Stimming vs. Your "autistic world"

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I'm new at understanding all of this, but I think that pacing is my stim...I do it all the time, especially when I'm anxious, and people constantly tell me to stop.

However, I was reading an older post about stimming and a parent said that her son mostly stims in his room, away from everyone else. I think that this is something entirely different. This might refer to something else I do, which I've only heard Taylor Morris talk about, which involves entering another state of consciousness...an "autistic world" (although in mine I'm a central character and in hers she is an observer only.)

Is there a verb for that? Is this the same thing as stimming, or something else?

not sure about the autistic world...i'd have to read up on that myself....

pacing can definately be considered a stim....i think it's kind of a dumb word though it does make sense it confuses a lot of people...

i pace if i am talking on the phone or if i'm trying to think

Not all people on the spectrum are the same. There is a saying out there, "If you have met one Autistic Spectrum person...you've met one person on the Autistic Spectrum."

Not everyone has the same stims, and not everyone stims in the same situations. Some people, particularly when they are adults who have been told to "Stop doing that" as kids will only stim in public; some, like me, will stim whenever and where ever they are. I stim whenever I need to, though mine are slightly less noticeable than some others' (flicking my middle fingernail against the underside of my thumbnail, jiggling my left foot, finger tapping, etc.). It also helps that my family and friends are tolerant and understanding about my (not so) little quirks; many of them, in fact, when they see me start to stim, will help me to get calm again or remove what is stressing me.

Does the fact that one uses stims to enter an "autistic world" prove that one is on the spectrum? I don't know the answer to this so I have to consider myself NT until I know. If 10% of the normal population stim (as they are said to do) do those of them that use it to access an "autistic world" automatically become AS? I'd give anything to know the answer to this because I really don't know if I'm NT or AS and this is one of my 'symptoms'.

I know I try to keep my stimming under control when around others, the hand-flapping that is. It just feels to me to be the best way to release energy when something gets me really excited (and it doesn't last long, hah.) Foot tapping/leg movement seems more acceptable and normal, and is more something I don't really do on my own.

...I'm not sure if this is that "autistic world" you're talking about or not, but I notice that I don't often get excited enough to stim as described above when around others. That kind of over-the-top kooky behavior only seems to come about when I'm by myself, or I perceive to be alone. (WHEEE *flap flap flap* *turns around* oh, hi there... uhh, about what you just saw...)

There's more I'd like to mention about how I'm different when I'm by myself, but I think this thread isn't the place.

Redacted.

Aside from legalistic interpretations of the word "stimming" as determined by neurotypicals who observe autistics and draw superficial conclusions, there are forms of stimming that involve little or no body movement - for example, visual stims (I am not sure where to find a good description of these). Not all stims involve dispelling the stress of anxiety, either. I do a lot of stimming when I'm happy or excited, for example.

I don't think daydreaming is a stim (can we just call it daydreaming?) but many describe that certain stims make it easier for them. I know I've read at least a handful of threads here where people described things like waving something in front of their eyes triggers the daydreaming. I find walking and bathing (among other things) triggers this mental state for me. It seems to vary from person to person.

(Oh, and twisting and chewing my hair was definitely a stim, although I don't do it so much anymore).

Pacing is also one of my stims. I know normal people do it too when they are nervous and ADHD people do it also. But for us it may be different, especially for people with ADHD.

People also used to tell me to stop. I can stop but then I end up doing it again without even thinking. Plus I would fall asleep in class if I couldn't pace. Even my mother had told them it relaxes me and keeps me busy but the teachers didn't care because it was a bother to them and to the other students. I don't know if it's my ADD or AS. I can also pace when I have a meltdown or get very anxious. I also do it when I am bored or excited.


I wonder if there is a difference between NTs and autistics doing it? I wonder if they also get told to sit down and stop? Maybe since Ruthie told Benny in Benny & Joon "Sit down son, you're making me nervous" because he was pacing around in her apartment and looking around. I was told he did that because he was nervous.


Everyone stims but our stims are just different. We're lucky if we do the ones that are socially acceptable. Why not change our stims so they are more normal? Luckily pacing is normal but people don't seem to accept it. Normal stims are doodling or pencil tapping or pen clicking or fiddling with their hands.

Willard

Do I understand you correctly? The dissociative mental state which often accompanies repetitive bodily movements is one of the classic signs of autism?

I have always thought it was autistic. It would be really useful to get that confirmed. Does that mean that almost everyone who does it is autistic?

Do you know of any books or anything authoritative where this is discussed?

I am trying to self-diagnose before going to see an expert.

Someone who stims doesn't always mean they are autistic. It can be caused by other conditions like schizophrenics rock back and forth too and so do kids who are abused or suffering trauma or people who have depression. Even ADHD people rock. And sometimes people just have that trait and not have autism because they don't have enough traits to be diagnosed.

Not the stimming per se. But do normal people use their repetitive actions to effect a break with the everyday world to enter a private world in their visual imagination? And stay there for long periods as a child and still go there regularly as adults?

Normal stimming seems more like rhythmical fidgeting.

I've got a good analogy. Imagine a drummer in a rock concert. If he's just drumming and having a great time that is normal. What if he uses the contact and rhythm of the drumsticks on the drum to break with this world and go into his own private space? Imagine further that this makes playing in concerts difficult ( because he can't be in two worlds at once without people noticing). So he always drums alone in his room and makes sure no-one is watching. Is that autistic? And if it is would ANY normal person do it?

Suppose in addition that the person had 5 or 6 of the life-difficulties that autistic people have.

I feel unusual in that I don't enter a visual world when I stim, or daydream or any of that.

I don't enter another world, but I do tend to stim through out the day. I normally flick my left hand out at random. Both if I'm really stressed.