Sibling of child with Autism

My five year old Granddaughter is very bright, has an incredible vocabulary, is very imaginative and extremely sensitive.  She has a five year old brother (adopted) with Autism, she totally loves her brother and is quite protective of him. She is a great kid.  There are two areas of concern.  She is, and has always been,  EXTREMELY sensitive about having her hair brushed to the point of crying hysterically almost every time her mom brushes her hair. Secondly and  
just recently she has developed a habit, a hands to mouth habit; licking her fingers, licking her chin, sucking on clothing, blankets and even her teddy bear. We (her parents and I) have tried to explain the germ factor of this activity but she continues to do this.  I am worried about this being a manifestation of something deeper.  Could this (please, please)  just be a passing phase, a vitamin deficiency or something really easy to fix or is something much deeper bothering her?

[Jason C Bourret, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

The types of behaviors that you describe your granddaughter engaging in are not entirely uncommon in typically developing children. If there are concerns about her communication, social interaction, or repetitive patterns of behavior, I would recommend going ahead and having her assessed for autism spectrum disorders. In the absence of those, you’ve got a typical little girl who may have might be classified as a habit disorder. These are extremely common and often go away on their own. If you find the mouthing to linger, I suggest the parents seek out a behavior analyst with experience treating habit disorders. There isn’t a vitamin or pill that you can take to solve the problem but behavioral methods are very successful in treating these.