Hand Flapping

by shari
(california)

My son is 38 months old. He has been seen by our Regional Center for autism testing when he was 20 months old. He was given OT and speech therapy (for eye contact only). At the age of three he was dismissed. They said IF he is on the spectrum he is very high functioning.

My problem is that he is a hand flapper. This is the only thing that has ever made me think about autism. He has flapped at ceiling fans since he was 6 month old. He loves wheels and water. He will all of a sudden see any of the above triggers and stop in his tracks, focus in really close and the he almost zones out, starts flapping his hands (rolling at the wrists mostly) staring, grimacing his face, jumps and sighs) this lasts for about 10 seconds then he is off doing something else. He never does it consistently or for long periods. It is especially weird when he will put the toy or whatever on the table so it is at his eye level and then really start to flap.

It almost looks seizure like except that I can stop it at any time by talking to him or touching him. He is in preschool and does great, he is social, affectionate,and engaged. The teachers don't notice anything different about him, he doesn't flap in school except when in the bathroom and the roll of paper towels goes around. It is very odd. No one sees especially concerned but it freaks me out. Does anyone else have anything like this happening???