do you stim, what is your stim?

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I stim all the time. Rocking and pacing, hand and foot movements, always movements repeated over and over. Its like energy and rhythm that is always on. I also repeat words and phrases and tunes in my head while stimming.

Teeth grinding, rolling lips over moustache bristles - embarssingly smelling top lip which smells like narcotic musk. As a kid I used to pick my nose for hours straight. I would sit in class compulsively doing it. I also hair pulled for the longest time which actually developed into a bald spo. I hum when I eat sometimes too out of sheer pleasure. Then theres playing with my nose cartilage.

So there are quite a few - I do them in order to self stimulate I suppose - thats the best way to evoke the sensation. Before I knew what asperger's was I tried and failed to stop. It was too compulsive to stop. Now I know at least that its neurological and I just need to learn how to make it socially acceptable.

If this qualifies, I have things I keep around to touch and fidget with if bored, need to focus, have excess energy that needs to be expended or what not.

I stim a great deal, varying in intensity depending on the circumstances- for example, intense stim occurs during moments of excitement or anxiety. When I stim (I often use alternate terminology/semantics like "ticking" to describe these actions to the uninitiated), it is characterized by excessive pacing, flapping and my personal favorite: jumping repeatedly. The former are easier to exhibit discretely in public compared to the latter, which I only enact in private or in the company of certain individuals. However, it doesn't satisfy the the urge like jumping does.

Furthermore, this is rendered semi-voluntary as a result of my dyspraxia acting in conjunction with my autism. I know when a session (or "spate") is about to occur, but there is little that could be done to prevent such actions mentioned above from occuring. At times it can feel wonderful and elating, but at others it is an inconvenience.

When I sit down my leg shakes and I do this stimulate my brain. I also like to jump up and down in one spot.

Flipping back and forth rapidly items like screwdrivers, Pens, pencils. I chew on them also. These happen pretty much all the time in private. In public I try and suppress fidgeting but it occasionally happens when I am very uncomfortable.

Pacing back and forth if I am really upset or impatient. But I do not see that as particularly autistic, I see a lot of people do it in those situations.

How come no one else twirls/twirled a string in front of their eyes? I feel so alone. Actually, I see it in lists of autistic stims or stims in general but no-one else here has ever mentioned it in one of these stimming threads and there have been a lot of them. There are tons of rockers , flappers and head bangers! This is my childhood stim but I control it and only do it at home now.

Another weird one I have is rubbing my nose and upper lip from side to side over the fur of a plushy stuffed animal or a blanket (I used to do this with a blanket)that has the right feel.

I pace, grind my teeth, and talk to myself. I'm not sure if talking to myself counts though.

Does looking at pictures/screencaps from favorite movies of your favorite characters and rewinding certain parts of movies and watching them over and over count as a stim? Because I used to do a lot of that as a kid, and still do.