When *don't* you stim?

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Very easy actually. If I am waiting in an office or in a similar situation I will just daydream and keep my head down. I am not sure if pacing itself is frowned upon by society but I am not taking any chances. This is why I prefer the stairs over the elevator and places that require walking.

I don't know if it's frowned upon but some people get stressed when someone paces around them. (I don't mean literally around them, I mean in the same area, like room, apartment or station; yes I got weird looks once for pacing at a subway station.)

I only stop when I am asleep. I move my leg up and down, my heel not my toe, when I am sitting in a chair, when I have to stop doing that for what ever reason, I'll move to rubbing my fingers on the palms of my hands, or pulling on my beard and eventually my leg will start going again. If I'm standing up, I have to pace I can not stand still under any circumstances, and if I'm forced to, ie standing in line to get food, I have about 10 mins before I start to meltdown/shutdown depending on the situation.

I don't ever stim, these days. I used to clobber myself in the side of the head when I got stressed because I felt like people were staring at me. I stopped when I realized that made them actually stare more or begin staring in the first place. I suppose I'll shake a leg up and down every now and then when I'm nervous, but I don't know anybody (with one or more legs) that doesn't do that.

The times I know I don't stim are when I'm sleeping or whatever I'm doing makes it difficult or impossible to stim -- walking while carrying things in my arms, for example.

There may be other circumstances in which I don't stim, but I can't think of any. It's not something I pay much attention to, so it's hard to say.

I only stim in response to something, or if I am irritated about something. I will only consciously attempt to curtail it when I am around other people. I do that because I am well aware the kind of reactions people sometimes have when they see me flap my hands or make unusual body movements and wish to avoid that if possible.

I am currently having time off work and am able to spend lots of time working out a sensory diet, working out how to keep my nervous system balanced etc.
Yesterday I spent a lot of time working out why I was stimming each time I did it - the results are when transitioning from one activity to the next, excitement, nervousness, in response to feelings of guilt about what I should be doing, being, feeling etc when concentrating, when in my head too much thinking about stuff and not being in my body. By the way yesterday was a crazy stimming day for me.

Today I am very relaxed have almost not stimmed at all, I have been cruising slowly about my day, ticking off the tasks I need to complete on my list in a relaxed way, putting no pressure on myself, being mindful in the moment of each sensation and its effect on me. Taking steps to make my environment as comfortable as possible with soothing music, deep pressure stimulation and stretching upon awakening. I think the trick for me will be to engage in sensory activities (sensory diet) to keep myself in this balanced relaxed state as much as possible. My stims can be embarrassing and they drive me crazy even when in private, I am happy to do some rocking or hand flapping that is cool but there are some I really want to eradicate.

I struggle with sitting still unless I do something very exciting, so I pace a lot when I don't have anything to do, when in deep concentration, when eating, when drinking coffee, etc. I try to keep busy as much as possible, though, so the pacing on an everyday basis is limited to when I'm eating.

Lucky you. If I don't pay attention, some part of my body will start going by itself.




I pace when I'm waiting for food to cook. When I'm actually eating, I read.