Stimming/oral fixation/echolalia

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Well I was gonna make a separate post about all three of these issues, but I decided to combine them because they might all be the same thing.

My first question is, does anybody else stim? I know stimming is common in Autism, but I have only seen it in children/teens or more severe cases (LFA). So I wonder, does anybody here stim? Any adults that stim? Until two years ago or so I really had no idea there was a word for it, and to be honest I still don't fully understand stimming, but I realize it is something I still continue to do to this day. My stims include:

* Hand flapping or wringing (haven't done this in about a year)
* Rocking (not too common, but I still do it)
* Pulling of jewelery
* Picking/rubbing at skin
* Banging things against each other (like metal spoons against the counter)
* Clapping (haven't done this for awhile)
* Rubbing fingernails together/picking at fingernails (which I do pretty much 24/7)
* Making strange noises/faces
* Rubbing things across my lips, esp smooth things like satin or hair, or sharper things like the edge of a plastic spoon


I also have an affinity for smooth things, so if I find something smooth I will keep rubbing it. There is something about the seeming lack of flaws that comforts me. Sometimes, if I can't fall asleep I will grab one of my stuffed animals and rub the fur between my fingers or I might pet it for hours and hours.

I also have an oral fixation. I don't chew on my finger nails, nor do I suck my thumb, but I do chew on other things. I have even chewed on things like cameras, scissors, tv remotes, and necklaces. The chewing combined with the tugging has resulted in many broken necklaces It seems like I am continually either on the hunt for food or eating, even though most of the time I am not hungry. It just bugs me when I don't have something in my mouth and have recently started biting my lip. Funny enough I don't chew on pens and pencils, though I do steal plastic spoons to suck on later.

In addition I have noticed echolalia. Echolalia is the repeating of other peoples words. This is common in young Autistic patients and LFA patients, but I don't know if any higher functioning adults do this. This is something I have noticed pretty much everyday of my life. Dozens of times a day I catch myself mentally repeating things I hear around me, especially from the tv. Half the time I don't even know I am doing it until after I have said it. Sometimes I also copy peoples actions. This doesn't happen much in public, only in private, and I can keep it to myself, so nobody notices except me.

So my questions are, does anybody else do this and is the echolalia and oral fixation considered a stim?

most autistic adults continue to stim

I stim and perform mental echolia.

I stim a lot! I rock back and forth or side to side, I make faces and noises too, I touch my face, I rub my eyes, I bite my nails, I suck my thumb, I play with my hands and fingers, and when I was little I use to jump up and down and flap my hands and figures in front of my face!

I'm sorry I meant to say fingers** not figures!

I'm almost always stimming. It's just not very noticeable. Well, usually.

Lots of people find my echolalia so annoying! I repeat things in my head over and over again, which is fine, but if somebody says something funny then I'll always say "I like that." and repeat it a few times. It's been pointed out to me but I can't stop doing it. I don't do anything with my hands but I'm always doing something with my feet like tapping, spreading my toes, rubbing my toes together or making repetitive movements with them. I also chew my lips and move my tongue around, I used to put things in my mouth all the time but I don't do it so much now. I don't rock but I pace- I can just walk in a circle round a room for hours.

Omg so do I, and I talk to myself in my bedroom while walking in a corcle! It's so embarrassing when people in my household hear me when they're in the hallway! They use to come in and ask me who I'm talking to, but now they're use to it and they know I always do that! I also bite my lip in my mouth and just chew on it until I bleed sometimes! Especially when I'm having anxiety! That happened in school once!

Among other things, I pace while smacking my hands against my thighs. I almost never pace without doing the smacking thing at the same time, but I sometimes do the smacking when I'm not pacing.

This is my first time hearing about Echolalia. But I definitely do that. Mostly just in my head.....but if I'm alone I'll do it out loud. (I also mimic the sounds of lots of things. Animals, people, random bumps, ticks, crashing sounds....lots of stuff. I never noticed that I do that until....well...just now. But thinking back, I most certainly do.....a lot. I think this is one of those "ah ha" moments for me.) Now I gotta go read & learn about Echolalia & the mimicry of other sounds(Is there a name for this?).


I stim like a mofo. But Usually very small & unnoticeable stuff. I usually move my jaw left and right & click my teeth together alternating the left & right side. Usually in a rapid rhythm fashion. Or sometimes in a rapid succession. (Sounds like a drum roll to me & feels great....but no one else can hear it. )

Sitting here at work I'll tap my fingers on the keyboard & mouse making more rhythms. (Not depressing the keys, just lightly slapping them) I think this annoys the others in my office.

I stomp/tap my feet in a similar fashion. The vibrations from doing my hands, feet, & teeth simultaneously is awesome!

I will fold up the bottom seam of my shirt into a pointy shape & rub that back and fourth across my fingers & palms. My hands are really sensitive & I've done this since my earliest memories. I do this mostly subconsciously.....and if I notice that I'm doing it around others I try to stop. (Mostly unsuccessfully) This feels absolutely amazing & I can do it for hours straight. Almost better than sex.....especially if stim while chewing gum.

I chew on the insides of my lips & cheeks. I absolutely trash that skin in there.....I'm doing this nearly all waking hours. Sometimes, I'll also chew the cuticles on my fingernails. Not the fingernails themselves, I usually clip those.....but I absolutely destroy those cuticles. Now, this doesn't sound like stimming but just a nervous habit.....but the reason I do it because I like the way it feels when I crush the small pieces of skin between my teeth. Yes, I'm a weirdo.

I rock side-to-side. I never thought I did the rocking thing, but I was stressed out last night & I noticed that I was rocking side-to-side while standing....kinda alternating the weight on my feet left & right. A small "ah ha" moment.

When I'm in the bathroom & alone I make strange faces at myself in the mirror.

I'm sure there are more....that's all I've noticed so far.





Never really thought about all this stuff....but now that I have written it all down it seems I'm a lot worse off that I thought I was. :\

Is this what echoalia is? I've had a hard time finding a description of it that I understand, so echoalia is one of the things that still confuse me.

Both palilalia and echolalia are the act of verbalizing your own words or those of other people's. Some people expand the definition to include mentally repeating other's words and sentences, but I think technically it is actually verbalizing the words out loud.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palilalia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echolalia

I had palilalia when I was younger (same as echolalia except palilalia is repeating ones own words instead of somebody elses). I still do it in my head but saying them out loud is rare for me now. But I do still talk to myself when intensely working on a project.

Last edited by TalusJumper on 15 Jul 2011, 5:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I still have Echolalia, but I mostly quote the news. Only if I find it funny though.

I'm always stimming, it just comes in different forms.

Yes to all of the above

I used to hold conversations and repeat things out loud, but in the past year I have become more nonverbal, so it's more mental now.

I have moderate classic autism, and I stim almost constantly in one way or another. Sometimes it is noticeable to onlookers, and sometimes it is not. Sometimes it is noticeable to me, and sometimes it is not (by this I mean, there are a LOT of things I have done my entire life that I didn't even realize were considered stimming!)

Stimming for me:

Rocking (which I have done frequently ever since I was in the crib)
Body twisting (for lack of a better word...)
Finger flicking
Hand/finger flapping
Toe walking
Doodling (this is one of those "I can't believe that is a stim" things, and for many people who doodle it might not be, but for me it definitely serves the purpose of a stim)
Leg shaking (don't know how to explain this one...)
Chewing on things
Making sounds
Repeating words I've heard in kind of a non-sensical way (the context won't make sense to anyone else most of the time)
Scripting (TV shows, songs, movies)
Shredding things (ie. paper, labels, etc)
Lining up or towering random things can also serve as a stim sometimes for me
Chewing non-edible items (ie. straws, pen tops, used to be my hair when I was younger, etc)
Occasionally playing with something endlessly (could be hair, could be the thing on my zipper, or anything else)
And often I do a combination of the above simutaneously

There might be more too...I just can't think of them.



Me too! I always find myself touching smooth things over and over again.



I never realized I did this really until my parents just pointed it out recently. I often do it without even thinking, and will repeat back a question before answering it, or will repeat (immediately or delayed) things I see on TV. Also, I don't know if this is echolalia, but I OFTEN read words (like on a sign as we pass by in the car or something) and I will say the words out loud (or the bigger/main words on it anyway). Does anyone know if this counts as echolalia--repeating aloud something you've just read in your mind?

I also have mental echolalia as well sometimes.



Echolalia can be a stim sometimes--I have heard of verbal stimming before where people stim with their vocal cords (either by making noises or by reciting a movie they have memorized for example). Oral fixation such as chewing is a stim as well.

I bite my nails and if I see a hang nail, I feel like I have to pick at it. I'm trying to break myself of these habits, but it's not easy.