i was stimming and i didnt even know it

Post Reply New Topic

i was reading Understanding Autism For Dummies and i realized i stim by
*bitting pencils and pens

*playing with hair

*drawing

*playing with various items

* making talking movements with my mouth when im not talking

*playing with cavities

*repeatedly crossing legs

*rubbing hands together

and i didnt even know i stimmed, huh

Until fairly recently, I was aware that I tended to bounce my leg and fidgeted a bit... but I didn't think of it as stimming, and didn't realize how many more things I do. When I started looking into things more, I realized I stim by:

- bouncing my leg
- running my fingers through my hair
- picking/scratching
- twirling my hair or beard
- rubbing my fingers together
- tapping my fingers against each other in specific sequences
- odd facial movements (squinting, nose wrinkling, raising and lowering one or both eyebrows)
- arm flapping/waving (especially when frustrated)
- rocking my hips side to side
- shoulder shrugs
- tilting my head side to side
- finger/hand movements (sort of like making waves with a piece of light cloth, only with my fingers)
- waving my foot
- flexing muscles in alternating left-right patterns (usually my back or my thigh, in a right-left-left-right, pause, repeat pattern)
- tapping fingers on hard surfaces

...and many other things that I do less often.

The strange thing is, although there are a lot of them and I do them constantly, most of them don't involve large movements and don't seem to attract much attention... I think I just look a bit fidgety. And, I've been doing these things all my life but they just didn't seem odd to me.

Aspie twirling keys = stimming (bad)

Anyone else twirling keyes = nervous (okay) or energetic (good)

I just noticed that the first thing on your list is the same as mine. This particular stim causes me much confusion: sometimes I think I understand stimming as I have many many stims; but from a young age I always suspected I had Restless Leg Syndrome (new name: Willis-Ekbom disease) because bouncing my leg has been a very common thing for me and I tend to do this more often in public than I do others (I also shake my foot when laying down causing a similar vibration in my leg). RLS is named after the legs but it is not only associated with legs, i.e. it can include other body parts. I have not come across anything much that compares RLS and stimming in detail. I can't help but wonder if there is overlap in the two or if they are exclusive co-morbid things? I know RLS seems to be due to internal physical factors/sensations in the limbs themselves, but I can't help but wonder if external factors cause anxiety that manifests itself as sensations in the limbs that causes one to want to move them.

I do so many things that I never noticed until I came here and learned what "stimming" even was....

Playing with cavities sounds wrong. I don't know what is meant by this.

I play with my hair a lot hahaha have have a friend I was talking tk on skype and he said I was the only one who did that haahaha out if all the ppl he talk to...

I'm not sure I would call these stimming. Most of these, everyone does. These are all very common self-soothing techniques.

Stimming is not exactly self-soothing. By it's very name, stimming is about creating a stimulation because the brain is starved for stimulation. Something like flapping is a way to create a textile sensation because the inside the brain it's "too quiet".

Most NT's twirl hair and bite pencils and fingernails etc. One NT gal I know always has her legs crossed and twirls her foot nonstop. An NT guy I know is always jack hammering his leg. My niece who's the most NT person on earth twirls her hair and so does her mom. I crack my knuckles all the time, but I don't really consider that stemming, It's a habit I picked up from my older very NT brother.

I'd say for me what I'd call stemming is, when I rock back and forth and or slide my hands back and forth on my legs or am tapping my hands together various ways. It's when I'm doing those things that someone who knows me well will ask me if I'm okay. A couple of good friends* who know I'm an autie will come up behind me and start messaging my neck or shoulders to relax me. Normally I don't like to be touched, but I'll acquiesce in those instances.

*I don't really have any friends just some acquaintances who are closer than others.

i stick my tongue in my cavities

I can't describe what I do with my fingers on my thumb but when I heard of stimming, that is what this is and it gets worse as I get stressed. I now look at other people to see if they 'fidget' but I have never seen anyone do anything like this. I also used to tap my knuckle against my mouth and still do this sometimes. I used to live with someone who mimicked me when I did this which just made me more stressed but had no idea about AS and stimming then.

I never realised this(and meny other little things as i've come to find out) was a stim, I have 1 front tooth badly out of place on its own my tongue plays/feels with, then it gets raw and sore, the problem is I can't stop it for long.

I think this is actually vocal stimming however I think it takes alot more pressure from the stim to make the vocal cords make noise. I know this since it happens although rare.

Laugh all you want, but I usually put pens and wires in my mouth. I even swallowed whole batteries while I was younger.

There's really a book called that?!

i disagree with this assessment. i believe that stimulation (stimming) occurs when the brain/body (same thing) is getting EITHER not enough or too much stimulation. i think that all humans engage in this behavior, but those closer to autism on the spectrum engage in stimulating behaviors more (when experiencing the same amount of stimulating information, that is).

this is why many stimulating behaviors pass as 'normal' because all 'normal' means is that more people manifest such behaviors than not.

in other words, trash tv is a stim, smoking can be a stim, meditation is a stim, clapping at a sporting event can be a stim, etc.

again, humans that are closer to autism than not on the spectrum simply may not be able to employ socially accepted stims, or socially accepted stims an appropriate amount due to their diminished ability to handle the brain/body stimulations that ordinarily occur.

my biggest thing is i can't stop running paper through my fingers and across my face and lips and under my fingernails as well. I can't say why exactly, but I love the tactile sensation. Literally 90% of my time spent at work includes me doing this. When I don't have paper, I run whatever I do have around through my fingers. I can't tell you how many paper cuts I've gotten, but now my skin must be stronger or something b/c paper cuts are a rare occurrence anymore.

I do some other stuff too but this is my big one. Almost a little strange, b/c there's other things I literally can't touch like cotton balls. It's literally like nails on a chalkboard (which I actually find less bothersome).