COMPULSIVE FINGER TWIDDLING in 5 yr. old son

[Needyouradvice]

My son just turned 5 and he has been exhibiting odd behavior since he was three that involves walking back and forth while compulsively twiddling his fingers close in front of his face.  It usually happens in the afternoon when he's tired or if he's excited.  Usually he does it for a total of a half hour to forty five minutes per day - on and off.

It involves walking back and forth holding his two hands close up in front of his face and moving his fingers quickly back and forth. This is usually accompanied by him making sounds to imitate the sound that a truck would make like "broom broom" type of sounds.  If I say "What are you doing?"  He will stop and whine and complain that I interrupted him - he hates it when I call attention to it.  

He finds it very comforting to do this.  He says he "HAS TO" do it and that he uses him imagination when he does it - he appears lost in another world when he does this but I wouldn't say it's involuntary - more compulsive - like an obsession - a very comforting compulsive behavior.  If he's watching a video, he will engage in this behavior in another room for a few minutes then take a break and watch the video then resume his behavior - he really enjoys doing it.  When I ask him what he is thinking about when he does it, he says it's "violent" but when I ask him what he means by that he describes action figures fighting - that type of violence.  He says it always has a good or happy ending.

He will be entering kindergarten soon.  He has not engaged in this behavior at preschool and I don't think he'll do it while he's at kindergarten but I know the minute he gets home - he'll launch into doing it.  He will do it in public occasionally when I take him out and friends and strangers will look at him and then me with a questioning look.

Please help!!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Behaviors such as the one you describe need to be examined in context. That is, they need to be understood in relation to how well the child is mastering the various spheres of a young child's life: home/family, school and peer relationships/activities. If the child is doing well in all spheres, the behavior itself needn't be a cause for worry. Yes, it is unusual, and should be monitored, but may not represent anything of a serious nature. On the other hand, it might represent some anxiety or might be a symptom of a condition along the Pervasive Developmental Disorder spectrum. It does not sound like a typical self-soothing behavior. If your son is doing well and, apart from the particular symptom, you do not have any worry about him, I'd wait and see and not do anything particular about it. If, on the other hand, he is not functioning well in any of the several spheres I mentioned above, you would do well to have him evaluated by a mental health professional.

[Needyouradvice]

He is a very bright, well adjusted child in every other respect.  He is always happy and cheerful.  His teachers say he is right on track with his peers and that he's very logical.  He gets along great with other children.  He really is a joy - it's just this behavior that concerns me.  It seems to be a means of him releasing nervous energy or excitement.  But, it's a daily routine.  He seems more compelled to do it if he's tired at the end of the day.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

There's no doubt that, when children are tired, hungry or ill, they are not as well organized as they usually are. I think it's perfectly reasonable for you to ignore this behavior. Your son appears to be doing quite well apart from this single idiosyncracy. Watch if it starts to occur with any regularity in other settings - e.g., school. If so, seek an evaluation.

[awefgowefaw]

If it makes you feel better, my son does almost the exact
same thing. He has turned his finger twiddling action into his own sort of comic book adventures called "Finger Heroes".
Its "violent"  also, and there's always a battle going on.
This has been going on since he's been around 5, he's almost 8 now
and he's still twiddling his fingers, but I can see it is gradually fading.

I have confidence because I have seen a lot of the other idiosyncratic behaviors that he had also eventually fade.
  
My son had facial twitches and eye-blinking,
that had been quite disturbing to us, but eventually faded.

for years he endlessly made loud annoying noises with his mouth ,now thats almost gone.

Good Luck

[Masian]

I read your comment and really related to it.  My son has had a self soothing behavior very similar to what you describe.  He becomes very zoned out and has learned to hide his behavior when I am around.  I know he can control it and stop it when interrupted but something inside of him feels compelled to do this behavior.  He enjoys it.  I have asked him about it and how it feels but he has never really given me a response.  He doesn't like to talk about it. He is in 2nd grade and I think it is starting to affect him at school.  He is normal in every other way, so I don't think it effects the other areas of his life, but I think he will start to get negative attention if he does not learn to stop it. Well, good luck.

[pseudynom]

I was amazed when I found this forum. I know someone who does exactly what is being described, but he is much older (teens). He has other problems that wax and wane, some appear simalir to a mild case of OCD. He's also been depressed once and has poor motivation. I don't know what's wrong he appears normal otherwise. Do you have any advise or information I can give him?

[pseudynom]

Sorry but I want to mention that he finds it difficult to socialize sometimes too.

[hmm.thats.interesting]

my son does the hand and finger twidling as well. He also does this shaking thing that's a whole body convulsion for only an instant...like a shiver...but he does it at any time for no reason. Then we discovered it was when his normal routine was changed..no matter how small the change was. He doesn't look in the eyes when he talks to people and he is very literal about what you say. You'll tell him "don't color on that" and he'll get a pencil to draw instead. I didn't say "don't draw on it"...he isn't being a smarty butt, he is just extremely literal. My son has a form of autism called Asperger syndrome. It's a form of high functioning autism. He can talk and he is up to date with language developement and some social skills. He just seems "weird". Adults understand hom more than anything. He fixates on certain things like the wheels on his cars or the exact way the color of a crayon comes off on the paper. He has a major fixation on cars and trains...MAJOR fixation. He lines up his cars in a perfect order and you move one car and he'll freak out. The finger twidling thing was the biggest indicator and what made me take me take him to a psychologist when he was 3. It's nice to know what it is though because I can tell his teachers and they can accomidate him. They keep him on a regular routine and they know how to comfort him during fire drills (he freaks when he hears loud noises)or any time he gets stuck on something. They know how to talk to him and they understand how he interperates normal things everyday. The teachers love him..lol.