This is probably pretty silly.... but my teenage daughter with mild/moderate autism has a compulsion to rock back and forth. I imagine it is very soothing to her. We have a recliner that she sits in everyday. She rocks to and fro in an aggressive manor. Well about a week ago the recliner got stuck in the reclining position and she could no longer rock. It broke my heart because I would look over and see her sitting on our very stationary couch rocking herself.
Unfortunately as a single mother of 3 (2 of which are autistic) I didn't have the funds to replace it. So, I had my ex ( who is quite handy) take a look at it, but to no avail..... it was downright stuck.
Several days later I couldn't stand to watch her rocking herself any longer. I could see the anxiety mounting in her eyes. So I got down with a flashlight underneath the chair and had her help me by attempting to fold the chair back in over and over so that I could determine what was going on. Well I finally figured out that one of the springs got dislodged and she was able to fold it back down. But the look on her face when it went down was pure relief and joy! Those are rare moments for her. She was so happy she danced around and gave me a high five ( she never does things like that!!!) As weird as it sounds, it was a real bonding moment for us.