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Caz72
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29 Jul 2023, 1:43 pm

i dont stim much but i sometimes flap my left hand if im in a bit of distress not vigorous just a bit to just notice

what stims do you do


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bee33
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29 Jul 2023, 4:48 pm

I don't think I do any. Maybe if I was not having constant aches and pains from chronic fatigue I would, I don't know. As it is, it hurts to flap my hands or do anything similar.

I do have a tendency to blurt out loud whatever I was in the middle of thinking whenever something stressful or embarrassing crosses my mind, which is usually not related to the actual words I say out loud, which might be from a TV show I'm watching or from another thought that was passing through my head. Or sometimes I'll just exclaim a sound. But not if there are other people around.



Elgee
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29 Jul 2023, 9:13 pm

Sniffing my hair, feeling my hair, pressing it to my mouth, nose and chin, talking about it (not TO it, but ABOUT it) in different voices, humming a tune that's based on the cadence of one of the phrases I use to refer to big-ass ponytails whenever I see one.

Rocking at computer, while listening to music, while watching TV.

Teeth clicking.

Tongue chewing.

Pressure stims: pressing fingers repeatedly, repetitively, onto a a leg or other hand.

Flapping foot when I go to bed. I MUST do this till I fall asleep or become too drowsy to keep doing it.

I don't, and never did, flap hands. Since my diagnosis last year I've been to MANY autism events and have seen HFA's flapping their hands. I tried this (there's different ways I've seen it done), and it is UNcomfortable. Any hand flappers here? What's it like, how does it regulate or soothe? For me, it's incomfortable on the wrists.



ASPartOfMe
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29 Jul 2023, 10:52 pm

A comb or a pen I just whip back and forth. It just comes naturally, sometimes I do not realize I am doing it. When I was a kid and a teen I used hangers.


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ToughDiamond
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30 Jul 2023, 7:04 am

Mine are generally inconspicuous. Chewing gum, chewing the inside of my mouth, drumming on the furniture, wriggling my toes (I always wear shoes). Back in my formative years the Big People didn't readily tolerate "fidgeting," so I was likely persuaded to keep these things pretty quiet. I don't see it as masking because there's no longer any conscious effort to hide anything, and I can't remember there ever being. I feel uncomfortable if anybody starts stimming in my presence, so I can relate to the annoyance it may cause, irrational though it may be.



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30 Jul 2023, 8:45 am

I don't know but I ride a bike for about 8 hours a day if that counts.

I find sitting still almost impossible


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Sugaredquills
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30 Jul 2023, 8:52 am

I rub my fingers or pinch myself sometimes.



IsabellaLinton
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30 Jul 2023, 9:07 am

I wrote about ten pages of examples in my ASD DH.

There are so many I can't begin to name them all. I'm constantly in motion.


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Deinonychus
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30 Jul 2023, 3:10 pm

Always sniffing, always chewing.
and …
Seriously, Idk.

I only have intense stereotypies when I'm having an anxiety attack, otherwise if I have parasitic gestures, I'm not hyper-noticable.

I swing sometimes (don’t know why or when), rub my thighs (to focus) and I shake my leg.
Strangely enough, leg shaking is the most noticeable: people tell me they can't stand when I do it, or they ask me if it's okay (and it often is, it's just that I need to move my leg to have some stimulation or discharge).

I sometimes flap when happy or when scared, but I don't think I do it more than neurotypicals (watch them, they do it too). I am rarely happy or scared.

When I was little, I used to chew my hair and in all the family photos, you can see me doing that.
I had other stims (and was apparently obsessed with washing machines) but can’t tell.
Sniffing for sure.
I also had a recurring grimace, but I don't know if it came every time something happened or if it was passive.

And …

I had a hard time touching my private parts in public, now I am a decent person who have learn intimacy. But parents were mad at me.



Elgee
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30 Jul 2023, 7:24 pm

One more: curling my toes while with shoes on, uncurling, curling, uncurling. It's a replacement stim when in public. If anyone here goes to a gym, it's not hard to observe people at gyms stimming in between sets. I doubt they're all autistic. But the most common one is bouncing a leg up and down (while foot is on floor while the man is seated). I also see head nodding, but it's to music (the guy always has a headset). I was once near a man who'd wear a mouthguard while lifting (to prevent biting his tongue or lip, presumably). Between sets he'd take it out and chew on it half out of his mouth, rotating and flipping it around with his tongue. It was gross to look at, but it was no different then using a chew pendant. Of course, maybe he was autistic?



RenegadeWanderer
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31 Jul 2023, 12:05 am

Cracking my knuckles and fingers. I know I shouldn't be doing it, but it can't be helped.



nomoore
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31 Jul 2023, 9:55 am

I don't flap my hands either. But I have noticed that I often will hold my right hand up near my chest (think T-Rex, lol).

I crack my knuckles and play with my hands, just moving them around while my fingers are intertwined.
I play with (squeeze/pinch) my mouth/lips, chin, ears, neck, pick my eyelashes. My wife calls me Nicker Picker (my name is Nick).
Echolalia, I usually mouth or whisper words rather than say them out loud.
Make quiet clicking noises with my mouth/throat. When I was younger I used to make much louder (non verbal) noises of various sorts but I learned to mask that until they are no longer one of my natural stims.
Move my jaw forward and backward.
Very lightly tap and grind my teeth
Whip pencils and pens back and forth. Especially love Pentel Clic Erasers with the eraser sticking out 3/4 of the way
Move my shoulders around, forward, back, up, down, popping my back behind my shoulder blades
When swinging my arms while walking I'll brush my fingerprints against my outer thighs
Scrunch my toes, tap my toes
Tap my fingertips on just about everything
Blink my eyes (not sure if this is because of dry eyes or a stim. Probably both)

I love fidget spinners (especially with the nicely firm poppets built in), flippy chains, "Hacky Sacks" (to squish and squeeze), the afore mentioned Pentel Clic Eraser, the feel of writing with a pencil or a fountain pen



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Deinonychus
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31 Jul 2023, 10:43 am

nomoore wrote:
I don't flap my hands either. But I have noticed that I often will hold my right hand up near my chest (think T-Rex, lol).



I also have T-rex hands (I didn’t know it was the name of it).
But it is not a stim for me but a body posture.



Caz72
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31 Jul 2023, 10:58 am

i only gently flap my hand

also i have stim toys but some have broken during a meltdown but I have a couple that I take to work and even have with me in the drivers cab while im driving the buses

i dont care what people think


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IsabellaLinton
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31 Jul 2023, 11:14 am

What types of stim toys do you like? ^
Do you have any pictures of them?

I have a sensory toolkit too.
It goes in my car and I have another at home.
I tried some of the commercial stim products but prefer my own.


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Elgee
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31 Jul 2023, 4:24 pm

I love that I have a built-in stim: My big badass bushy poofy ponytail. Just can't get enough of it.