Rocking

[RemyZee]

And I don't mean of the musical variety. Does anyone here find a constant need to rock? I have always done it from childhood: a need for constant motion and when I'm not rocking it's like a welling up of energy inside. I don't mind it, except that some people take it as a sign of distress. But I've finally gotten to where I don't conceal it. But at times I wonder what it would feel like if I simply didn't rock. I don't actually know if I could do it! Constant motion, that's what I am. Once a woman said I moved like a humming bird. I was shocked because I felt like I was moving so slowly!

 

[Misty Avich]

Rocking seems to be common in autistic people, along with hand-flapping. Funnily enough I've never done either of those stims even as a child, and it is a wonder because of all the anxiety I suffer with.
Doesn't rocking make you feel nauseous?

 

[RemyZee]

No it doesn't make me queasy at all--more the opposite I get queasy if I DON'T rock.

 

[Misty Avich]

Okay, just once I tried it and it triggered vertigo.

 

[NDR2]

I often do when I’m sitting down doing something.

 

[Misty Avich]

I shake my leg when I'm sitting. But I've seen non-autistics do that too. I think rocking and hand-flapping is the least common stim among NTs.

 

[Levitat0r]

And I don't mean of the musical variety. Does anyone here find a constant need to rock? I have always done it from childhood: a need for constant motion and when I'm not rocking it's like a welling up of energy inside. I don't mind it, except that some people take it as a sign of distress. But I've finally gotten to where I don't conceal it. But at times I wonder what it would feel like if I simply didn't rock. I don't actually know if I could do it! Constant motion, that's what I am. Once a woman said I moved like a humming bird. I was shocked because I felt like I was moving so slowly!

I've always had a tendency to fidget, and when sitting it was most often the leg jumping up and down on the ball of the foot. My life became incredibly stressful around the age of thirty, and I started noticing the impulse to rock back and forth, but as far as I know, I suppress it out of self-consciousness. I think most people are considerably perturbed by that kind of movement, and they assume something is very wrong. I will instead fidget in subtler or better-accepted ways.

 

[Rodafina]

Yes. I like to rock or sway and I find myself doing it quite frequently. It just feels natural and it has never bothered me or made me feel self conscious. Often, it looks more like swaying side to side, and other times, it is more back and forth and pairs perfectly with my rocking easy chair. It comes as naturally as breathing and making myself stop does feel a bit like holding my breath.

 

[Misty Avich]

I have an autistic friend who stims openly in public. He'd hold his arms above his head and move them vigorously in the air whilst trying to make humming noises at a certain pitch that his male voice lacks. I've never done this even when at home where I don't have to mask or even when I'm severely anxious or depressed. I don't think I do any stims when anxious or depressed, unless crying counts as a stim.

 

[Levitat0r]

Yes. I like to rock or sway and I find myself doing it quite frequently. It just feels natural and it has never bothered me or made me feel self conscious. Often, it looks more like swaying side to side, and other times, it is more back and forth and pairs perfectly with my rocking easy chair. It comes as naturally as breathing and making myself stop does feel a bit like holding my breath.

Nope, nope. I channel all of that into the calf muscle, and up and down the leg goes. I've been told a number of times to cut it out, but like you said, it's uncomfortable to not release... whatever that is. It's tension.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

It’s sensory seeking behaviour. Good for prepreceptive feedback and totally normal and healthy

 

[Levitat0r]

It’s sensory seeking behaviour. Good for prepreceptive feedback and totally normal and healthy

It makes sense that if you're isolated, and you don't have anybody for social contact, whether physical or otherwise, you have a tendency to do any old thing so that you don't feel like you're in one of those isolation tanks. I suppose that's why they call it stimming.

 

[Misty Avich]

I do sensory seeking but mine is wanting someone to play with my hair or massage my back or arms. Often my husband isn't always in the mood to do it, and my pets won't either, and it's not the same when you do it to yourself. I keep urging for a spa day where I can have hours of massage and other sensory things but I couldn't afford it right now.

 

[Rodafina]

It makes sense that if you're isolated, and you don't have anybody for social contact, whether physical or otherwise, you have a tendency to do any old thing so that you don't feel like you're in one of those isolation tanks. I suppose that's why they call it stimming.

I'm certainly not saying I disagree, but I think it can also work in the reverse sometimes. I have the tendency to stim quite a bit when I am around others. In moments of feeling socially overwhelmed (even with just one other person), stimming is a sort of way for me to stay connected to myself and not lose myself to the overstimulation of a social interaction. A way to focus and soothe my brain. It is an autonomic reaction that calms overwhelming thoughts and feelings somehow.

 

[Levitat0r]

I'm certainly not saying I disagree, but I think it can also work in the reverse sometimes. I have the tendency to stim quite a bit when I am around others. In moments of feeling socially overwhelmed (even with just one other person), stimming is a sort of way for my to stay connected to myself and not lose myself to the overstimulation of a social interaction. A way to focus my and soothe my brain. It is an autonomic reaction that calms overwhelming thoughts and feelings somehow.

I can definitely see how that works. I think once again, from a spectrum perspective, it's something that everybody does, it's just that some people do it extra, or in a manner that's different enough to concern or confuse others, and that's the point where it's "stimming" instead of fidgeting.

 

[Judge]

Swaying back and forth is one of my two stims. Though I can't say I do it a lot, although if I stand in front of my tv for more than a few seconds it just seems that it happens.

 

[Levitat0r]

Incidentally, I have a relative who is the other way, and they get laughed at for walking with their arms limp at their sides. "Why do you need to move your arms when you walk?" "Uh.... balance?". Oh well.

 

[jsilver256]

Rocking is one of my stims, but it's contextual and sometimes emotion triggered. It's not a "constant need." I do it most often when I am sitting and need to focus on a speaker.

 

[Levitat0r]

Rocking is one of my stims, but it's contextual and sometimes emotion triggered. It's not a "constant need."

I think my leg is pretty much always going when in a sitting position. I've long stopped paying attention to it. It's probably among the things that make me look like a nervous man-child, not that I care in the least.

 

[Misty Avich]

Being triggered or controlling my sensory balance does not make me stim. What makes me shake my leg when sitting is restlessness and it is just relaxing. It is also a result of being unable to sit still for too long, because of ADHD.