Stimming

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Hey everyone!

I am a Neurodiverse blogger, and I'm not sure if anyone noticed yet but I enjoy interviewing #actually autistic people in forums like these about their real experiences. I do the same for dyslexia, and ADHD. For full disclosure I have endured the harshness in school, in society and socially. I'm officially diagnosed with ADHD-PI with obsessive tendencies. I'm a visual-spatial thinker who have failed endlessly in school, been kicked out of school, and I continue to persevere.

I've been meaning to write an authentic column about stimming for a while now. I want to compare the history of deaf kids and sign language who were forced to go in the washroom to sign with other children because sign was misunderstood as being "stupid" or "unintelligible". I want to make the case that this is what is currently happening to stimming. People don't understand stimming, ABA wants to stop people from stimming, and parents never know what to do, and autistic people suffer from being misunderstood and stigmatized for stimming. Stimming can be one way for nonverbals to even communicate to show excitement and anxiety - which is very key for aware parents I'm sure.

So I'd like to ask a few questions and feel free to just talk freely about whatever comes to mind about your private and public experiences with stimming. I'd also love to know if you are verbal or selectively mute or nonverbal (just to see if I have a full picture of stimming).

Feel free to skip any question or add your own!

1. Why do you stim?

2. When do you stim?

3. Can you control your stim?

4. What do you think about when your stimming?

5. What goes thru your mind when you stim?

6. What happens when you try to surpress your stims?

7. Have you ever been stigmatized for stimming?

8. What do you wish society knew about stimming?


I thank you all deeply for your time. I hope what we write together helps many people understand. I will post what I write at the end of it!

Thank you so much for your input.

I am interested in particular to this comment you have written.

It probably does, in the long run.

It's sort of a relaxed empty thought thing, I guess. Probably similar to clear-mind meditation. Rests the brain, or something.

Good luck with your research. It's something people need to understand-- society in general, and people who work closely with autistic kids in particular. Seems like no one cares but us, so-- if we don't do it, it isn't going to be done.

You're right. Even people working closely with autistics usually have issues with stimming. And I noticed when people are told it's function it's hard for the NT mind to realize even during working in a 1-1 class that stimming can have benefits.

I do want to show how ridiculous stopping stimming is. I feel there are similarities between stimming and sign language for Deaf kids back in the day. Sign language was said to be bad, useless, and look at it now. Widely accepted in society. It's likely just a matter of time, but it is harder to get autistic ideals across society since it is harder for NT to "empathize" towards (ironic right).

Sorry to play the devil's advocate here, but I have to ask... what exactly do you mean by stimming? I notice that some people seem to feel there's an overlap between stimming that involves simple, repetitive movement (rocking, etc.) and obsessive-compulsive behavior (always stepping over cracks in the sidewalk, counting things over and over, etc.)

And just as a note, I do feel that this perception of overlap may be important. As a child, I had both obsessive-compulsive issues and stimmed a lot, and I felt very little difference between them. That is, if someone forced me not to stim, I felt the same anxiety as when my mother wouldn't let me dust the room with a Q-Tip. An anxious kind of guilt, almost, because I couldn't "get it perfectly right" (in the case of cleaning) or in the case of stimming...I don't know. I just felt so on edge if I couldn't stim. Today I've lost a lot of the obsessive-compulsive behavior, and it doesn't upset me so much to control my stimming when I feel it's appropriate to do so. I think stimming helps with sensory regulation, but it can also be a calming ritual rather like OCD behaviors.

I'm glad to answer more of your questions once I understand what you mean. But just so you know, I haven't been formally diagnosed for AS. I was assessed and the tests all came back positive, but the therapist had very little experience with ASDs and wasn't confident enough in her own perception to give me a strong yes or no.

Stimming doesn't feel the same at all to me as OCD compulsions. With OCD I have/had worries and carried out compulsions to alleviate the worries.

The compulsions were checking, making things symmetrical, cleaning, not touching things that might be dirty, only using special numbers for things, arranging things.

Stims were/are really only related to emotions, not thoughts. For instance: anxiety, impatience, excitement, extreme happiness, extreme sadness/distress. I don't worry about not doing them, I just do them. If I supress them I may feel anxious but I don't feel anything bad will happen as a result.

1. Why do you stim?
I stim consciously because it is a way to release energy positive or negative. I stim because it is a way to pass the time. I stim to create hemostasis sensory wise.
2. When do you stim?
Because I am happy, sad, or any other emotion. I stim more notably when I am really happy, sad, scared, anxious, or when I need to go to the bathroom
3. Can you control your stim?
how I stim can sometimes be controlled. But I always stim
4. What do you think about when your stimming?
When I am able to stim discreetly I think about everything and it helps me focus. When I can't I worry that people will think I am high on drugs or crazy and call the cops. I worry I will wind up in a hospital and loose my job.
8. What do you wish society knew about stimming?
I want them to know that I don't stim because I want to be annoying or anything. I try to stim in a way that is not disruptive. I want them to know stimming is the only way I know how I am doing. It is how I know when to leave or when I can stay longer