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Fidgets/Coping Mechanisms

Nemo

Nemo

Open mind, guarded heart
Hi,
When I get anxious or hyper focused, I bite my nails/inside of my mouth. Both are unsightly and biting my lip can cause cancer. I desperately want to stop. Does anyone have any insights/recommended fidgets? I'm on a budget here and would like it to be discreet though as I go to a mainstream school. Thanks!
(Please don't suggest horrible tasting nail paint- I cook a lot and it transfers to the food;))
 
Thanks for the suggestion! I went on the site and the spinner rings, lanyards and eni puzzles really interested me. Sadly, my school doesn't allow jewelry, and yeah, since it's mainstream, chewing on something would be socially unacceptable. But thanks for the website! It's really cool.
 
Nemo said:
Thanks for the suggestion! I went on the site and the spinner rings, lanyards and eni puzzles really interested me. Sadly, my school doesn't allow jewelry, and yeah, since it's mainstream, chewing on something would be socially unacceptable. But thanks for the website! It's really cool.
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They don't allow jewelry, oh, that's sad. I haven't been in school for a long time so it never occurred to me that chewing on anything is socially inappropriate, sorry. Hope you find a solution. Glad you like the site, though.
 
Thanks for the suggestion:) I really appreciate the effort you put in to finding a website for a random person on the internet that you've never met before.
 
Nemo said:
Thanks for the suggestion:) I really appreciate the effort you put in to finding a website for a random person on the internet that you've never met before.
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You're welcome. It wasn't a problem, it's just a cool site I knew of. There are lots of others out there. Oh, I just remembered, worry beads! That might be a nice socially acceptable fidget.
 
While at uni or at work I've learned to replace my former fidgeting behaviour (rubbing my face, scratching my head and pulling my hear) with fidgeting with pens. It still annoys me that I feel compelled to fidget, but at least this is less obvious behaviour. I don't do the incessant clicking with pens (drives me nuts when people do that) but just sort of roll it in and over my fingers. I also tend to drop my pens quite a lot :D
 
Bolletje said:
Interesting thing! Hadn't heard of it before but looks promising :)
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I have a couple of them. First one I had I was given by the doctor to like help quit smoking (it was nicorette branded :rolleyes:). It did absolutely nothing in that regard :p but I bought myself another one so I could have one in my bag and one at home as I find them somewhat calming to just fiddle with. They make a lot of different ones now too which is good!
 
xudo said:
I have a couple of them. First one I had I was given by the doctor to like help quit smoking (it was nicorette branded :rolleyes:). It did absolutely nothing in that regard :p but I bought myself another one so I could have one in my bag and one at home as I find them somewhat calming to just fiddle with. They make a lot of different ones now too which is good!
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Haha, I was wondering about their claim to help people stop smoking, couldn't imagine it would help me. But they look like cool things to fiddle with, better than my elastic hairband :D
 
i have a chewbuddy super currently:
chewbuddy super
and i strongly recommend it as it has different textures on each corner and is great for strong biters like me but its massive so itll stand out and from what you say you dont want anything that makes you look different.
however you are aspie so you cant deny that,you will find as an adult that all that attempting to emulate NTs goes wrong as it makes people quite unwell and their aspieness shines through regardless.

i use a rucksack full of fidget toys,but i wouldnt recommend that if you still want to emulate your NT peers.

i personally think as chewing and touch is a strong need of many aspies and auties to regulate our sensory systems,it is a disability issue so you could get your parents to speak to the school about allowing you to use the chewellery and fidget toys in lessons-if you would like that, i know from similar situations of autistic youngsters going to school that theyve been allowed chew toys and fidget toys in lesson,its like visually impaired people needing glasses-its a need.
 
There are some great vendors on Etsy that have items for stimming. I purchased some beanbags to hold when I'm feeling anxious and some cloth mazes that are really cool.
 
Meg12 said:
There are some great vendors on Etsy that have items for stimming. I purchased some beanbags to hold when I'm feeling anxious and some cloth mazes that are really cool.
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what you are doing is pretty cool-its called mindfulness and you are meditating in a way as you are putting all your focus and attention on the beanbags and allowing no anxiety to enter your mind i guess, thats how mindfulness meditation works anyway, if you are doing what i think your doing-i do it to,i also do guided mindfulness which is even better- it all helps to remove any immediate anxiety,you can do it anywhere and no one neccessarily will know your doing it.
 
toothless said:
what you are doing is pretty cool-its called mindfulness and you are meditating in a way as you are putting all your focus and attention on the beanbags and allowing no anxiety to enter your mind i guess, thats how mindfulness meditation works anyway, if you are doing what i think your doing-i do it to,i also do guided mindfulness which is even better- it all helps to remove any immediate anxiety,you can do it anywhere and no one neccessarily will know your doing it.
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I found mindfulness really helpful for OCD!
 
Shame they won't let you chew gum (I also chew on my lips/inside of my cheeks; gum helps a LOT). If you think you can transfer that need from mouth to hands, try putty (I use Theraputty cause I'm an OT and we have tons at work, but Silly Putty works fine). It's what I use when I can't chew and need to be centered and focused.
 
Hi guys, thanks for the nice comments:):)
Toothless - While I could talk to the school, I really want to make friends and chewing would discourage that probably, heck, I gave up reading books at school to attract friends. I'll try putty or maybe the tangle if it ships to Australia
- Any other suggestions welcome!;)
 
I have a horrible tongue chewing habit that results in a constant sore, so I'm worried about cancer too. Lately I've had success by rubbing my tongue on the top of my mouth when I feel the urge to chew. It's been working the last week or so and the sore is finally healing. So maybe just altering the stim a little to fit your needs could work.
 
Though issue could be that I do it when focused and don't notice it. I hope this works though.
 
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