Flapping His Heart Out

It's been a while since I have really posted about Javi and his behaviors. I have had questions here and there about how Javi flaps. This is his self stimming behavior. We don't mind that he flaps, but we would like him to stop using objects when he does flap. The straws with the paper are affectionately called "Flappy Sticks". We find bits of toilet paper and tissue all over the house, which has be come somewhat of a safety issue with Kaylee crawling. If she puts a large enough piece in her mouth, she could choke on it. He also leaves the straws out on occasion, which are also a hazard to Kaylee. We are working with behavior modification to try to curb this urge to use a flapping tool. We are also trying to help Javi find other things to occupy his time, as he will resort to flapping whenever he has idle time or is bored. If he is engaged in an activity, he seldom flaps unless he gets frustrated. In that case, we let him regulate himself by flapping a bit. We are trying to limit it to certain areas as much as possible, as it is also a safety issue for Javi, since he can tend to block everything out but the flapping. He tries to do it in the parking lot, in the street and places where it's just not appropriate because of safety concerns.

Today he had a great day! We try to keep him busy. He seems to do very well when there are structured activities, of course. We went to the park after school, then we came home and changed to go swimming, then he drew pictures while the little ones napped, then we watched Jon and Kate + 8 which is our thing to watch together while the little ones nap. Then we played wii, followed by dinner, more art, then baking cookies, having popcorn and watching a Ratatouille. We had very little flapping today only for a few minutes to regulate before dinner.

We are so proud that Javi had such a great day! Tomorrow we are planning to take the kids to the Festival of Sail to see the Tall Ships in the San DIego Bay. We are planning to take the ferry to Coronado island. I will be sure to take pics and post some.