Hmm. I always thought that taking pens apart was part of everyday life. I had no idea that not everyone does this, and until I saw this thread, had never even considered that perhaps not everyone does this. (!)
Well, I've never done it :P. I think it is a common thing, though, so I'm not thinking that this is some "bizarre" action on her part. It's a thing where she will say "I"m not going to do that to my pen" and then realize she's doing it 5 minutes. I was just curious if there was any way to reverse that. But, from the responses on this thread, I guess it's not really anything that we need to try to fix.
On the subject of "stress relievers" (though in her case it's more of a "I need to stop thinking about such and such" thing since she does seem to have some type of OCD), she will count down from 10 in varying rhythms. (10-9-8-rest-7-6-rest-5-4-3-2-1, "rest" being just where she isn't saying a number. I don't really know how to notate it, but that's kind of how I'd write it) She does it "audibly", but not actually so anyone that wasn't listening would hear it. I have heard it before though, and it usually goes on for a few minutes, and once she stops, the thought/fear sometimes comes back. It does help, though. She is *very* musical, though, so that might not work for other kids, she says that the rhythm helps. I thought that was a kind of interesting thing she has developed, probably better than audibly whistling like someone mentioned
