What is it?

[gin160]

My 6 year old son claps his hands when over stimulated.  He is doing wonderfully in his academics and is pretty social.  He was the only kindergartener last year that was in our school's musical.  His teacher thinks he is autistic or has Asperger's.  I have talked with both his ped. and neuro. and they think that it is a motor tic disorder but his teacher is not satisfied with that.  She demands we have him tested and find out "what is really going on with him".  I was encouraged to see other post on here about children who clap when stimulated.  This is not a seizure because he can stop clapping and keep himself from doing it for a period of time.  Should be continue on and keep going to doctors to get a result that will satisfy her or should I tell her to mind her on business?  


This discussion is related to 4 yr old hands twist, stiffen and flap when excited - involuntary muscle movemen.

[louis682]

your son does not need a psychologist the teacher does if clapping is whats been considered as abnormal

[gin160]

I do appreciate you commenting back.  I did tell his teacher that I had spoken with my neuro many times but she thinks that he is not specialized enough I guess.  She believes he needs an educational evaluation from a phycologist.  I believe that the neuro is very capable of deciding what my son has and kind of trumps a phycologist.  I am not sure why she thinks a medical diagnosis is not good enough but she has told me very strongly that it is not.

[irishred795]

My son's LISW said that anxiety manifests itself physically in children. They need to stretch or do some activity to relieve anxiety.  I would NOT make him stop the clapping. If this is what helps him when he is overstimulated it's great he recognizes that he's feeling that way and has found a way to deal with it. Maybe you could get some stress balls for him to keep in his desk at school and have him try those. My son uses them at home. If he doesn't have them when he needs them he ***** his arm, scratches a lot, until the anxiety escalates to the point of a meltdown. If the clapping is the only issue and the neuro doesn't feel there is a developmental issue I'd tell teacher you've spoken to his neuro and he doesn't feel there is a problem. Tell her you appreciate her being concerned and to let you know if she notices any other issues. Most importantly, trust YOUR gut.

[louis682]

Thats perfectly normal its a reflex he develops that will slowly go away....with time when he tends to clap his hand hold his hands gently and have him do something else.....this is absolutely normal my baby brother tends to rock back and forth at night before sleeping because he developed that in the first few weeks , by time we stopped him from doing that and now he doesnt do that anymore....its a normal reflex that develops each child may develop a different form of movement and reaction...

is there any abnormality or only the clapping......if no then there is absolutely nuthing to worry about