer, but just want to raise my hand and say we are dealing with this as well. My son Jake (12 - ASD) started doing this, well, "thing" where he blinks really hard, then opens up his eyes superwide...sometimes when he does it it's with a shoulder shrug. It started a few months ago, got much worse a few weeks ago, and now it seems to be fading.
I did not notice any pattern or rhyme or reason to any of it!
Oh, and @A MyAutismTeam Member - thanks for the note about the "fireworks" thing - that makes a lot of sense! Actually, I remember doing that as a kid (and I don't have autism, as far as I know, lol).

October 3, 2012 (edited)
A MyAutismTeam Member

Is she tired when she does it? My son will do it when he starts to tire. When I asked him about it he stated he's tired and "stretching" his eyes help to wake them up.

@A MyAutismTeam Member most likely the reason your son pushes on his eyelids is because it makes "fireworks" when pushed hard enough. It is a sensation lots of kids like.

October 2, 2012 (edited)
A MyAutismTeam Member

It seems like she's doing it during visually stimulating activities (in bright sunlight, tv shows, with flipping books, etc.) I would say not to worry about it too much as long as you can find no medical reason for it and as long as it's not interfering with social interactions...it seems like it's just her way to compensate or balance out visual stimulation. I'm not an OT, but a lot of kids that I work with who have visual stims love to spin; that also helps them regulate.

Hope this is helpful!

October 2, 2012
A MyAutismTeam Member

Hello. My son is 4 with moderately severe autism, and some of his BIGGEST stimming behaviors have to do with his eyes. He does open them wide (this is relatively new) but it's almost always when he is engaging in prolonged eye contact and playing one of his favorite games, which is "I make a face, then Mommy makes the same face." He loves to make faces at me or in the mirror. Some of his other ocular oddities include pushing on his eye with his finger (makes him look very studious but worries me a good bit... I mean, is he hurting his eyes doing that??) and looking at objects from his peripheral vision, which I hear is pretty common on the spectrum. (The ASD child in the movie "The Horse Boy" wears Band-Aids on the corners of his eyes, though they never explain it in the movie.) I am taking my son to an ophthalmologist in a few days, so if I learn anything ground-breaking, I'll post it here. But it certainly wouldn't hurt to get her tested for allergies!

October 1, 2012
A MyAutismTeam Member

My son, nearly 5 years old, used to roll his eyes into his head. I had him checked by a neurologist and all was normal. This would happen most often when he was eating something that he really liked or when I was scolding him. Go figure! I haven't noticed any eye stims for about 6 months now. Maybe it was just a phase. I keep a detailed journal for stuff like this just in case it happens again.

October 1, 2012

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