Stimming

Post Reply New Topic

I see all these posts about stimming. What exactly is meant by stimming? I'm not real clear on that.

stimming is basically nervous tics, such as twirling hair, flapping arms, tapping feet, etc. stimming is usually obsessive, especially when the person is nervous. my stims include flapping arms, bouncing knee, biting nails, twirling hair, and blurting out random words or phrases.

Rocking, knee bouncing, scalp rubbing, clenching/unclenching fists, and tearing at seams are my forms of stimming. I do one or some combination of these when I'm upset.

My most recent stim is holding on to and playing with my ear. I'm trying to suppress that one in public.

Just a little tip I learned from my sons teacher that helps at least partially-- chewing gum.

For me, it does not always work, but it at least reduces the amount of time I am bouncing something. So I look a little more 'normal'.

Music is my stim. It doesn't matter what music it is.

A stim (self stimulatory movement) is more to calm down than have an involuntary tic. I find I only seem to stim when nervous or impatient, like when waiting at a crossing or in a social setting.

Does scratching open spots on your skin count as stimming?

I would say it is. I scratch spots and make them bleed again and and again and again. In particular, I scratch the spots on my back when I'm talking to people. Not a very good idea.

My hands flap quite a lot, though I've fortunately gotten better with time at restraining it or more often stopping it when I notice it's happening
apart from that, and more when I'm nervous, I flex my neck, sniff, shrug my left shoulder (don't know why just that one, but there y'are) and make humming noises without realising it

it pretty much all gets better when my shoulders and neck are enclosed in a snug-fitting garment, like my favorite suit jacket
the hand flapping also improves when I wear gloves (fingerless) I'm currently looking for a gender-neutral or masculine set of forearm enclosing gloves because I think they'd improve things even more

For me, it consists of rocking back & forth, rubbing my hands back & forth on my lap repeatedly (usually as I'm rocking), rubbing my hands together repeatedly (like someone might do if their hands were cold), pacing, rubbing my face, especially my forehead (sounds odd, I know lol), & doing this thing with my hand that is hard to explain-- it's somewhat similar to hand flapping, but very different at the same time.

If you use the search function there are so many threads describing what stimming is. Have a look.

I fidget with my thumbs when I'm nervous or bored.

I tap my fingers on the back of my shoulders and snap my fingers, sometimes I flap my hands, but thats an on and off thing.

I rock and pace, wring my hands and mess with my fingers. I twirl my hair, fiddle with objects I have in my hand. I also flap them

There's nothing wrong with flapping your hands. At least you don't have the same problem as me. I play with my badge. In school, everyone was supposed to wear their badges, but I was the only one who did. I would always play with it and kind of bounce while I walk, as well. A teacher told me that he always knew when I was on my way to class(I usually got there before anyone else, as I didn't stop to talk to anyone or anything), because he could hear me coming down the hall.