How do you stimm

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I could write an essay on all my stims, but for the sake of brevity..

leg-bobbing, pacing, rocking, playing with my hair, tapping, and playing with random objects (tennis balls, pens, paper clips, etc...). I'll sometimes slap my leg or my shoulder repeatedly with my hand or some object. I also talk to myself or hum: This one I have to be careful with when I'm away from home; I went to family get-togehter this weekend and someone caught me talking to myself--they asked if I was talking to the cat.

One of my first memories in life, my father admonishing me "don't do that [rocking my torso back & forth in time to music, seated], people will think you're autistic." (This was the 1960's. He was a clinical psychologist.) The rocking really became an issue when I found myself in the navy. A lot of my stimming behaviors have been and are subsumed under the enculturation of rock music - twitching fingers, air guitar, swaying, rocking. (Hence my nickname, Van Halen.) Hand flapping is, well, hand flapping. Nothing quite like it. Reciting, repeating phrases. I cannot abide silence so keep the music - well, my music - going. Probably the second I post this, I'll think of other behaviors, they are so integrated, it's not especially easy to "see" them.

I wave my hands like a symphony conductor, and I also run one fingernail against the other. I also enjoy rocking back and forth and slowly spinning if I have a chair capable of doing it.

Scratch/pick at my skin/scalp, especially when reading or watching TV.
making fluctuating clicking noises with my mouth/tongue.
fiddling constantly with objects with moving parts (clicking pens, pulling pen caps on and off, extending antennas on phones).
poking my index finger on things with points, like pins or burned candle wicks.
slapping my thigh, frequently to the rhythm of a song stuck in my head.
pacing, especially if I'm on the phone, I can't sit still and talk on the phone at the same time, I have to move.
plucking my eyelashes, I try hard to suppress this one, it tends to make me look a little odd when i have patches of eyelid without lashes.
drumming my fingers in the air like i'm typing or playing a keyboard.
picking under my fingernails, like i have something stuck under the nail and removing it, though nothing's there.
biting the skin on the sides of my fingernails, sometimes til they bleed.
knuckle cracking and fist clenching/unclenching repeatedly.
repeating a phrase over and over under my breath (one I remember when I was younger was "puppy propaganda". alliterative phrases get stuck in my head really bad.)
touching items if they have an obvious texture, running my finger over said texture.
chuckling in the back of my throat, especially when i'm nervous.

I rock back and forth or shake my leg. Sometimes I pace.

Fiddle with rubber bands while I read, or walk, or work. Constantly.
Also, I pace. And I scratch at my scalp, or obssesively comb it where the comb's teeth scratch the scalp.
I did some of the classics in my childhood, like hand-flapping. But I always had a sock or string in my hands when I did it. I also spent hours digging in dirt/gravel with sticks.
There were others, but these are/were the major ones.

Sincerely,
Matthew

I wiggle my fingers around while I'm reading sometimes, I pick at my skin on my fingers or the bridge of my nose, I play with my belly button ring, earrings or rings and I grind my teeth. (I know it's a horrible nervous habit but I've done it all of my life)

My son shakes his hands.

Ahhh! I forgot I sometimes, ok, often, flex book pages when I read. For long periods of time. Then again, I can probably count reading as a stim or an obsession..

Sincerely,
Matthew

Beating out a rhythm with my hands on my thighs, or headbanging (not against a wall), to some music that has a good beat.

I read allot. I wake up 1 hour before everyone else in the house to have my reading time.
play with my iPhone
Warm water over my hands. I love to do dishes for this reason.
Chew my cuticles (I would like to stop that)
listen to music
Used to snap my fingers constantly all the time never ending, though I managed to break the habit.
I used to smoke. Stopped that, as well.

Mostly rocking. Also, gnawing on my nails and cuticles.