If you voluntarily stim, you have asperger's/autism right?

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This was actually something I was thinking about today. I do a few things that could be considered a stim, one of these is shaking my leg very vigorously. Ihad a therapist one that said it wasn't normal, didn't say Aspie, but when I tried to mention that he had to look up symptoms and dismissed that... anyway today when in a room of people I noticed alot of them shook their leg too, though I wonder if they could be a little on the spectrum too... a room full of scientists discussing a research paper on birds in narrow riparian zones... ehh?

Huh. I am still learning but i was under the impression that autistic stims always at least begin involuntarily. I didn't know i did most of them until being diagnosed and finding out what they were then noticing myself doing them. One was pointed out to me by a family member and is not something that makes me feel better when i find myself doing it. I sort of toss up my hands and let them fall on my legs with a slap when i am suddenly stressed/upset. It in turn upsets whoever i'm talking to. I do love spinning things-preferably shiny ones, holding and pulling a pendant on a chain i wear (it's nice and heavy) and staring at something sparkly or light dappled or off at nothing.

I like spinning that thing too.
But that's not my problem.
I like smoking, plain 'n simple.
Mom, (deadpanhead) speculated that the nicotine may help as a balance, although I couldn't say. As far I know it's another obsessive thing. Whatever the case, it's a damned good mood improver (to me, if it's not for you, don't do it. Bad for you.)

Now I don't know about slapping my legs, but I do know that I'm liable to get pissed at stupid stuff. Which I didn't take as anything in particular, I took it as me having a hot head. Lately (still learning too, with mom) though I've been learning more, such as the fact that I get agitated hearing things like babies crying. This is just one stupid thing, but apparently whatever I have also comes with Audio Sensitivity.

Seems I may have more than one stem too..if it IS a stem..

_BRI_, I am in agreement.

I stare at things deeply. Until I get totally lost. Its like my mind becomes blank. Sometimes I can hear other people but they get further and further away. My family has always called it zoning out. But it feels oh so good when I do it! I can make myself do it, but usually it happens on its own and I just go with it. Now if only i could get my kids to stop clapping in my face to get my attention. Sometimes I can actually function while zoning off like that. Make dinner, wash clothes, etc.. but I feel so very disconnected. I don't blink, or even look at what I"m doing.. I just.. DO. Zombielike. I've never been sure if this is part of AS or if I'm just really weird. >_>

I also click my thumb and baby finger together a lot of the time. And when I'm thinking, processing, trying to find something, confused, upset, in a hurry.. anything that causes me to stress out just a bit.. I find that I wave my hands in the air. Almost alternating. Like I'm drumming only with open hands waving them. My right hand keeps the basic beat, and then my left hand goes faster. Its hard to explain without feeling stupid. LOL Anyway, I never knew I even did it until I starting looking at Autism and Asperger's.

I rock now, but its less than when I was younger. As a child I used to rock in bed at night. I'd get on my knees and rock back and forth on my head. It would make my neck feel funny I can remember, and for some reason it helped me to sleep. I also used to head bang as well and I remember it did the same thing. It caused good sensations for me and calmed me.

I pace a lot, which can be a problem in a classroom. I learned to control it, but it's extremely uncomfortable to sit in a desk. It helps if I have a chair that swivels and/or can lean back.

I'm aware of most of my stims, but sometimes they come involuntarily. The toughest one to control is definitely pacing. If I can't stim for an extended period of time (formal meeting, or public presentation, for instance), then I usually find myself making up for lost time. I've also noticed that it gets worse during periods of stress, which means that preparing for class presentations are pure torture for me. The actual presentation is usually better, because I can move around to some degree.

My stims also start involuntarily, and then when I realise I am doing something, I can choose to stop. Usually I don't stop, though. I just ensure that the weirdest stims remain out of other people's sight because it freaks them out.

I don't count more complicated OCD activities as being in the same category as repetitive body movements. (I have well-suppressed OCD which sometimes surfaces in extended periods of extreme stress.)

My most complex stim involves dancing (sometimes either with an arm or with feet only, or just standing there bouncing in a jazzy way). I have done this for years and years, and I was only diagnosed with AS recently. The nice thing about this stim is that although some people smile or even make jokes when I do it, it is very good-natured sort of teasing, and people find it enjoyable to see someone with so much outward joie de vivre (well, that's how they see it, and I suppose it's true in a way). At an airport in a queue, there were some men who thought I was a ballet dancer going through her steps in her mind and marking them out. I think this specific stim is a product of my ADHD -- I am simply hyperactive, and I like moving about sometimes instead of standing still.

I also occsionally start drumming on things like the washing machines in the laundromat, or on adjacent desks at work, using several of them for different tones. I don't usually do this in front of strangers, but I do do it in front of friends.

More traditional stims include bouncing my leg rapidly (I've sometimes found myself doing it for hours, and there seems to be no point in stopping. After all, it gives me exercise too!), and when I get extremely stressed, rocking (which I try to suppress when other people are around) and twisting my arm rapidly. This latter stim seems to have found its way from my extremely stressful moments into even mildly stressful moments, and since I was diagnosed as having AS, it was the one weird stim I felt I wanted to allow myself to do consciously and even voluntarily as a symbol of my birthright. I just don't do it in front of people, or if I do, I either keep it mild and in the company of Aspies only, or I turn it into a dance movement.

There's another one which I sometimes do in bed, which is a pelvic movement and I guess it probably looks sexual, but it is not done when I am thinking of sex and it doesn't feel the same. When I find myself doing it I usually think of a cat purring and kneading something soft, and I imagine they have the same feeling.

This is me as well, usually. I'll just find myself doing something. Sometimes I stop, sometimes I just go with it.

Regards,

Patricia

Everyone stims, but in Autistic people it's more pronounced.

A good example of (likely) Autistic stimming was when I was 14, and I would violently twist and flail both arms which clicking every finger on both hands. Of course it looked very bizarre. Some classmates came up with a rap about it they used to tease me, where they would do all my "unusual" stims, and finish by chanting "twitchin' twitchin' twitchin'" while flailing their bodies and arms about and laughing themselves silly.

A good example of (likely) non-Austistic stimming (though autistic people do this too because I know I do it) is when someone is tapping a rhythm on their desk with their fingers when they're bored.

What I mean is, that with Autistic people the stimming seems to be more bizarre, more pronounced, and harder to control or consciously monitor.

Yeah, my daughter (6) stims by pacing across the livingroom. She doesn't seem to realize that she's even doing it. When I ask her what she's thinking, she says..."I don't know".

I don't ask anymore. She seems to be processing something and if that works for her, who am I to interrupt?

She seems to do this more before bedtime. Does anyone else notice pacing more during that time?

One book I read described Rafael Nadal as suffering from OCD. He has a number of rituals he goes through, but I don't think he has Asperger's. An article described them as his "Rafa-manias."

My mom is a super chit-chat-y NT(despite being a bit of a loner lately. she has social skills, but is also in kind of a depressed slump or something for the past few years. She can talk on the phone about nothing for hours, though) and it seems to me that she stims all the time. Then again, this might have something to do with her having Restless Leg Syndrome.

I know this thread was started 2 years ago, but I really want to point this out:-
My 16 y/o cousin is NT (not on the spectrum at all), and he stims. He nods his head a lot, even when he's out in public. He also makes funny shorting noises with his sinuses when he talks, and when he's not talking he just does really harsh nods with his head every 20 seconds or more. And when he watches TV he makes little mumbling noises a lot, like goes, ''mm. Mm. Mmm. Mm.....'' something like that.

But he is NT. He has no social delays or nothing at all like that. He is a typical NT, and has lots of mates, ect., but he does stim. I don't know why.

i once drove 77 miles zoned out. dont remember a mile of it

Everyone stims, our stims are just different because they are considered abnormal so a big deal is made about it.

I've read schizophrenics can stim, so I guess what differentiates the two is at least partly is that schizophrenics are delusional.

is jerking your head common in other aspies? is it more voluntary for anyone? i, too, do this, but i never thought anything of it, i thought it was just a stupid habit. i always think i can control it, but then i never don't do it. i suppose i would have stopped by now if i could actually control it/wanted to. It's like a massive amount of pent up energy is released when you do it, just like with all my other stims, and boy it feels great.

Is that how stimming is for other people?
i'm still trying to determine whethe or not i exhibit true asperger's traits before pursuing diagnosis (although i strongly believe i have it and would like to see someone about it)