Is this kid stimming?

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oukupxRUA84[/youtube]

Does anyone know if what this kid is doing is stimming? Can anyone you relate to what this kid is doing?

he obviously has more energy than he knows what to do with. could be stimming, but maybe not.

Seems to be having fun, to me. I bet that feels good to him. He's a kid giggling and rolling around on a bed... something an NT kid might enjoy, too.

He seems to be very happy or excited about something. That is how I feel when I've just learned something new and wonderful. Though, being nearly thirty years old, I only flap my hands.

Yes, I'm pretty much sure of it. His rolling back and forth has a rhythm to it and is accompanied by vocalizations (in synch with the movement). Actually, I sometimes do the same thing in bed, though a bit less wildly than he does.

Yes. He's a happy child stimming.

Sometimes they'd take us mainly HFA autistic kids camping and I remember this one kid who would roll back and forth in his bunk like that.... non-stop... for at least an hour or longer. He said that's the only way he could get to sleep. And I think he even continued to so it to some degree after he was asleep. When he was sitting in a chair he'd twist back and forth ALL THE TIME. It basically never stopped. It wasn't just an occasional thing. It was like a way of life for him.

I think for autistic people stimming is a compensator, due to something that's missing neurologically. It's not hand flapping or whatever per se, but why there's hand flapping. I think that's what makes makes the difference between an NT stim and an autistic stim. In autism the stim is making up for a profound and distinct neurological impairment.

So I think there's more to autistic stimming than repetitive motions and physical manifestations.

Here's video where someone tries to explain what it is:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUG7wlZmrfs[/youtube]

Last edited by briankelley on 02 Apr 2013, 12:01 am, edited 2 times in total.

Don't all little kids self-stimulate to a degree? Stroking a stuffed animal, rubbing their blanky against their cheek, sucking their thumb etc?

Me, I bend my knees and then straighten out my legs for a length of time after getting in bed. Which I never though too much about along the lines of stimming.
But I flex my legs like that to such a degree, that my feet eventually wear a big hole in my sheet and I have to toss it. Is that stimming or just a nervous habit? I dunno.

Last edited by briankelley on 02 Apr 2013, 12:10 am, edited 4 times in total.

I prefered to jump on the bed, old box spring matress' make good trampilines.

I agree.

A lot of my stimming is about experiencing the sensation the stim causes, and sometimes it's about some kind of craving for stimulation/sensation. Like sometimes I just have to run water on my hands because the sensation does something for me, and is somewhat grounding. When I'm at a store I lean on the shopping cart to improve my awareness of where I am relative to everything around me, so I can cope better (not well, necessarily) with people moving around me without worrying they're all going to randomly slam into me or something - causing stress and pushing me toward a meltdown.

I always had a fear that the spring would shoot through the mattress into me

I stim for a sense of proprioception and vestibular, but also I stim when I am thinking and along with stimming I often hum a bar of a song over and over in my head (not out laud unless I am in a noisy place) to the rhythm of the stimming.
I once read somewhere that some stimming may help regulate bodily functions like heartbeat and blood pressure. If I make myself stop stimming I become aware of my breathing and feel like I need to consciously regulate my breathing.

Thanks for all the info guys. I wonder if it is because of a lack of a sensory function. I used to do that a lot when I was his age. I think for me. It was a way to self induce an adrenaline surge. I find myself getting really tired and out of energy after doing that.

Some researchers have suggested that stimming releases beta-endorphins in the body and arouses the nervous system.