Let's Talk about Stimming

[GirlGoneWild1985]

My stims are:
Hand flapping.
Rubbing my hands together.
Clapping.
Twiddling my fingers in my hair on front of my face/eyes.
Pinching the webbing in between my thumb and finger, started when I was made to stop sucking my thumb at 10 years old.
Holding my breath by exhaling hard and letting my eyes go out of focus (usually paired with one of my other stims, but when I can't do the others publically I just hold my breath until I hear my blood pumping in my ears).
List writing and a bunch of other repetitive actions give me the same satisfaction as stimming. I love it when I get some alone time so I can stim. I hate getting caught, I find it super embarrassing and I try to cover it up. Unfortunately, my tendonitis and now arthritis really hurts in my hands and wrists after 32 years of heavy repetitive actions.

 

[Lichi]

Feeling the consistency of different things in my mouth. Even if the taste is unpleasant or I am physically unwell or unable to eat, I will go on because of the way it feels in my mouth. I

Shaking legs or rubbing hands.
Calculations of random numbers. Just simple additions and subtractions are very soothing.

 

[TheMiddleWay]

nother thing I can't live without and have done since being a toddler is twiddling with and stroking and pulling at the corner of my pillow case. I've literally gone through dozens of pillow cases as I've worn holes in them. If I'm sat on the sofa watching TV I have to have my pillow with me so I can stroke the soft corners of my pillow case. This does drive my family mad and visitors look at me very oddly.

I DO THE EXACT SAME THING! As a child my aunt even made a pillow for me with 8 corners because she knew I always liked to play with them as I fell asleep. It just feels good to apply pressure against the sensitive skin around the fingernails. Nowadays I even use other objects (whatever I can get my hands on) or even my own fingertips to get the job done.

 

[HidinginPlainSight]

All sorts of them:
- Finger nails (biting, picking and whatever) --- A teacher once loudly asked if I was giving myself a manicure to a loud round of laughter from the other students and, no doubt, giving him a sense of self satisfaction for being funny.
- Pulling eye lashes and eye brows
- bending my fingers back rather constantly
- stretching my neck one way or the other, even in the absence of cracks
- Rubbing my hands, whether nervous or not
- Rubbing my eyes
- Biting my lips
- Biting the inside of my cheek
- Can't wear rings or any type of accessory (they would never stay in one place)

 

[Mr Allen]

I used to (and still do sometimes) do the hand flapping thing when I was excited about something.

 

[DCA]

I get a single eye brow hair and rub it between my finger tips.

Wow, I thought I was the only one to do this!

Edit: Also reading through some of the other responses, pulling at my eyelashes & rubbing that between my fingers, or at my goatee to do the same (I actually trim it pretty short these days, which helps to keep me from doing that).

My stims tend to be tappy feet or bouncy legs/feet, or clicky stuff. At work I had a clicky mouse I while working unconsciously & rapidly double-click all day to highlight & un-highlight text. Drove one of my co-workers nuts so they had to move me & get me a non-clicky mouse. The one I use at home, however, clicks so if I work from home, back to doing it

Damon.

 

[Frostee]

Flapping my arms in private.

 

[loneaspie]

Definitely head scratching; it’s been a trait of mine intermittently since I was little. If someone doesn’t know me, usually I will be told to stop. Tapping my fingers on one hand into the back of the other in almost a flap motion, but this is when I’m excited, mainly. When anxious, I will rapidly tap my fingers against my head (when sitting) or leg (when standing); twisting/wringing them together at other times is another.

 

[Mark Smith]

Tapping my feet and organizing numbers and colors that I see on random objects.

 

[JoyChaos]

-biting the skin off my lips
-bouncing my leg
-crossing my legs
-finger flicking/twitching
-flapping
-humming
-swaying from side to side
-tip toe walking?? would that be a stim?
-rubbing the buttons on my jacket
-picking the sleep out of my eyelashes
-picking cuticles
-tangle and cubes
-rubbing soft plush things
-i tap my feet on the bed when im laying in it
-pinching the skin between my thumb and index finger
-tapping my chest
-hitting myself in the thigh
-biting or scratching my arms

so those are the ones i recognize. i probably have more that are subconscious

 

[LookingforMe]

As a kid I loved to put things in my ears and twist and twirl them around, things that were considered normal like q-tips for cleaning, and not-so-normal things like a singular hair from my dog or pieces I’d pluck off my sister’s pom-poms. This went on every night for years and I nearly drove her mad with that particular stim as we shared a bedroom. I also sucked my thumb, caressed my pillowcases, bit my nails, popped my joints (of course not that uncommon) and loved running those little hot wheels cars up and down my limbs over and over.

As an adult, I get great stress relief from touching, sqeezing and smelling things. Play-doh is my go-to for both the pliability, scent, and size. I was also in heaven when slime became popular as my daughter made loads of it that we enjoyed for hours on end. Both of those are considered acceptable (by others) for me to have at my desk at work as well. Other stims I have (that I’ve been told to stop) are pulling at my eyelashes and eyebrows, picking my scalp, smelling books and magazines (the newer the better), smelling plastics (specifically blow-up pool toys), bouncing my leg, and biting my lips and cheeks.

 

[Dillon]

As a toddler I would be real organized such as lining up hot wheels in straight line as possible from one in of the room to the other.
Past that and even now I usually just tap on a wall almost to a rhythm, humming out of random, and move my fingers and shake my legs constantly.

 

[Lady Lucifer]

I'm fairly new to these forums. I've been dignosed ten years ago with AS. And I notice this word keeps being thrown around that I never seen myself do. Stimming. I've seen other aspies do it. But I don't...is that normal for some aspies?

At least, I don't think I stim. Yeah, I have a weird quirk of taking stuffed animals and moving them around the house and sometimes I imagine that they will have conversations with house guests. My stuffed creatures make me happy but I don't consider that stimming, since I don't go out in public doing that (Anymore. Thats a learned behavior thats has took some time to adjust) . I also mutter weird phrases to myself, but thats only to myself. It dosen't soothe or help me cope with anything. It just happens. Its almost like terroates but manageable.

 

[SplendidSnail]

In the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, it's an elective, not something that's mandatory. So no, not everyone with ASD does it. In the Asperger's meetup group that I go to, I observe less than half of people visibly stimming.

Of course, I'm sure that a good portion of them have stims that aren't so visible, but I'm sure there are some who don't stim at all.

 

[SusanLR]

I think those who deal with more anxiety issues stim more.
Even NTs do it. Look at those knees going up and down quickly under the table.
See that a lot in restaurants. Fiddling with their rings is common too.

Personally I have stimmed quite a bit all my life.

 

[Progster]

I stim quite a bit, but not always in public, and not always visibly - I have more discreet stims. It's something that varies a lot, according to my stress and anxiety levels. It's something with a spectrum of it's own, some people stim a lot, others not so much, some rarely.

 

[Illumination]

I wouldn't say you have to commonly stim if your on the Autism Spectrum, it would vary depending on the individual, I personally do it quite a lot (both privately and publicly). It's usually an unconscious action, but just as often its conscious to calm myself down, and to relieve (and reduce) the severity of my Tourettes for a period of time.

Also, many people (including myself) don't only stim while calming down, I also do it while thinking, or other actions. -- and Tourette's isn't something you "just do" (That is a common misconception), Tourettes causes tics that you have to do, or a buildup of pain / severe discomfort will occur at that body part, like a itch.

(For example, if you have a Neck Twitch Tic, if you do not do it you will have a building discomfort on your neck).

 

[Nervous Rex]

I knew more than 30 years before my diagnosis that it is physically impossible for me to sit completely still. When I was 14, my mother made some comment about me not sitting still, and I said, "I was!" She bet me that I couldn't sit completely still for 5 minutes. It was torture. I didn't make it.

Since then, I've always been aware that I never sit still. I always have something in my hands to fidget with. I can keep it pretty subdued - twirling a pen under the table, folding a straw in my hands, shaking a leg, etc. If I see someone watching me do it, I'll change it and make it less visible.

I always called them "nervous habits" and "fidgeting". I never heard of stimming until I came to this forum. My first thought was how dare I call what I do "stimming" when others seem to have it so much worse? But there seems to be a very broad range of things that can be called stimming. So the shoe fits.

 

[Lady Lucifer]

nd Tourette's isn't something you "just do" (That is a common misconception), and more like stimming in that you do it (need to do it) to relieve yourself of a building painful feeling.

Oh I know that. I was just self diagnosing myself with tourettes. Its funny that you say that people who stim/have tourettes need to "relieve pain" because my "tourettes" occurs mostly when I'm in physical and emotional pain. And the phrases I say correlate to the pain (figuratively, symbolically and literally) for example I have IBS with gas pain. One of the phrases I'll say commonly and repeatedly during a flare up is "bloody stomach." The other phrases are too gross and graphic to post here, but thats one example)

Another thing I have is narcolepsy, so one of the phrases I'll say that correlate to that condition is "gonna sleep now." Even if I'm not tired or plan on sleeping for another few hours.

I also have repeated dioluages with my stuffed animals and toys to "soothe" my depression. For example, I have this fat stuffed yellow duck who I named Ronald.
Me: What do you like doing?
Ronald: Eating!
Even though I know Ronald likes eating.

Okay mabey I do stim. I just hate that word. It sounds so gross....

 

[Illumination]

Oh I know that. I was just self diagnosing myself with tourettes. Its funny that you say that people who stim/have tourettes need to "relieve pain" because my "tourettes" occurs mostly when I'm in physical and emotional pain. And the phrases I say correlate to the pain (figuratively, symbolically and literally) for example I have IBS with gas pain. One of the phrases I'll say commonly and repeatedly during a flare up is "bloody stomach." The other phrases are too gross and graphic to post here, but thats one example)

Another thing I have is narcolepsy, so one of the phrases I'll say that correlate to that condition is "gonna sleep now." Even if I'm not tired or plan on sleeping for another few hours.

I also have repeated dioluages with my stuffed animals and toys to "soothe" my depression. For example, I have this fat stuffed yellow duck who I named Ronald.
Me: What do you like doing?
Ronald: Eating!
Even though I know Ronald likes eating.

Okay mabey I do stim. I just hate that word. It sounds so gross....

Forgive me but I may of stated it wrongly, Tourettes itself is painful (A build-up of pain if you refuse to do that tic). -- Stimming on the other hand is mostly a method of calming one self down, or just doing it randomly while thinking, etc.

For example, I have a belching tic, if I refuse to do that tic I will have a slow build up of pain in my stomach, etc.

So if you do those "tics" to relieve pain from another source, it is certainly not Tourettes, it is stimming. (You would also require multiple motor and vocal tics constantly triggering for a good year).

EDIT: I should also note that with Tourettes tics can flare up, and down randomly for the cause, or for specific causes like stress, happiness, or pain. -- But there is still always the presence of pain or discomfort from that tic itself, near or at the body part that you need to "tic".