Is it best to discourage a child with Autism from "stimning" or is it beneficial to allow him/her to stim if it (the activity) is not harmful. For example, our 3.5 year old wants to spend long periods of time in the bathtub holding a cup under the faucet so he can watch the water splash. He is obviously getting some degree of visual stimulation from this exercise and he craves it, as he will repeatedly ask for the cup if we hide it. He also asks to take a bath several times a day just so he can use the cup to see the water splash. Do we let him do this, or not? When he turns a toy car over to spin the wheels, or plays innappropriately with toys, do we allow him, or try to prevent the behavior? We hear from some professionals "Don't let him stim": and others tell us he needs to do certain things to regulate his body and mind. We are confused. Please help.