More troubling still may be the way your child bites or head-butts when she needs some strong proprioceptive input. It's hard to consider such pain-inducing activities as anything but acts of aggression, but you may have noticed that your child doesn't seem to act very aggressive about them. You may be holding your child on your lap when she casually bites your hand or butts her head backward into your nose. She may not seem angry when she does it, although the person on the receiving end will surely be angry afterward.

There can be many reasons for this sort of behavior in children, but if your child has sensory integration disorder and you've noticed other proprioception-related behaviors, you might want to try looking at this in the same light. Biting and butting also give good input to the joints, although in this case it's the jaw and the neck and the shoulders that receive the most impact.

This again is behavior that may be explained by sensory integration theory but not condoned by it. You have to find alternatives for your child, since these behaviors truly are unacceptable. If you can see things from his point of view, however, you'll want to coach alternatives without blaming your child for behavior that to him is just a matter of comfort.

Many children get their bite cravings satisfied with a piece of plastic tubing that they can chew on whenever they need to. Some parents use surgical tubing from a medical supply store for their children's chewable necklaces. You can also employ cheaper and easier-to-find aquarium tubing from a pet store. If your child likes, knot some beads into the tubing to make the necklace a little more festive, but be sure your child cannot chew through the tubing and get the beads out.

Chewy foods and candies may also be a good substitute for biting. For head-butting, there are few good alternative choices, but you may find that by addressing proprioceptive needs in other areas, the desire for this particular bit of input will subside. If not, try pushing down on your child's shoulders when she seems to need this sort of input.