do you stim, what is your stim?

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When I was a kid, thumb sucking was one of my most effective stims, but I was not allowed to do it, so I only did it alone. I used to skin pick a lot, leg shake, pace, sometimes flap my hands when no one is looking because it was another thing I was not allowed to do. I learned very early not to rock because it was a huge no-no to people and I would quickly get yelled at or chewed out for doing it. Around people, my most usual stims were various subtle fidgetings, foot shaking or finger tapping because they drew the least negative attention from people. Chewing gum was a good socially okay form of stimming. I used to furrow my brow a lot, I don't know if that is normally considered a stim.

I still pace when I can, and I love pacing, it is so fun to pace. I sometimes hand flap, leg shake, do hair twirling, jaw clenching, various dancing finger or toe movements. I have a skin picking problem again and it is one stim I don't want myself to do and wish I would quit.

Anyway those are some of my stims. I did many types of stims because when I was punished for doing a certain stim, I would learn a different one to take its place.

Stims are the same as fidgeting right? That's what my parents have always called it. If so then definitely, all day every day and probably more often than not. I never really thought of it as part of my AS, just assumed everybody does it to a certain degree. I pace like crazy, always have something in my hands, bounce my leg, rock back and forth, play with my hair, all kinds of things. It can be pretty annoying since I have a habit of picking things up and putting them down in other places without thinking about it so I lose things from time to time.

Coin flipping. I keep a coin with me everywhere.

Coin Flipping.

I developed skin picking and hair pulling. Since I have OCD, sometimes it's related to that. However, I noticed I also do it when mad, sad, and even when I'm trying to concentrate. A lot of times, I don't even know I'm doing it. This doesn't happen with other OCD compulsions, which makes me think it's possible it's stimming. It also feels really good, and sometimes I get no anxiety from doing it. The sensation just feels amazing.

Anyways, I rock, stomp, scratch, and hit my head when I'm upset. At first glance these can appear to be self-harm. However, the sensations help me calm down.

I roll around on my bed/the floor and hand flap when I'm very excited/happy.

I rub my thumb and index finger together, pace very fast, and bite my cheeks when anxious.

I squeeze my hands/skin, and the sensation helps either relax me, or put me to sleep.

Nail biting, foot shaking, hand flapping, pacing, unintelligible mumbling, and chewing on stuff. I can control some of it so as to not draw attention in public, but the urges are always there. I still bite my nails and occasionally grumble/mumble. Gum helps with the chewing.

I forgot to mention that I also do a lot of pacing around and sometimes sway from side to side when I'm anxious.

Spinning my phone is another one.

I tend to rock back and forth, bite my lip, pace, crack my knuckles, and play with my hair. However, I would try to control these stims in a public place, especially when I am at work, so I don't attract attention.

My stims are very stereotypical; especially with my arm-flapping and head nodding. Most of the time, I have control over this by venting these feelings through foot tapping or by moving my fingers around to keep myself at bay. The only time I stim is when I'm thinking rapidly, which can sometimes lead me to embarrassment when I hear someone commenting on my actions. It's only made worse by the fact that this happens without warning.

I think I was embarrassed out of any visible stims in early childhood, but really don't remember. Today I sometimes strum my fingers or wiggle a foot, but mainly if I'm agitated I swish saliva around inside my mouth, usually in tune to whatever song is going through my head. This is invisible, and I thought it was also inaudible to others until my kid asked about "that spitty sound."

Echoing words and phrases, hand flapping, rocking, toe scrunching. I probably have more, but I don't remember. It's kind of hard for me to know when I am stimming because sometimes I don't know when I am doing so.

I shake my leg a lot, which often annoys the people around me, but a lot of the time I do it without thinking about it. I also crack my knuckles, clap my hands sometimes when I get exited (though I don't think I do this often) and pick at my skin. In school I tilted my chair a lot, and tapped my nails against the table.