A question about 'stimming'

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Hi everyone,

I was just wondering, do ALL autistic children stim?

My daughter has never done the stereotypical stuff that you hear about, like hand flapping or head banging or twirling... but she does a lot of verbal stuff that I think might be her version of stimming. Sometimes she appears to retreat into her own little world and then she'll be incessantly singing to herself, or talking to herself, or repeating conversations that she overheard earlier that day. Somtimes she'll make quiet noises and run around the room; or she might be sitting on the couch and she'll suddenly eject a loud bird noise or something for no particular reason. I guess this is all her stimming stuff? Sometimes when she's doing it, she runs back and forth across the living room. She's been running back and forth across living rooms since she was old enough to run (she's 5 now).

Does anyone else have a child that stims this way? Is there a reason that her stimming would all be verbal (apart from the running) and that she doesn't do any of the other common types of stims?

I'm still learning about ASD and finding it all fascinating. Thanks

To me stimming is more like something done habitually to release tension when you feel momentarily stressed. I may often rub my arms, scratch my head, or sometimes rock in my chair for a couple of minutes.

Neurotypical people engage in repetitive behaviors (stimming) to release tension just like people on the autism spectrum as this YouTube video shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f15JexiQ ... hDsHFczG7c

As far as talking to oneself, yes I do that a lot. Repeating conversations she heard may be her way of gradually gaining insight and understanding on human interaction seeing what she can learn from it. It's kind of like when you want to learn something from studying you read it over and over to get a better understanding of it. That's just my personal opinion on this.

Last edited by Silver_Meteor on 23 May 2010, 3:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

I did not....generally. I do shake my leg however so does my father...so does Peggy Bundy apparently. So I don't think that is so unusual.

When my brother, who is NT, was younger, he'd sit and talk to himself or hum to himself quite frequently as he was playing.

I remember once hearing him repeat a Sally Struthers informercial word for word when he thought no one was listening to him when he was about four, and he had memorized the Wizard of Oz line for line.

It is somewhat difficult to say if something is a stim because the word stim is fairly poorly defined. In the broadest sense of the word, stimming is the name given to any apparently non-functional, repetitive action.

‘Stims’ may include things like rocking back and forth, twirling or pulling at hair, swaying from side to side, spinning in circles, pacing back and forth, flapping arms, or picking at skin. Conversely, breathing and blinking your eyes are both repetitive, but they serve a definite purpose and thus are not considered stims. Stimming can also be used to describe more OCD type behaviors like lining things up in strait lines.

So, would making sounds be considered a stim? I don't really know. It is both repetitive and non functional, but it isn't what people would normally would think of when they hear the word stimming. So.. I don't know, maybe?

To be honest, does it matter whether or not it qualifies as a stim?

My son who is almost 5 has always done this. His speech therapist has told me that it is a form of stimming called verbal stimming. My son loves to talk to himself and make up words. He sometimes just says words or sentences out of the blue that are out of context. He loves to sing and clap and in the past 6 mos., he has been having verbal outbursts at school where he just makes a lot of nonsensical sounds and says things that he has heard others saying. When my husband and I have a conversation, he sometimes does it and can get very loud. We have had a lot of problems with it, and we are concerned about it because we don't know if it will subside, and if it is going to effect his learning. He seems to do it sometimes to try and block things out that we or his teachers are trying to show him.

I have read that as language skills improve, some of this will subside, but so far I am not sure. My son is speaking in full sentences and can have a small conversation that makes sense with us, but he continues to do all of the nonsensical talking!! !

So, I would say yes-----this is a form of stimming. The only other stim my son does is flap his hands, but that is just mainly when he is excited. I would say verbal stimming is his thing.........You are not alone! Welcome to Wrong Planet!

My 7 year old son (dx Aspergers) runs back and forth while he is playing "in his head" and I would consider it a form of stimming. He also twirls his hair and chews on things. I also have a friend who has a 22 year old Aspie who has always paced back and forth since he was a small child.....he is always needing new socks. My 5 year old daughter (dx Autism) does these little dances and kind of "vogue" poses (very cute) but it is stimming, she is releasing pent up anxiety/ overstimulation....she also spins in circles, rocks back and forth on her feet, chews, likes squishy balls and putty and they both use their swing a lot.
By the way my daughter got very excited by your avatar....she is laying next to me. She says "My Dora, its my Dora" .

You mentioned picking at the skin. My daughter who is about to turn 18 and was recently diagnosed was doing serious damage to her arms and legs when she was about 13. She was not diagnosed with AS then but the pediatrician put her on celexa and it stopped for awhile....I have noticed that she is doing it again but not to the extent that she was. She says she does it because she is bored, but not sure if that is the real reason. Im thinking its like a stim and she also says it does not hurt when she does it. She, like me, has a high pain tolerance so she can really make serious holes in her skin and it seems she does the most damage when she is under a lot of stress. Our Psychiatrist has put her back on celexa since her DX but it is not working as it did. She already has terrible scars that she is very self conscious of to the point where she rarely wears short sleeves or shorts (only around her family or boyfriend). I got her some cream from the dermatologist that have faded some of the more shallow scars but now that she is doing it again she is getting more.
Have you heard of or do you know of any help for this type of thing?

Get her some band aids to carry with her. I have a couple in my wallet at all times. I tend to pick at my hands instead of my arms. Usually I will pick at a spot until I draw blood. I will then bandage that finger, and move on to the next one. After a few days my first finger has healed over so I can take the band aid off that one and start the cycle over again.

As far as how to deal with the scars? I dont know. Your hands will naturally grow calluses where you pick at it. That's why my hands have a couple dozen callused spots (where i typically pick my skin). The calluses prevent any serious damage. I am not sure if you can grow calluses on your arm though...

Try recommended she pick on her hands instead.

Thank you for the ideas Tracker and I will mention the bandaid idea....I think thats a good one as it will keep her from going back to one site. She does have some scars on her hands but considering she is so self conscious of it I doubt she would switch to only piking her hands.
I bite my fingernails and pick and bite the skin around my nails so in a way I understand it. It wouldnt bother me that she picks but it bothers her so thats why I asked. Its kind of like a habit that you want to break but just cant.
I wonder if she carried some play doh around with her and picked at that if it would help????

Thanks everyone.

No, not really... I guess I was feeling confused because I'm always hearing about autism and stimming behaviour; it seems to be something that auties are most famous for even though everybody does it! And I wasn't sure if my autie daughter even stims so I was thinking "What the heck? Isn't she supposed to stim?" lol. I guess the talking, singing and running are all stims of some sort. I must admit that I often pace up and down talking to myself - when I'm alone. I'm NT but it's something I've always done. Apparently NTs do it just as much as people on the spectrum, the only real difference being that NTs know not to do it front of other people.



Yeah, I chose the avatar because my daughter loves Dora the Explorer. Everything has to be about Dora.

my son doesnt really do much of the classic autism stims like flapping and spinning. he had a few months last year where he twirled his hair but stopped that on his own. he does a bit of the picking if he has scabs or imperfections on his skin but its not major. when he was younger he used to make a buzzing/humming sound a lot, we called it his motor =)

as i am sitting here thinking about this, i am realizing that my SO, whom we believe is also aspie, has a verbal stim. he whistles. he never does it at home, its only when we are out in public, usually in shopping situations which he always finds stressful. it works as a locator beacon, too, if we get separated; he will quite often be whistling and thats how i find him. he also shakes his leg or rubs his feet together, usually when hes trying to relax to go to sleep.

i second trackers suggestion of the bandages for picking. skin picking is common for other conditions as well, its one of my ocpd tendencies. best bandages ive found for it are the nexcare waterproof ones (bandaid brand makes a similar type but the adhesive doesnt hold as well). they form a seal all the way around, not just on the ends. standard bandages are no good, you can reach under them to pick =P nexcare also has them in "tattoo" versions so you can get cool ones for the younger kids.

these are the ones that i like:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_ ... are+waterp

Mumofsweet---I actually noticed that I too talk to myself alot under my breath when I am alone, or if it is just me and my son. I am NT as well, but your right, I think a lot of people do it.....Anyway, lately my AS son has been noticing it, and he will say "What are you saying Mom?" He seems to notice it all the time!LOL! I just say nothing honey---sometimes mom is just thinking out loud!! !

What causes visual stims? My son takes the bottom of his shirt and ripples it around and looks at it, or anything stringy in front of his face. He does this alot after he eats and when he's really tired. He also does this when he's excited. Or when we are walking anywhere (grocery store, or outside in regular daylight). Sometimes I wonder how he can follow me so well (he is 5) while looking down playing with the bottom of his shirt the whole time. What are some things we could do to give him that visual satisfaction that he craves in a more "acceptable" manner. Or is he doing it to shut out external stimuli?

Its possible that he is having visual disturbances. Does he flick his fingers or anything else in front of his eyes when he is trying to focus?....like watching tv
If he sees an OT you should bring it up.

He does flick things in front of his eyes. He waves things back and forth. Not really his fingers, more like objects, like a slinky or a children's necklace, or a ribbon. And he does have a hard time even sitting still for the tv. I think it's a combo of excitement and hyperactivity. I'm sure he would qualify for an ADHD diagnosis, but the ADHD just goes along with the ASD.I have had him checked by a pediatric opthamalogist (his eyes were in excellent health and he has 20/20 vision, in other words, he has super great eyes!) and a optometrist (visual therapy person) and he checked out great. I even tried prism glasses to see if this would help but no (alternative, I know, but I just wanted to try and see). What are visual disturbances? What could he be seeing?

He could be seeing flickering in lights, computer screens things like that. Its not really a problem with his eyes it would be his sensory processing....how his brain processes images and light, so the flicking could help him to focus and process in a way that is more comfortable.
I would certainly have him evaluated by an Occupational Therapist.