Stimming Without Realizing?

Post Reply New Topic

Honestly I have no idea the stims I do are autistic or not. Like if I am fiddling with something in my hand, is that normal? What about finger twisting or hair twirling? Or page flipping in a book? Some people have been bothered by me flipping pages because "it wrecks it." I did wreck one of my player guides books by doing that so lot of the pages fell out. I used it too much and flipped pages as I'd read it.

If I am taking the game in and out of my Nintendo DS, is that normal? Same as if I take the pin in and out. What about putting things in my mouth?

I know pen tapping or clicking is normal and so is foot tapping, and doodling. I never really doodled because I never liked it and never understood it.

My last ex used to mess with his cell phone in his hand by tapping it on his leg or touching it in his pocket, is that normal?

And I don't even know if things I do are just habits or stims.

I think fidgeting actually serves the same purpose for NTs that stimming does for people with ASD - regulating the nervous system -, but that for those of us whose nervous systems are more sensitive and/or more out of whack, we have to stim in more extreme ways in order for it to have the same effect.

Thus, a lot of people shake/bounce their legs occasionally. I have even seen people in class rocking back and forth on occasion who have no other signs of being autistic. But I shake my leg almost constantly when I am sitting down and often so hard that it will cause the whole desk or table to shake violently. And I can do that for a long period of time without noticing that I am doing it. So there is a difference in degree.

I seem to always have some level of anxiety.
All my hand stuff is calming especially more so when I squeeze my left thumb at my chest. The laying on hard cold surfaces is both calming and soothing.

My jaw moving/lip biting stuff, who knows. I don't know how to tell the difference really. Feels like something that became a habit from anxiety.

But I think I do a lot of preseveration in my head, the kind that makes me feel better in some ways but can also be like "spinning my wheels", not going anywhere. Some of I think was helpful though. If I understood correctly, and the guy is accurate, I was told my brain wants to do this though. I have to try and pull the other way or something.

Last edited by Jediscraps on 16 Nov 2010, 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm curious about this too, because my first thought is that I don't have any stims. But I constantly catch myself doing odd things; I have just always written them off as nervous habits. Maybe it's the same thing. I don't really understand the difference.
And I also am never really aware of the fact that I am anxious unless I get to the point where I'm shaking.
I do catch myself doing many of my things when I am trying to solve a problem though. Or if I'm bored. Though I can't stand being bored, so boredom definitely causes anxiety for me.

I wasn't really aware of stimming until I started researching ASDs and monitoring my behavior. So imagine my surprise when I caught myself pacing while in line at Home Depot. Not just a "normal pacing", but pacing in tight circles. I catch myself rocking, rubbing my hands, bouncing my leg, opening and closing my hands in a stretching like motion. I've got this weird hoppy thing I do once in awhile that actually caused a co-worker to ask if I had Asperger's (apparently he saw it on TV). I hold my thumbs. I twitch my thumbs. I pick at my scalp and face (didn't know this was considered stimming). I will scratch my back against the door jam like a bear against a tree (stimming?). I rub my thumb against my bottom lip. I twist back and forth to crack my ankles, flex my legs to crack my knees, crack my knuckles, scratch this dry spot in my ear til it bleeds, drum my fingers, doodle. When standing I will rock forward onto the balls of my feet and back again. I drum my fingers against my forehead when thinking. I can't sit for very long so I get up and walk around the office a lot. I rub my feet together.

I guess I stim a little.

I stim in my sleep.

I "purr" and I make trilling noises. I also often will say a random phrase either because I like the way it sounds, usually this phrase I have heard somewhere, such as on TV or music. I do these A LOT, they are calming and feel 'right.'

There were many things I would try to find that DIDN'T make me AS. And, stimming was one of them. A very good friend of mine works with more severely autistic children (go figure why she feels comfortable around me and vice versa). She also relayed more hardcore stimming like rocking violently back and forth or flapping hands around in work stories. So, I concluded, "Nope, no stimming from me." But, then I if I really concentrated on trying to picture myself beyond my brain with eyeballs view, I noticed I do things like squeeze my left thumb between my index and middle finger A LOT. I crank my neck like I am trying to crack it A LOT. I pump my right leg up and down to the point that I shake items on tables A LOT. Every once in a while I bust out with a loud hum or la-la-la or something. I don't really plan on trying to control these things because they are comforting to me. And, I figure everyone does stuff like that occasionally... mine are just exponential.

I look at others to see what they do and virtually everyone does something that might be considered stimming. But the frequency and variety seem vastly different. I see someone jiggle their leg, but it stops relatively quickly and they don't also tap their fingers, snap their neck, squeeze their thumbs or cycle between these things. This is also a source of misunderstanding for NTs. If you tell them you pace a lot, they say everybody does this. Well DUH. Everybody washes their hands, but a person with OCD might wash their hands 50 times in one day. If I stop moving I get increasingly agitated. So something seems to be moving most of the time.

pardon my english.

stimming is moving uppertorso/head forward/backwards?

I don't really do this alot but when I get into stressful social situations or situations with lots of ppls in small space(classroom) Ive started stimming among other things.

when I was 14-15yo I looked alot in other ppls eyes and was happy and positive person.

after I started the other school(eng spelling?) at 16yo I got into a hostile class and enviroment which made me "hostile eyed" I think as a defensive shell to avoid communication.

I pace quite a bit and I also click my pens, tear apart my phone(back when I had a BlackBerry), and shake my legs. So I stim without being even aware of it.