Why Do I Make Rhythms All The Time???

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I´ve been reading lately that some people on the autism spectrum create rhythms all the time; either by moving the fingertips, tapping the feet, stimming, etc. I also press 2 teeth together rhythmically, breathe or blow air rhythmically, hear rhythms in my mind, walk rhythmically or touch things in rhythm, etc. Instead of "doing numbers" (which I´m terrible at anyway) I "do rhythms"- almost constantly!

How common is this? And does anyone know WHY?

I know what you mean.. I have it just the same way.. Always making rythms.. ''Drumming'' with my fingers at the table, whistling, and when i run do i breath in ''rythms'' (not like the normal breath in-out thing, but as in making ''songs'' while breathing.. ) ect ect ect..
I got AS and ADHD.. hmm don't know if it is an ADHD thing.. Like the impulsive part of an ADHD? -just guessing..

I live my life to a beat, and tap to the rhythm of whatever is going through my mind. When I stim, it has a rhythmic feel to it, generally. I always have a song playing in my head. Right now it is the TWEWY soundtrac in general, I've been obsessed with that game since I started playing it, and only started to play it because it was a vaguely interesting Square Enix game. People seem to hate it when I tap though, so I try unsuccessfuly not to.

yeah some people gets annoyed when i do it aswell.. So I'm trying to stop. but 30 sec. laiter am i doing it again. Not because i want to be annoying, but because i can't stop it.
Every day do I have a new song in my head.
Right now is it that one - are we human or are we dancer?

Heh. I was tapping out Autechre's Rae as I read this thread. (It's a very good song to tap out, btw.)

Yes, I always have some rhythm going on. I used to chew to a rhythm...

I often do things in rhythm, if there's a tune in my head i move my fingers across the table in the rhythm of the song, or tapping on the table in a rhythmic way etc...

-Same here.

It's a really typical ADHD thing to do. After more than a decade my wife still isn't used to me doing it. Fortunately meds have reduced how often I do it, made it easier for me to control it, and she's become accustomed enough that she's not filed for divorce.

Last edited by DwightF on 09 Jan 2009, 6:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

My ritalin has definitly helped me there, but it is still an almost constant thing.

I can completely relate to this. I have rhythms in my head all the time. Including when I'm trying to sleep. And most of all when I'm around people. Sometimes it slips out in the form of beatboxing, which at the wrong times can be very irritating to people around me, who think I'm doing it on purpose (supposedly to show off my human beatbox skills or something), when what I'm actually doing is failing to pay attention to myself and concentrate on keeping the rhythms locked up.

I tap my teeth to a ryhthm, my fingers, my feet... At work I type to a ryhthm, when using a remote control I scroll up and down and change channels to a rhythm(I love the clicks)... It's rare that I'm not doing some sort of rhythm with some part of my body.

You spoke many of the exact words that I would have used in addressing this topic. I also "do rhythms" all the time... tapping drumming walking etc etc etc, nearly everything I do is paced to never-ending internal patterns of rhythm. I view it as a talent. Inspirational. Whenever I can, I love to channel this unstoppable stream into creating a piece of music.

I believe this is fairly common in people on the spectrum. Just one of the many physical manifestations.

I know why I do it. At least, I think I do. I imagine it can be different for other people, but...
I seem to drum out rhythms like this because it focuses my mind away from distracting thoughts, gives me a way of physically expressing feelings that I may not be able to communicate verbally. It seems to help me deal with anxiety. It is calming, freeing, and often draws my mind into a light peaceful trance, where everything makes sense... guided by the crystalline math of musical patterns.

So I'm not the only person who does that...

I tend to shake my leg in a rhythm too lol.. thanks for pointing out that I am not all that unusual in this!

I do it too.

I am also constantly coming up with melodies.

I do this a lot as well. It's almost like a stim for me. I'll do "la la la"s in different rhythms, tap my feet, drum my fingers, or anything else rhythmic.