Plenty of time. but they shave that area to stop him fiddling around there

My son is 14 and nonverbal. He used to do that sometimes at school. School staff redirected him a lot and I did too. Now I really think he understands that the appropriate place for that stim is his bedroom after being redirected a lot. Sometimes he still will try in the living room but I just tell him to go to his room and he listens now.

Don't be embarrassed my son was a 8 and caught in his classroom. Some autistic children are hypersensitive when it comes to touching themselves as they get older. It's natural curiosity for all but because of thier need for external stimulation like stemming it can start earlier and not always the best time. I do not know you childs level of understanding but for my son I just talked to him at home. Explained it's natural and he's not in trouble because causing anxiety around a behavior can cause it to be worse. So I told him if he feels he needs to do that it must be at home in his room door closed. That certain things we can not do at school or in public. After a few times of getting caught in school and calm talks at home we've had no more issue. I would ask your child why and he may not know it may just feel different. If he can tell you is anxiety etc.. maybe find him a fidget that he can use when instead. The behavior will pass so don't worry just always keep them communicating.

My son did that once when he was in middle school. His teacher emailed me letting me know that “he got friendly with a pole.” She redirected him. He is 19 now and he doesn’t do it at school. At home, it doesn’t happen in front of me. He understands that is something you should do privately. All the redirecting helped when he was younger.