Covert Stimming

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I'm a covert stimmer me

Are you a covert stimmer too?

Nope.

I'm an in-your-face, can't-help-it, do-it-without-thinking, 24/7 stimmer, even in my sleep.

What's a stimmer?

^ Someone who "stims".

Does repetitive physical stuff to themselves to relieve tension or whatever. Common among autistics.

At work and in public I am definitely a covert stimmer, unless I am in distress. I subtly do a lot of rubbing my hair, rubbing my pants, rubbing my fingers together, touching my lips, picking my skin and nails, tapping surfaces, using fidget spinners, etc.

At home I am absolutely very vocal and visible in my stimming (making repetitive mouth noises, echolalia, repeating song lyrics, repeating memes, high pitched noises, rocking back and forth, etc.). I also feel a lot more comfortable being what we call "feral" at home.

It's not that I'm being covert when stimming.

More like my usual stims are covert.
I don't hide them, it's just that others don't think much of it.

If I feel like rocking, swaying, spinning or even scream-sing certain words at a certain pitch at public over and over, I will.

I can control it that I can stop whenever -- it's a choice for me until a certain threshold...

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Yep, I’m a covert stimmer. Sometimes I might stim without realizing it, but I think I mostly do it covertly.

And as soon as my feet touch the kitchen floor I'm like a whirling dervish

Yes, whenever I'm under any kind of stress, which is often.

My stimming is so covert that for a while I didn't even realize I did it. I'm too oblivious to say if other people notice it, but it's nothing so obvious that anyone would ask me why I'm doing it.

I stim all the time in covert ways. I rub my hands, flick my fingers, tap my feet, among other things I do that don’t draw much attention.