You Think You're Stimming?

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If I'm really tense or wound up I know I get animated in a way that makes someone who knows me ask if I'm okay. Or if they really know me, they don't ask, they'll just come over, pat me in the back a few times, and then sit down to talk with me. But I always looked at it more as them reading my body language. But maybe I'm being really erratic. I'd have to watch some time lapse footage of myself to know what I was doing. I pretty much lack self awareness along those lines.

From my point of view, it's quite logical.

Many people here suffer of group rejection. They never managed to get integrated in a group. 'Asperger' is a group, and if they show symptoms enough then they can't be rejected no matter what, because they are. Basically the fear of being 'expelled' from the 'asperger' (or 'autism') group (even if 'asperger' is not really a social group, but probably it gives some sense of belonging) can lead to look for reassurance when it comes to the standard symptoms. It could lead to reinforce and even exagerate austism symptoms in order to reinforce the sense of belonging.

I have even detected in myself a tendency to think in terms of 'aspergers vs NTs' that, in my opinion, is slightly dangerous and could lead to illogical conclusions due to emotional needs, so I try to be aware of it.

This was worded better than i ever could, this is what i mean in my point yet i fail to convey it well. Thank you for posting it

No need to apologize, Greb worded it better than i ever could. Sometimes it seems i can only get it out bluntly yet i don't mean to be offense or sound so. Greb's wording is what i meant =)

okay. well ill try to answer then.

when i was young, i used to run my head along the carpet. i would get rug burns from doing this. i used to bang my head on walls and doors repeatedly, i used to tap my hands together. you know, i never found my parents particularly soothing, nor was i given much support by way of socialization to use self-soothing techniques. ive struggled in my adulthood with substance abuse until recently when ive begun to employ some of these old techniques (after learning they were part of the diagnosis ive recently received). some have been unavoidable (rubbing my hands together or rubbing the back of my neck and/or my head seem impossible to do without or so helpful in stressful conversations that to not use them would mean inability, so it isnt even a thought), but others that are voluntary such as rubbing my head vigorously, rubbing both shoulders, holding my thumbs between my middle and ring finger, swaying my knees toward each other, have actually helped me to reduce my stress.

'how is it important if it is not extreme?' im not sure if that is logical. i was thinking that there was really something wrong with my legs and gave it some good freak-out time until i learned about pain issues related to autism. id been burning them in the bathtub under the faucet. understanding that, i use cooler water now. i didnt need to third-degree burn them to consider it 'important.'

I wasn't offended, and I am often blunt as well. I also appreciate your insights, whether I agree or not.

I think Greb's point is accurate.

This. It was significant enough for my shrink to notice (I was very anxious when I saw her, though).

Okay. That was a good explanation. I think I get it better. When it came to being with autistics in a group throughout school, we all knew we behavior and developmental disabilities, so no one was looking for validation along those lines.

And also I from what I knew about it, was under the impression that stimming was merely something to look for in young kids as one of many telltale giveaways of them being autistic.

So you're saying with adult aspies having sims is a self validation and peer acceptance issue?

I wouldn't be surprised if I had them but was unaware of what they were.
I'll ask my pastor if he notices me doing repetitive movements. He's a keen observer and would've picked up on it.

The only things he brought up is that I appear a lot more relaxed than I did in the beginning, and that my face is fairly non expressive. Mainly I think that's an "issue" because people can't tell if I'm serious or joking or annoyed or what.

Of course not. Having self validation issues could lead (in my opinion) to reinforcing symptoms (as stimming) but the opposite is not necessarily true. It's an unidirectional condition, not a bidirectional one. Stimming doesn't mean that you have self validation issues. It can mean simply that you have stimming.



Honestly, what would be the point in it? You already know that you have autism, so what would the point in keeping checking symptoms?

If you are not aware of it, it means that it doesn't interfere with your normal life. So why should you worry about it? There's enough things to worry about...



Yeap. Same with me. I dealt with it adopting a kind of humour called deadpan humour, so the unexpressivity becomes part of the character.

No, it's a symptom of autism. It doesn't go away just because you grow to a certain age.

When I was a kid stimming which was mostly the twisting a dangling object in front of my eyes because that was what I was doing constantly was called patchkeing by my family (it's a Yiddish word) and it was a source of great embarrassment and shame to my family. My mum lost her patience and yelled at me once that if I kept doing that someone would put me in a little room in a hospital because of it. The way it was talked about when I was young and as a teenager, explaining what I did when I was young-I thought of it as something really embarrassing, like if I had constantly picked my nose and eaten it or scratched my ass as a child. When I was old enough that I actually wanted to change to not be the school pariah and try to make friends/seem more normal I started doing this in private and it was a embarrassing thing I did in private that no one could know about. I have to admit that seeing people talk about doing these things and in some cases even proudly admit to doing/having done these things on a website was exciting for me and very bizarre.

I know in certain cultures, some things are taboo.. My mom runs support groups for families of people who are mentally ill. Even in these
days and age some families attend in secret as they don't want others or spouses finding out they are attending a support group for their mentally ill children.

Seeing things talked about more can help make things more open and less stigmatized. If we don't speak up no one would know.
Now a lot of people speak up about different Spectrum issues and mental illnesses.

I've caught myself rocking back and forth several times. I think it's more to calm myself down than anything else.