Joined: 6 Feb 2016 Gender: Female Posts: 67 Location: UK
22 Feb 2016, 12:21 pm
I only just realized that some stuff, like liking to have scarves and shawls, wearing or necklaces to fidget, with might actually be stims. Still not sure.
Joined: 2 Feb 2016 Age: 53 Gender: Male Posts: 3,075 Location: Yorkshire, UK
22 Feb 2016, 12:51 pm
Pacing round and round silently on tip-toe is my most private vice - as far as I know, no-one has caught me in the act in all of my adult life. I'm so used to keeping it to myself that it would spoil the 'ritual' if there were an audience!
One that I conceal when I am in company is my toe-curling. I deliberately buy shoes that are a bit too big, so that I have room to scrunch up and splay out my toes. It works just enough to calm me when I start to get over-stimulated by noise. It's often enough to get me by until I can get home and do a few circuits around the furniture!
The way I incessantly play with my beard all day is probably a dead give-away, anyhow!
The mention of scarves and shawls reminds me of something I seem to have picked up from my mum. We both like the feel when you pinch a loop of cloth in your fingers, and rub the cloth against itself - so you can sense the texture of the weave as the threads slide over each other. Only some fabrics feel right - I've kept little bits of old clothes in the past so that I have the right texture to hand.
_________________ When you are fighting an invisible monster, first throw a bucket of paint over it.
Joined: 21 Nov 2015 Age: 46 Gender: Female Posts: 145
22 Feb 2016, 1:36 pm
Smelling my fingers... when I'm with people I put two hands against my mouth like I was just about to sneeze and breath in, which kind of works but not as good as the way I'm doing it when I'm on my own
Oh my 22 year old son does the finger smelling thing, and I never considered it a stim. He also sniffs some foods and occasionally my husbands feet. Makes us giggle.
The stim that I only do when I'm completely alone is screaming (quietly, not loud screaming) because otherwise people would panic. I flap my hands in public and sort of bounce on my tiptoes when I'm standing too.
_________________ Aspie quiz score: 152 of 200 neurodiverse (Aspie) 48 of 200 neurotypical (non-autistic)
Joined: 2 Feb 2016 Age: 53 Gender: Male Posts: 3,075 Location: Yorkshire, UK
22 Feb 2016, 3:12 pm
(warning - read no further if you are squeamish)
Quote:
picking at my skin ... ugh ... did I say that? musta been somebody else.
Don't worry, Bea, you've yet to sink to my level! I'm rather partial to scabs (nice clean ones, and only my own I might add - I do have some standards!) I'm a b****r for picking them off before they're "ready". They're just so chewy!
_________________ When you are fighting an invisible monster, first throw a bucket of paint over it.
Joined: 24 Sep 2013 Gender: Male Posts: 27,828 Location: Twin Peaks
23 Feb 2016, 6:22 am
In full stim mode when I am sitting, like in school, I do a lot of rocking and move my hands around a lot, which can get distracting for others. So I have a long leather lanyard clipped to my beltloop that I twist and chew on some, which decreases my other stimming a lot.
I often find myself touching things with my fingertips like the remote and counting . Or touching my fingertips with my thumb or maybe twiddling my thumbs. When anxious i Kick my legs up and down, maybe rotate my ankles When going to bed i fidget my legs and rock on my side to ease myself if I can't sleep. Occasionally when I wake and don't have to get up I might lay in bed and sort of space out, and do that sometimes in the afternoon. It sort of like sleeping but it's not. Are any of these things maybe stims. I dont think anyone else would notice them