How does stimming impact you?

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I'm curious about why other people would stim, and how it impacts them. So, in keeping this short, how do you stim, and what does it do for you?

i space LOT,drum with my feet,( how ever i rock very rarely and never in puplic)

Honestly don't know. I suppose the most prominent thing I do is shake one or both of my legs or wiggle my feet, but it's not too noticeable. Before I understood what "stimming" was, I just presumed everyone did stuff like this. My stims were never that exaggerated. This happens most if I'm not really engaged in something that holds my attention.

I have a few stims that are my favorite and then a few others that are more uncontrolable when i am stressed out..by uncontrolable i mean i havent mastered the skill to stop them when i am stressed out...

my fav's: Shaking my leg,finger play (moving my fingers in a certain pattern), and rocking or bouncing on a yoga ball..

when im stressed I rock back and forth standing up as well put my hands on my ears or over my head...

My Aspie son is only nine, he started out with flapping when he was excited, now he rubs his hands together repeatedly like he is warming them up. My daughter, 19, (also Aspie) "fiddles" she has to be touching something and wiggling it, anything that is nearby. If she has something that can be torn like a paper or a paper cup or a leaf she MUST shred it into tiny pieces. I always know when she has been sitting somewhere!

I'm not Aspie but severely ADHD. I have to wiggle my leg, or be eating or drinking something at all times. I have a terrible diet coke habit. It's a blessing that I don't smoke. Freud would have called this an "oral fixation"!

when I'm stressed out I have to stim or I feel like I'll explode.

I'm not attached to any particular repetitive activity. whatever I can find that doesn't draw negative attention is what I'll use.

on one of my jobs I shredded wooden stir sticks into little pieces when talking on the phone, and put them in a bug box a co-worker had given me. if anyone ever asked me what I was doing, I'd tell them I was making bedding for my pet lizards, which were plastic and given me by the same co-worker, and which lived in the bug box.

these days it's repetitive face touching, playing with my hair, rocking, pacing, and fidgeting. if I ever manage to restart my career I'll have to find some other stims that'll work in whatever environment I find myself.

Hmmm... it's hard to say. I do a lot of odd little things.

Sometimes I "write" the last word I hear in the air with my finger over and over and over again. It helps me feel like I'm keeping up with the conversation to some extent... a little more secure when listening to things I'm not so much interested in, because I'm listening for that last word every time.

Sometimes I "write" numbers over and over in the air just so I don't forget them.

When excited about something, I tend to rock back and forth a lot. Like, if I'm watching a movie or something. It has replaced my less acceptable stim/excitement showing for the most part, but is still equally distracting to others it seems. I used to squeal a lot, clap my hands, and jump up and down. You'd think rocking would be better, but instead of knowing it's because I'm really enjoying something, people constantly ask me what is wrong when it starts up :S

I rock back and forth when stressed out... it is calming, soothing to some extent. Reminds me of rocking my kiddos to sleep, or being rocked to sleep, except, I'm not doing it to go to sleep, but to calm my mind essentially.

I pace a lot when talking on the phone... constantly actually-it helps me think, keeps me "active" in some way and it's easier for me to pay attention to what someone is saying. If I sit still I blank out and cannot listen.

I "type" in the air with my fingers when thinking, as well as rub my hands together, twist my fingers around, etc. I'm not sure why I do that in all honesty... that just sort of happens. Maybe another way of keeping myself "active" so that I can keep up with things, or it helps me think about stuff rather than spacing out at times? Especially when talking to someone important about something that I really NEED to talk about. Then it gets really really constant, so I'm assuming it keeps me involved in some weird way so that I can think things through and have a better shot at remembering to ask questions or whatnot instead of clamming up completely.

Then there are things I do... just to do them. I really have no clue why. Tapping my desk, chewing my lip, pulling my earlobes, wiggling my toes around, tapping my foot... it just seems in some way, shape or form, I am constantly moving. Sometimes it serves a purpose when uncomfortable, upset, stressed, or excited, and sometimes it just happens for no apparent reason.

There are also times when if I try to control it... it's not really "painful" in the sense of "ouch", but it's something I just NEED to do.

Regardless the reason though, everyone always thinks there is something wrong with me, lol, and feels a need to ask. So I guess it impacts me positively in some way directly/personally, but negatively concerning how others see me and respond.

Hmmm.

At work:
* Wiggle my legs sideways. Bouncing them up and down distracts others.
* Clicking pens.
* Playing with the big black paper clip things. (usually pinching my fingers)
* Fiddling with any desk item in reach.
* Rubbing hands and doing things with my fingers when I’m in meetings away from my desk.
* Touching the walls on my right side when I walk down hallways.

At home:
* Listening to the same songs over and over. (with extra active leg stims)
* General pacing and walking a path on a cool rug I have with rectangles of different colors.
* Pacing back and forth in front of my condo when I’m smoking outside.

I’m sure there are a few others and some may be considered normal. But that’s the kinda stuff I do.

I stim in various ways, most noticeably by pacing. It just helps my mind process information and I can better some up with the words to say what I want to say.

My biggest stim would probably be twitching/kicking my legs underneath my desk. At both my jobs I raise my chairs as high as they can go so my feet dangle (yay for being 5'2) and I just kick off my shoes and let my feet do whatever they want.

If I'm feeling stressed I usually twirl my hair around my finger and then tug on it. I don't yank it out but I just pull with enough force to feel it and just hold it until I need my other hand.

I mostly twirl my hair, but I have other body/ movements/postures that may go along with stimming. I usually do it when I'm stressed.

I actually had to look the word up.

I do not stim. Without a reason to move, I usually won't.
Actually, I've observed this phenomenon within NT teens. Incessant tapping on the desk, waving a pencil around, etc.. I don't understand how one could do that continuously while also doing work that one finds difficult.
Actually, these incessant repetitive movements tormented me to no end in Middle and High School. The other students knew how to torment me, and it didn't require any force. Typically, half of the class would be doing this. And they knew. Everyone knew. The teachers claimed that they had no power(read: willingness)...

Though actually, I see a post about pacing on here. I do pace, but I don't have to... I always just thought, "May as well.".

My stims are usually rocking my arm up and down or lightly punching my knee. People don't seem to care about it much. At school it's usually pressing my eyes...

What I do mostly is tap or drum with my fingers, jiggle my legs, or wiggle my feet(I'm doing this as I type).
When I'm stand I tend to pace back and forth a lot. When I have something in my hand I play with it constantly.

I pace-- a lot. It's the worst when I'm on the phone, though. I pace even faster when I'm talking.

I also tap my knees together when I sit, and I wiggle my feet when I'm in bed.

There was one time I was seated behind a lady at a theatre. It was a play, and I was not only seated behind her, but a few feet above, as well.

I was tapping my knees together, not thinking about it. Then, this lady turns around in her seat, grabs my knees and says, "Please stop," politely.

I stopped, but for the duration of the play, I was concentrating on staying still. It sucked.