My son is nearly 4 years old and has SPD (sensory-seeking subtype). He loves crunchy apples, carrots, ice cubes - which I place in the mesh bags I used to give him fruit in when he was a baby, as well as ice when he was teething as the "teethers" gagged him. He loves to crunch on ice cubes. He used to chew on his shirt collars, pick up rocks from the yard and put those in his mouth as well. There are "chew sticks" and necklaces made of a chewable safe rubber/plastic that can be purchased online for children who crave the oral stimulation of chewing. As well, if he's opposed to brushing his teeth, vibrating toothbrushes seem to do the trick. My son would not let me brush his teeth, and yesterday morning his OTs suggested purchasing one of this that had a favorite cartoon or movie character on it - and unbelievably, he brushed his teeth! Briefly, but it was fantastic. I'd taken to wiping his teeth with a soft wet cloth while he slept (as best I could!).

I would suggest taking your son to an OT for evaluation. My son sees a fantastic group that utilizes play therapy, which is fantastic as he's sensory seeking and ALWAYS on the go. It's like a gymnasium/tumble room inside and he's making great progress in nearly two months so far. While his need to jump from the highest point he can find has not yet calmed down) he HAS stopped behaviors such as running from one side of the room to the other full-tilt and slamming hands-first into the wall, smashing his toys over and again into walls (or onto windows, window sills, etc), chewing shirt collars, running around the house in mindless circles, shreiking at the top of his lungs - basically, stimming constantly. His tantrums have stopped as well, since we know calming methods, such as deep stimulation (weighted blankets, big hugs and "smooshing" with pillows to help give him that huge hugging feeling he needs. And, he get lots of "heavy work" - weighted backpacks, heavy things he can push and pull, etc. that give him an outlet and stimulation.

These kids aren't bad kids or even behaving badly. I put it to my family like this: you and I can go for a walk around the block, and for us, when we get back to the house, we have that good feeling like we've gotten out and stretched our legs. For my son to feel that way, he'd have to run full-out as fast as he can JUST TO FEEL WHAT IS "NORMAL" TO US. Once you understand what their bodies and brains need as feedback and why, it's a whole new world.

Good luck!!!!!