what is your stim?

[Pella]

I have no idea! All I know is that I started in fourth grade, when I first got glasses. It's probably my most embarrassing stim, as it's something that EVERYBODY notices.

I don't know i can just see the kids in my elementary school paying someone in pudding cups to see them wiggling their ears.

 

[wyverary]

I don't know i can just see the kids in my elementary school paying someone in pudding cups to see them wiggling their ears.

Hmm. I need to market this somehow; pudding cups are delicious!

 

[Cerulean]

Soup's stim of the day: Heel Wobbling! Here's how: stand facing a counter top you can lean on or support yourself on. Lean on it, slightly bend the leg you're standing on, then place the toe of your other foot on the floor slightly behind your supporting foot. Now, loosely wobble the heel of your non-supporting foot back & forth fairly rapidly. I find it takes tension out of the lower calves nicely!

Haha, I do this when I brush my teeth

 

[SallySlips]

Today it is wiggling my ears and eyebrows, which looks fairly absurd. Ah well.

I actually forgot I can wiggle my ears until I read this!

 

[Soup]

MeToo! It works great while leaning AND you can do it in a public place as a 'survive the situation' stim without attracting stares or getting put away.

 

[HelloDizzy]

Biting my lips off and tapping on things. Very noticeable.

 

[Cerulean]

Stim of the day: my husband got a laptop for Christmas and the texture on the lid is essentially like plastic, fine-wale corduroy. I've been running my fingers over it for about a half hour, it's amazing.

 

[wyverary]

Stim of the day: my husband got a laptop for Christmas and the texture on the lid is essentially like plastic, fine-wale corduroy. I've been running my fingers over it for about a half hour, it's amazing.

My laptop has an oval "ASD: Autism Spectrum Disorder" on it, and I like to rub my fingers around the edges and over the little bumps where the sticker is not slapped on quite evenly.

Today's stim is...planting my feet on the ground and rotating my body back and forth. I did it the whole time I was waiting in line at the computer repair place. Interestingly, the guy in front of me shook his leg back and forth (with his feet on the floor) as he was standing at the counter.

 

[Donein]

I did not think I had stims but now I am not so sure. Sometimes I will sing dumb songs. I have a terrible voice. There are maybe five or six I chose from. Home on the range. I am working on the railroad. This annoyed my family and they would ask me to stop and I would; I never would do this among strangers or outside my house. Sometimes I will twiddle my thumbs or bounce my leg up and down when sitting. I also will say unusual words aloud in my car when I am alone like "maggot". Right now I am laying down with the keyboard in my lap and I am wiggling my toes. I thought I did not have stims because I never did any hand flapping or other actions that branded me as different.

My question to all of you aspies is: Are these stims? I am thinking yes.

I'm a NT and I'm not an expert, BUT my dad did all these things. He is gone now and his songs were the older ones like, "I'll be Seeing you in Apple Blossom Time",,, over and over and over he would sing. Actually you couldn't really talk to him because he was always doing and singing. His foot would ,,,not stop wiggling when we watched TV. He couldn't actually watch a whole program, ADHD, he couldn't sit long.

 

[Donein]

I also pick at my cuticles a lot. I want everything to be nice and smooth, but I always end up making it worse. One time my preteen niece asked why my fingers are so red around my nails. It was kind of embarassing to be called out by a kid.

I'm a cuticle cutter myself. I have psoriasis and my cuticles thicken quickly, so I have to cut them off. Just a helpful hint for you. Buy sprayable Bactine and spray when you are finished. The reddening of your cuticles could be the start of infection. I keep lots of bactine around, in the car, in the drawers. Minor cuts can get infected quickly and there are too many bad germs around these days.

 

[Rocker]

Anyone play the drums with their teeth? I do that alot. Its usually little drum rolls or beats from songs often the same ones over and over. I also tap my fingers alot too - drives the wife crazy!

Not sure if this one is a stim or compulsive but I cant help looking at the frickin fuel consumption gage in my vehicle - watching it go up and down and adding the distance to empty to the trip meter to see if I am still getting the same mileage. I wish I could stop that one.

I am sure I have others but they are the ones that come to mind straight away.

 

[Nattzz]

I have no idea why this is happening and it literally just came out of the blue, and I seem to just do it. Lets see if I can explain it! Lately, if I'm listening to someone talk or whatever, If they say a world that has an L in it somewhere, or requires the use of their tongue, I will do it too. Its like I lip-read, but with my tongue. My mouth doesn't move, so I'm not mouthing anything, but its like my tongue will move as if I'm saying what they're saying, exactly when they say it. Does that make sense? Oh god, I hope it makes sense. I cant seem to stop, and it just happens! Is this a stim? If not, I have no idea what this is... ::

 

[Cerulean]

I have no idea why this is happening and it literally just came out of the blue, and I seem to just do it. Lets see if I can explain it! Lately, if I'm listening to someone talk or whatever, If they say a world that has an L in it somewhere, or requires the use of their tongue, I will do it too. Its like I lip-read, but with my tongue. My mouth doesn't move, so I'm not mouthing anything, but its like my tongue will move as if I'm saying what they're saying, exactly when they say it. Does that make sense? Oh god, I hope it makes sense. I cant seem to stop, and it just happens! Is this a stim? If not, I have no idea what this is... ::

It does make sense, sometimes I'll do something like that with my hands, if I or someone else is speaking I'll kind of flex my fingers like I'm typing what they're saying.

 

[WildCat]

Biting/picking at my lips, at the insides of my cheek, biting nails (though I think that's less of a stim and more of a shared habit among many people), and if I remain still for too long I'll move or tap my feet around the ground. Somewhat odd and yeah, it does help to counter the moments of mild sensory overload that I get in public places so often. It's not like I choose to do it either, it's like it just happens without my conscious even being involved. I do try to suppress it sometimes, but it just feels natural to do so.

 

[Soup]

Soup's stim of the day: Going up & down on my toes while leaning my elbows on the kitchen counter where my computer is right now.

 

[wyverary]

Rocking my knees back and forth while waiting in line at the semi-crowded caf

 

[wyverary]

One of my most effective stress-relieving stims is singing out loud. I was humming the Beach Boys all day today at work.

 

[Ylva]

I have a version of it. In stressful situations I tend to shut down by wandering off into my own private World of Daydreams. While in there, I react to imaginary events as if they were real. Think 3D movies when something comes "flying out of the screen" at you and you flinch, even though you know it's just a movie. I don't just flinch, though; I get into discussions or full-blown arguments in there, mouthing or whispering the words, grimacing at smells, flailing my hands (like some people do when they try to make a point), any manner of things, really. If my town doesn't think I am crazy yet it's just because they don't see me that much.

As for the whole imaginary world thing, it's not as weird as you might think. I mean, the fact that I created a world might be ? but I have read studies stating that what we imagine seems just as real to our brains as what we perceive, so responding to it is perfectly ? I was going to say "normal", but "reasonable" might work better.

 

[wyverary]

@ Ylva: I definitely don't have the imagination to pull that off!

Another music-related stim: Listening to music through my headphones and rocking back and forth in time with the beat.

 

[Ylva]

I compare my stims to Matilda's telekinesis (if any of you have read Roald Dahl). Simply, when I get enough mental stimulation, I don't stim. Not while I'm reading a challenging text, for example; probably not while thinking about it afterward, but I can't be sure. It's usually while among people that I do it, or that I know afterwards I have done it thanks to the looks they give me. I reckon it is a good alternative to panic attacks, although it is hard to think that way while I am there.