The Importance of Family Acceptance

Journal 5

This week, I have been intrigued by what is known as “stimming” in the autism community. This is defined as “the practice of odd, unusual, or repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping and body rocking.” (Bakan, 2015) A group of autistic adults in a 2021 study describes their behaviors as ways to “relieve a build-up of feelings before I get overwhelmed” or something that “can also just be pleasant”. (Cox, 2021) Most humans stim in some sort of way, such as leg shaking, hair twirling or nail biting. All these behaviors exhibit as a means to calm oneself.

I have observed stimming in a variety of ways throughout my internship, some harmful, and some innocent. Some parents encourage stimming as a healthy way of coping while others want to completely stop their child from stimming. I understand wanting your child to be socially accepted, to make friends easily and be successful, but I find it hard to watch and implement ceasing all stimming, behaviors that are only meant to help a child calm down.

As someone who was diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome and tics at a young age, I can somewhat relate to the discomfort of trying to control behaviors that your body was not meant to control. Sure, I was asked by my peers in late elementary school and middle school why I blinked so much, but as I have grown and adapted to the world, I have learned that I should not put myself in intentional discomfort or harm for the approval of others. So, when I see a client of mine who is obviously in distress, who cannot sit still or keep quiet for one minute, I cannot help but wonder how the mother thinks she is benefiting her son by yelling at him to stay silent, to cease the only behaviors that are calming him in an all too overwhelming world. I want them to instead understand that the world should not care how you deal with certain things in life.

Therefore, it is my belief that parents should not disapprove of their children’s behaviors, nor should they worry about what others think of their children. They need to be educated so that their children can cope using mannerisms of their own preferences. Of course, harmful stims like hitting oneself should be replaced with less aggressive behaviors, and the growing field of Applied Behavior Analysis is surely making a difference in this area. Still, parents need to understand what their children are going through and also have a community of their own that accepts them and encourages them through hard times.

With this personal experience, I aim to continue my research on the effects that parental beliefs have on autistic traits and on the treatment of autism. Using what I find, I hope to implement this in a way that effectively treats the autism community with educational resources, acceptance, and support.

Resources

Bakan, M. B. (2015). The Musicality of Stimming: Promoting Neurodiversity in the Ethnomusicology of Autism. MUSICultures, 41(2). Retrieved from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MC/article/view/22914

Cox, S. (2021, September 21). Suppressing stimming for social acceptance has negative impact. Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved from https://www.gold.ac.uk/news/stimming-and-social-acceptance/