The Wonderful World of Stimming

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I just thought i'd make a little questionnaire about stimming, because i'm curious about the ways different people experience it... and i didn't see a board already up about it, or at least not that covers a broad range of things related to it. I think that i might not be explaining a lot of these really clearly... but just answer the best you can. I'll give my answers after i get a few responses already, i think.

1. Do have a specific set of stimming activities that you always engage in, or do you vary with some of them(i mean, do you come up with new stimmy things to do depending on the situation or what objects are available at the time.. or maybe just come up with something new out of the blue sometimes that you may or may not do again later that could be considered stimming?)?

2. What are those stims that you normally engage in, and, if applicable, what are some various unusual ones that you have come up with at different times?

3. What feelings usually cause you to start stimming(nervousness, sadness, boredom?)? Or, are they completely random and not a reaction to anything in particular?

4. Are you usually conscious of stimming, and how easy is it for you to consciously stop if someone else wants you or you need to stop for some other reason? Also, when you start to stim at any given time, does it usually just start without you consciously noticing, or do you consciously start to do it to make yourself feel better?)

5. Did you used to stim more or less as a child, and in what ways have your stimming activities changed over the years?

6. About how long do your sessions of stimming usually last?

7. Do you stim while doing other things(like while you're on the computer or talking to someone), or do just do it by itself and concentrate just on the stimming?

If anyone has any other questions for other people about their stimming experiences, feel free to add to the list

I know I have several different ways of stimming, but for some reason I always forget what they are. :/

2. sadness. anger, boredom, panic, fear, lonesomeness, excitedness, tiredness, ect. Happiness. My main stims are sucking my fingers, and rubbing/rolling the pieces of my blanky against my fingers. I've done this since I was a baby. If I'm goin to have a meltdown, and I cannot find my blanket, I'll going into panic mode, and wind up having a meltdown anyway. I also have a really weird stim. It comes with my OCD. I *have* to do it, but when I do I feel calm. I like to pluck my hairs, (like my eyebrows, and sometimes legs a little) and everyday clean my ears out. I know it's weird, but I *have* to. It's very hard to stop, but It calms me. also, rocking myself and shaking my legs. Also, I have one where I like to put things through my gums, like my finger nails, or lanyard string. it feels kind of like flossing but heavier, and instantly calms me.

4. No. Like I said, I don't really remember my other stims, but If I do it, normally someone will notice, and tell me. If I notice on my own, like with my fingers, It starts to stop feeling good.

5.
I started noticing myself stim, besides sucking my fingers and using my blanket (both are don at the same time), when I was in the third grade. I started with my gum thing, but I would use things from the floor, like bits of trees. Not a very good idea. But now my nails are bitten to the quick because I never notice i'm doing it.

6.

They can last a very short time or a very long time. I spend lots of time on the computer, usually reading things, so while I do that I use my blanket.

7.
Yup. I said so above. I stim while on the computer, while reading, while watching television, or while i'm just sitting alone.

If anyone has any other questions for other people about their stimming experiences, feel free to add to the list [/quote]

1: I eat sunflower seeds whenever they're available. I also bounce my legs and rock a lot if I'm sitting, and if I'm standing I will walk around in circles in some clearly defined pattern that I decide upon on the spot.

2: The above activities are generally random and I usually won't even notice that I'm doing them (except the sunflower seeds) until I've been doing them for a while. On occasion I'll find something new to do, and do that for a while, but I always just go back to the old staples.

3: Being particularly happy and/or excited will cause me to shake my arms in a very comical fashion, but that's really the only stim that has an emotional prerequisite.

4: I'm very rarely aware that I'm stimming, and I can stop as long as I'm paying attention to it, but as soon as I stop paying attention to what I'm doing I go right back to stimming. If I'm feeling crappy and want to make myself feel better, I'll sometimes flap my arms in an alternating pattern, which instantly cheers me up.

5: My stimming has more or less remained the same over the last three decades, but the sunflower seeds are a fairly recent development.

6: As long as I'm awake, I will be stimming. I'm fairly certain I stop when I sleep, though.

7: I stim when I'm on the computer, watching tv, driving, talking, eating, or just thinking. The only time I'm ever concentrating on the stimming is in the aforementioned case of cheering myself up.

1.Do have a specific set of stimming activities that you always engage in, or do you vary with some of them(i mean, do you come up with new stimmy things to do depending on the situation or what objects are available at the time.. or maybe just come up with something new out of the blue sometimes that you may or may not do again later that could be considered stimming?)?
If I'm in a public setting, I tend to use more subtle stims but when I'm alone or with my friends, my stims are much less subtle because I don't feel the need to hide them.

2. What are those stims that you normally engage in, and, if applicable, what are some various unusual ones that you have come up with at different times?
My most common stims are rocking backwards and forwards, rocking from side to side and hand flapping. If there's an object nearby that I like, I sometimes stim by rubbing it on my face, chewing it or squeezing it (what I do with it depends on what it's made from). The stims I don't do as often are rubbing the back of my left hand and chewing my hair.

3. What feelings usually cause you to start stimming(nervousness, sadness, boredom?)? Or, are they completely random and not a reaction to anything in particular?
Most of the time I just stim because it feels good, but I stim more when I'm excited, nervous, bored or upset.

4. Are you usually conscious of stimming, and how easy is it for you to consciously stop if someone else wants you or you need to stop for some other reason? Also, when you start to stim at any given time, does it usually just start without you consciously noticing, or do you consciously start to do it to make yourself feel better?
I'm conscious of my stims some of the time, but mostly I do it without noticing. If somebody tells me to stop, my immediate response is "Why?" and unless they can think of a good reason, I carry on stimming. Most of the time I start stimming without noticing, but if I need to calm myself down I will stim consciously

5. Did you used to stim more or less as a child, and in what ways have your stimming activities changed over the years?
I stimmed about the same amount as I do now, but my stims were much more subtle things that people didn't find unusual unless I was doing it an excessive amount. When I was younger my stims were chewing my pencils, chewing my fingers, chewing my hair, twirling my hair round my fingers and a few other things that I can't remember. I used to rock backwards and forwards when I was alone. My mother thinks that rocking backwards and forwards is a fairly recent thing for me because the first time she saw me doing it was when I was 12, but I've been doing it since I was 7.

6. About how long do your sessions of stimming usually last?
Depends on what I'm doing. At any given point during a day I'm usually rocking, but my hand flapping sessions usually last for about 5 minutes at the most.

7. Do you stim while doing other things(like while you're on the computer or talking to someone), or do just do it by itself and concentrate just on the stimming?
I stim while doing other things if I'm not aware that I'm stimming, but if I'm doing it to calm down or make myself feel better I'll just concentrate on the stimming.

1. Do you have a specific set of stimming activities that you always engage in, or do you vary with some of them(i mean, do you come up with new stimmy things to do depending on the situation or what objects are available at the time.. or maybe just come up with something new out of the blue sometimes that you may or may not do again later that could be considered stimming?)?

I have several stims that I'm aware of, and it seems likely that there are other, more subtle stims that I may not be aware of. I never had any idea I WAS "stimming," or that I had Asperger's, until rather recently, so I wasn't all that aware o what I did, and had never even heard the word "stim," not long ago.

Mine are very, very, "low-level" - that is, once I become aware I'm doing one, I can remember how long it's been happening, so I was obviously "recording" that fact, but not consciously aware of it, until something grabbed my notice. Does that makes sense?
As a result, I never "add" stims, as a choice. And, so far as I know, I've done the same stims either throughout my life, or at least for many years.

2. What are those stims that you normally engage in, and, if applicable, what are some various unusual ones that you have come up with at different times?

Most of what I do involves my hands.
- Rapidly brush/tap my fingers against my thumbs, or open and close my hand quickly, tapping them against my palm.
- "Twirl" my whole hand, at the wrist. Picture the gesture someone might make when telling you to "get on with it," or "hurry up." Sort of like that, but looser, done with one or both hands, and sometimes while bringing my hands up near my face.
- Very rapid, very fine, "tremble" or twitching of one or both hands.
- What I think of as "Autistic fingers" - very stiff hands and fingers, with sharp, random bending of the fingers, and sometimes the hands are drawn up near my face. I've seen some more severely autistic people do this, and was deeply bothered, when I first saw my son doing it. His gestures looked familiar, though, and I was horrified to realize that was because I had never realized that I did it, too. I'm more comfortable with it, now that I've accepted the whole AS thing - somehow it seems okay to be making a very autistic gesture, now that I know we're not normal, lol.
- Hand-wringing.
- "Flapping," very rarely.
- Rubbing my legs, very quickly and firmly. Sometimes this looks more extreme, as if I really am trying to wipe something off, lol.
- Toe-walking. My kids all do it, and don't seem to realize it. I usually know I'm doing it, though, as it makes me feel much more comfortable. As a child, I remember the reason was because I sometimes couldn't bear to make a sound, when I walked, and "snuck" EVERYWHERE, much of the time.
- Rocking.
- Shifting or rocking foot-to-foot.
- When lying down, I'll often twist my feet together, and/or "flick" one foot, much like a cat's tail.

3. What feelings usually cause you to start stimming(nervousness, sadness, boredom?)? Or, are they completely random and not a reaction to anything in particular?

Mine are always indicative of a kind of neurological "ramping up." Tension, nervousness, agitation, distress, excitement, or extreme happiness. It's also a sign I'm very focused, such as when I'm absorbing new information (like my constant habit of internet research). I'm almost always stimming at the computer, because either I'm reading something interesting, or very agitated because the internet/computer is not moving fast enough for my taste - at times, the latter can drive me to such agitation that I look quite insane, lol.

4. Are you usually conscious of stimming, and how easy is it for you to consciously stop if someone else wants you or you need to stop for some other reason? Also, when you start to stim at any given time, does it usually just start without you consciously noticing, or do you consciously start to do it to make yourself feel better?)

If it's extreme (like rocking and wringing my hands quite violently, while at the computer), then I'll notice right away. Otherwise, I generally do not notice, unless I'm "on alert" for stims, such as being in polite company.

I can stop, pretty well, if I need to. Usually, I just "push" the stim down to a limited level, like allowing one hand to move, but nothing else, or just using whole body movements that appear more natural, to get rid of that excess energy. Chances are, if I am gesturing in a "normal" way, while talking, then I'm really just trying to hide the need to stim with my hands, heh.

5. Did you used to stim more or less as a child, and in what ways have your stimming activities changed over the years?

Unknown, because I was largely unaware of stimming for so long. I do remember some stims going back to my childhood, but mostly from the comments of others. My father used to scream at me for rocking, because I "looked like a ret*d," and I recall he and other family members making similar comments about certain "weird, stiff, jerky" movements that may have been some of the hand stims. And of course, I was always yelled at for "sneaking," as I went about on my toes. My "low-level" memory of stims makes me feel like many, many of them have been with me since childhood, in one form or another.

6. About how long do your sessions of stimming usually last?

The stims come, on and off, until my neurological state shifts back down. Either I calm down, or break the powerful focus that is summoning them.

7. Do you stim while doing other things(like while you're on the computer or talking to someone), or do just do it by itself and concentrate just on the stimming?

I'm always doing something else; I may be just going about my life, but I'd say 99% of the time, I'm very deeply engaged in thought. Stimming is something that just happens, as a result of what's happening in my head, rather than being an activity, by itself.

1.Do have a specific set of stimming activities that you always engage in, or do you vary with some of them(i mean, do you come up with new stimmy things to do depending on the situation or what objects are available at the time.. or maybe just come up with something new out of the blue sometimes that you may or may not do again later that could be considered stimming?)?

I have one very specific stim that I engage in, I do not believe that I have had others.

2. What are those stims that you normally engage in, and, if applicable, what are some various unusual ones that you have come up with at different times?

I have never seen this before in another person. I do this thing I call "the hug n' shiver", where I hug myself, tremble and kind of move back and forth, like someone is shaking me by the shoulders.

3. What feelings usually cause you to start stimming(nervousness, sadness, boredom?)? Or, are they completely random and not a reaction to anything in particular?

I think that happiness and more so excitements brings this on.

4. Are you usually conscious of stimming, and how easy is it for you to consciously stop if someone else wants you or you need to stop for some other reason? Also, when you start to stim at any given time, does it usually just start without you consciously noticing, or do you consciously start to do it to make yourself feel better?

I have recently within the past three years been aware that I had a stim and I have found that I can consciously not do it in all situations, it's really a matter of telling myself to stop.

5. Did you used to stim more or less as a child, and in what ways have your stimming activities changed over the years?

I think that I used to do it more as a child since I am making a conscious effort to not do it now. As far as I know, that is the only stim I have.

1. Do you have a specific set of stimming activities that you always engage in, or do you vary with some of them?
I have a specific set of activities that don't really change.

2. What are those stims that you normally engage in, and, if applicable, what are some various unusual ones that you have come up with at different times?
Drumming, tapping, scratching, hair pulling, shaking hand movements, (and in more severe cases) hitting myself.

3. What feelings usually cause you to start stimming? Or, are they completely random and not a reaction to anything in particular?
Sensory overload is the worst. Certain sounds will cause an immediate (and sometimes violent) stimming reaction. But also, general anxiety keeps me stimming a lot, in one way or another. They are not completely random. Mostly sensory stuff and anxiety.

4. Are you usually conscious of stimming, and how easy is it for you to consciously stop if someone else wants you or you need to stop for some other reason? Also, when you start to stim at any given time, does it usually just start without you consciously noticing, or do you consciously start to do it to make yourself feel better?)
I'm not usually conscious of it at first, but will become so relatively quickly. I can stop if I have to, but I might turn right around and forget and continue stimming.

5. Did you used to stim more or less as a child, and in what ways have your stimming activities changed over the years?
I can't remember stimming much as a child, but my memories of childhood are not good. These traits as I understand them became very pronounced during adolescence, and have continued much the same to this day.

6. About how long do your sessions of stimming usually last?
I don't have "stimming sessions". I just notice waves when it will increase in frequency and duration. Generalized anxiety keeps me doing something or other most of the time.

7. Do you stim while doing other things, or do just do it by itself and concentrate just on the stimming?
That distinction doesn't really exist to me. It's all too mixed together to be separately noticeable.

i do the same stimming, headshaking, flapping, rocking, bouncing, handwringing, biting my hand, etc, but i may do different stims in different places like when i take walks i loove waving my arms around in the wind like im flying and finger flickering or opening and closing my hand and flapping, along with swinging my rubber keyboard in the air, but lets say in class i rock more and will headshake or twist my fingers, or if im out to eat i usually bounce more while headshaking and flapp.



i do every type of stim out there lol, that sounds bad haha, my most unusal one omgosh is maybe couple times ill fart and smell it LOL, oh gosh that is so bad, or i bite my feet haha



their random, i dont really have an emotion i know most of the time im happy, if im sad or upset i headbang, or rock, or slap myself in face a lot, or punch myself, if im extremely happy i flap like a hummingbird really fast, and headshake, if i'm bored its usually hand twisting, rocking, and opening and closing my hands on my forehead a lot along with biting myself more.



im not always conscious of stimming at all, nobody ever tries to stop me haha, i said this once before if i all of a sudden stopped stimming id have more ppl ask what is wrong instead of thank gosh haha. i dont always realize im doing anything a lot of the time haha.



my stimming has stayed the same except my stims as a child will more announced i guess and more towards self injurious, now i dont do as many self injurious as i did as a child.



i dont think i have sessions they jus keep going its like a bad rerun over here hahah gosh i love making fun of myself lol



yea i stim everywhere even on the toilet ill jus rock and handtwist haha.

I don't have a specific set as it were, I just do whatever I feel like at the time, I usually just grab whatever's near to me and mess with that or bite it.


Leg bouncing and foot shaking, sometimes my legs can get that bouncy it annoys people. Alot of my stims are tactile ones, like feeling things, fiddling with things and putting things in my mouth basically anything to do with touch. I also do visual stims like zooming in and out on things. I also crack my fingers and do other stuff with my hands, I don't do the whole flappy thing usually. When alone I go into mega stimmy mode, like bouncing my legs and shaking my head like a madwoman while my music is on lol. I also twist my hair and pull at it.


Usually boredom, excitement, nervousness and anger. But my nail biting, leg shaking and fiddling is just random


Not at first, but I do notice it after a bit then it kind of loses it's appeal. When I'm bored I might pick a stim to entertain myself (usually one of my tactile stims)


I kind of do it as much as I did as child. But some stims have changed, I don't spin around infront of people anymore.


Sometimes short sometimes long.


Yep, usually when talking to people or watching something or on the computer or many things really. It's the only multi-tasking I'm good at

This thread is putting me in a fidgety mood, lol I soooo enjoy stimming XD

1. Do you have a specific set of stimming activities that you always engage in, or do you vary with some of them?
They gradually change over the course of my life.

2. What are those stims that you normally engage in, and, if applicable, what are some various unusual ones that you have come up with at different times?
I sucked my thumb til I was around 7, is that a stim? My main one has been hair pulling. I have also used drawing/doodling as a stim, as in I only do it to relieve stress. I pick at my skin.

3. What feelings usually cause you to start stimming? Or, are they completely random and not a reaction to anything in particular?
Stress and sensory overload, which were abundant in my home as a child - when I did the most stimming. I pull out my hair whenever I'm around my mom. When I've had to work in a typical office environment, I'd have to stim in the evening to feel OK again. Sustained stress and overload lasting more than a week or so seems to bring out stims. Right now things are pretty peaceful for me and all I do is pick at my skin once in a while.

4. Are you usually conscious of stimming, and how easy is it for you to consciously stop if someone else wants you or you need to stop for some other reason? Also, when you start to stim at any given time, does it usually just start without you consciously noticing, or do you consciously start to do it to make yourself feel better?)
I consciously choose the time and place to do it, so as not to in public, and I'm usually aware that I "need" to do it. With skin picking, I do it when I'm concentrating on something else and not usually aware of it, other than trying to avoid it in public.

5. Did you used to stim more or less as a child, and in what ways have your stimming activities changed over the years?
I think I already answered this, above. I have mostly stopped pulling hair and drawing, and gradually picked at my skin more. Overall I have done less stimming over the years, as I have developed more control of my situation and more chances to avoid other people and sensory overloads.

6. About how long do your sessions of stimming usually last?
variable, few minutes to a couple hours.

7. Do you stim while doing other things, or do just do it by itself and concentrate just on the stimming?
Depends on the stim, drawing is the only one I really concentrate on.

I mostly engage in the same activities. Some evolve over time.



The most continual one is with fingertips, rubbing them together and rubbing hair. I also sniff objects, rock, flap, clap, and have many vocalisations.



Most feelings. But much more stimming occurs when stressed and tired.



I'm mostly conscious of doing it. It's easier to stop when around others (due to fear of their reaction). When alone, I will sometimes engage in a visual-tactile stim for several hours, not doing any other activity, and will have great difficulty stopping because I do not want to. This is one I consciously start (it depends on having the correct lighting and whether I think it will make me feel better). My main ones start mostly automatically.



I think I stimmed less as a child, and also in different ways. It used to involve more strenuous and larger movements (e.g., running laps with a toy trolley for hours). I had one at school where I'd pull weeds off a fence every day, ignoring others when they invited me to do something else. I also had one or two bizarre vocalisations with accompanying facial expressions my brothers once named.

In adolescence, I developed more intricate stims (e.g., just involving fingertips) that were engaged in almost constantly due to increased general anxiety and sensitivity. I've been doing the same one many hours a day for 15 years.

As my general anxiety levels and sensitivity increased in adulthood, I began to engage in very frequent vocalisations. Rocking increased a lot, as did arm movements.



I stim almost constantly, but have ways of disguising and reducing it when in public.



Both. (See 4.)

Everytime there's a new post I remember that I do the other stims aswell, I keep forgeting to write them on.

Mostly I (genty) rock back & forth when I'm seated.

But when I'm standing I sway, sort-of twisting at the waist; my prime 'stim style!' And then shift from leg to leg.

Lab Pet is very 'stimmy.' But my stimming is fairly innocuous - nothing bizarre. Classic stim style!

I do some hand clapping but soundlessly. Sometimes I skip when I walk/run. Oh, I do vocalize some but not too noticable. A bit like a cat or puppy, so I'm told. When I walk I often 'tap' or touch the walls, which might look as if I'm visually impaired (I'm not).

As far as WHY? Mostly because it's soothing. And involuntary and I'm not conscious of stimming but I know I do engage in stimming. I do feel better with stimming, I think. Stimming feels.....(no emotion)....warm. Comforting?

Oh, I love swingsets but that probably isn't technically stimming.

On occasion I have gotten 'lost' in stimming. Like looking into a fireplace and I'm standing, doing my classic twist-stim (which looks sort of dancey) and I lose track of time/space. Even to disorienting, to the point of euphoria.

I don't know. Most of the time the same thing.


Rocking usually only at computer, handflapping (usually only when excited; I also shake if that counts), twisting (like when I stand twisting at waist really badly), jumping/spinning (I do this in public a lot), pacing/swingset (Multiple times a day, ususally have to do one of these between switching diff activities). As for unusual I would say changing my iPod volume. I can't keep my ipod volume at one level for more than 10 seconds no matter what. It' constantly got to change. Oh also covering/tapping mouth or tapping hands or arms. As for vocals I'll get stuck repeating phrases and sounds for days.


Nervous, stressed, scared, excited... sometimes no reason.


50/50 on if I'm aware of it or not. I've never stopped without knowing I was doing something like that though. I can make myself stop but I start something else a lot. The only thing I purposely initiate is pacing.


Definitely more as I get older. The only things I did when I was younger was shaking when excited, spinning/jumping, chewing on hair and messing with it non-stop, covering and tapping my mouth with my hand.


Differs.


Doing other things. Even when I'm pacing or something I have to listen to music while I'm doing it.