amount of stimming...

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my daughter goes through waves with almost no stimming and then some where its all the time. Is this related to outside events? Does she do it more when stressed about something or is it not related at all? When she stims alot should I assume something is the matter?

Thanks.

Probably due to stress and anxiety.

Not sure of exactly what stimming is. Could someone give me a brief description or an example? Thanks.

her most common one is hand flapping mixed in with nose touching. Then she does this thing where she moves her eyebrows up and down over and over. Last night for the first time she was doing a quick jerky movement with her head that included a blink. At first I thought she was having a seizure but she assured me its just a new thing she does. Its an involuntary movement...

It sounds like she could also be having tics-is she able to control the movements,or are they forced out and cannot be stopped?
Some people can control tics-but the pressure builds and they will release at some time.
Tics do not neccessarily mean tourettes syndrome as a lot of people on the spectrum have some tics that are related to how they feel.

Stims are most commonly related to emotions, but can sometimes be related to senory input as I've found with my brother. When he's overstimulated or there are too many people around, he will start to pace.
I know mine are related to only emotions though.

Stims also seem to fade in and out over time, then sometimes back in. My other brother, for example, used to hand-flap when he was little, but doesn't any more.

so when she's doing it alot should I ask her if she's ok?

If she's anything like me, you'll be asking all the time and she won't know how to answer. Stimming, for me, often isn't like crying in terms of emotional intensity; it's usually closer to the level of how you might tap your fingers if you're nervous.

I can only speak for myself here, but I would describe it as majority externally-driven. If I am very stressed about something it will be non-stop and frantic. If I am focusing on something I do it a lot too, but in a more measured way, if that makes any sense.

It's not necessarily due to negative emotions. I mostly stim when excited. I will toe-walk when I'm content and have no shoes on etc. It mostly means a moderate emotion (Yeah, somewhat weaker then crying etc.), but it could be any really.

It may also just be thinking. Toughing face/ears is one that usually happens when thinking hard.

Others may just be for no reason at all.

Stress, excitement and boredom increase my level of stimming.

I stim tons when I am stress out. or feel sick like I have a cold. when i am hungry,