"normal" stims or not?

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Hi-

I have not been diagnosed with any HFA but I often wonder if I am. I sometimes work with kids with HFA and it seems that sometimes there doesn't seem to be that much of a difference between a diagnosed kid and a kid who is a little more sensitive and different from other people.

Anyway, I was making a list last night of some autism-like behaviors I have. I wonder if they are "normal" sensitivities, or something more?

-I do like parts of things. If I'm in a car that's stopped, I'll look out the window and find some random piece of garbage on the ground and just watch it until the car starts moving again. Also, I like certain chords and stuff in songs. For instance, I'll literally listen to one 20 second section of music for two hours.
-I like spinning around in circles. Not because I am overstimulated, because it relaxes me. I turn on some music, lock my door so nobody laughs at me, and spin around in circles... for like an hour. I DO like being dizzy, but as you can imagine I kind of lose the dizzy feeling after 5 minutes.
-My voice is funny. Affect is fine - I always mumble and talk low in my throat. In short, I sound like I'm male, but I'm female.
-I've never thought of myself as having obsessive interests that I know everything about - but I do have really short term weird interests that I like to learn about. Right now it's missing persons and given the time I will spend quite some time just reading about missing people online. I also sometimes carry around encyclopedias of stuff which I like to look through (my mom gave me an illustrated book of pharmacology for Christmas!).
-I am sensitive to touch. Like eye doctors make me scream and I jerk if somebody taps my shoulder. Tags bother my skin and I have to cut most of them off. Also can't wear many scratchy sweaters. I also can't stand makeup, the feel is off.
-Being alone is the no-brainer. I'm good with kids and most people who are "different" in some way. However, I don't know how to socialize with my peers. I understand what I should do and say, but I don't know how to apply it. It's like I have an intellectual understanding of socialization, but no practical understanding.

So, there you have a few things. I am also gifted (which is a misnomer in my case because it only refers to book smarts, not smarts of anything else!), and I have heard that that can play havoc with your system.

Any thoughts?

-Grace

I'm like that, you have pretty much described me

In almost all mental disorders, the distinction between normal and abnormal is pretty much arbitrary and the importance of the diagnosis depends on its relevance/utility in your life. The most important question you should ask yourself is if your autism-like behaviours have left you significantly disabled in any way. If not, you're not autistic; if yes, how will this realisation affect your direction and outlook in life?

I feel like pointing out that stims are necessary for us to balance out our nervous system. An occupational therapist told me that.

I would not say stims are a bad thing, its how they present themselves that can be bad. I try to avoid really noticable ones, and mostly tap on something... Occasionaly I rock, but very rarely. I do however do other things too, but I can't think of them at the moment... Oh, and I pace as well, and I try to avoid that one, but sometimes it is very hard not to pace.

You just described me.