Is this stimming or not?

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I asked my son this same question and he thought it was.

I have a distinct memory from back in 1972. I was in 3rd grade. I was doing some difficult (for me) word problems, but they were suddenly making a lot of sense. I was enjoying working them out and could see what I was supposed to be doing. All of the sudden I heard my teachers voice saying my name very loudly and angrily. Apparently I'd been jiggling my leg and humming under my breath. I did not know I was doing it but it must have been distracting to the other kids. I stopped doing it but the problems all the sudden seemed incomprehensible and I couldn't do them well. My teacher got mad at my poor performance. If she'd let me jiggle and hum I'm sure I would have done excelleng work and quickly.

At night I wiggle my feet when I'm getting comfortable in bed. I didn't know I was doing it, but I got a new cat who found it particularly interesting to bite my toes. Night after night she would follow me to bed, wait for it and pounce. She's moved to a better home for her (she couldn't get along with our other cats), but I have a different cat who's doing the same thing (the neighbors were abusing him so we took him from them, he gets along with the other cats so he can stay).

Eldest son says it could be stimming, but it's different for him. Sometimes it helps him concentrate in class, but he also does it to calm down when he's in a stressful situation.

To the best of my knowledge I'm not in the Spectrum, but sometimes I do wonder. I do have ADHD and other quirkiness.

Meh. *shrug* By definition, it's stimming if you do it 'cause it feels good. If you do it 'cause you have excess energy or do it as a tic, that's different.

Restlessness is common in people with ADHD. And everyone, no matter how NT, wants some control over his or her immediate sensory environment. Call it a stim if you want. Calling it "toe-wiggling" would be more precise, and if someone's really curious as to what deep motivation you have for your toe-wiggling, well, they can ask.

I don't know. It's hard to say.

An Autistic stim is a repetitive motion or behavior engaged in to diffuse stress and anxiety created by hypersensitivity to external stimuli. It 'feels good' because it helps eliminate that stress, which would otherwise lead directly to a meltdown. A stim is usually unconscious, in that while you may be aware you're doing it, you don't initiate it on purpose, it just happens because you're nervous or tense. And a true stim is nearly constant - it may stop if your concentration is focused on a specific task, but as soon as you lose that focus, it will come right back immediately. It may sometimes aid in concentration (like your head bobbing and humming), in that doing it diffuses the distracting hyperstimulation of everything going on around you. Even if you're not on the spectrum, you may have some slight social anxiety that makes it harder for you to think clearly in the middle of a group of people. It is unfortunate that we're often forced to repress behaviors that actually make us more functional, simply because others find them odd.

I don't know if I'd consider the toe thing a stim in the strictest technical sense, but the first one most definitely is.

Thanks guys, that helps, especially your comments Willard.

I think the toe foot thing actually may be a stim because I've apparently been doing it for years and didn't know. It is repetitive and rythmic. I do it when I'm trying to get to sleep and now that I've been made aware of it I notice myself doing it more. It does seem to help me dissipate the anxiety of the day so I can sleep. It may be stimming due to ADHD/Social Anxiety. I had a lot of behavioral treatment as a kid for that stuff, but never any helpful diagnosis. I didn't get diagnosed with the ADHD until my 40s despite repeated testing by supposedly properly trained psychologists and psychiatrists. My parents and teachers knew something was wrong but nobody ever had answers. My ADHD isn't classicly hyper and I'm a girl. In the 70s they often said girls couldn't have ADHD.

I'm only interested in stimming because of my kids. My eldest does a lot of it. The Doctors say to try to get him to stop and I'm trying to work out how to handle it. He's in on the discussion. I think it's terrible that society judges people for stuff like that, but it might be easier for my son to stop or change his stims than to change society. Ultimately it's going to be up to him. He has very poor social perception so does not notice people's reactions to his stims at all. He is very smart so can understand when we talk about it, so I've been trying to talk him through how it's affecting him socially and how it's affecting people around him. In class it's very distracting to other students and if he wants to stay in regular or Honors classes he has to not distract them. If he wants to work for NASAs Mars Project (his goal not mine) he's going to need college and is going to need to stay in regular or Honors classes and get a regular diploma. All I can do is explain the options, it's up to him to decide what to change.

Middle son walks on tiptoes and holds his arms like chicken wings. I think I'm going to run him by the Orthopeodic Surgeon (An Aspie) and see if there are exercizes or anything he needs to do to prevent getting arthritis in his ankles from what he's doing or something like that. He might just need to stretch his tendons or something. He also sucks his thumb but is learning not to do it in front of the other 11 year olds. He also has the straightest teeth of my three kids, so much for that ruining his teeth.

Little guy doesn't stim, just melts down.

Wow, this topic seems almost like deja view.
I was in a conversation today, and i'd considered starting a thread on this topic when i got home... And here it is..

What most people call "shaky leg syndrome" was what i was wondering if it was the same concept as a stim.

I cannot sit at a table with other people without shaking my leg, or else i have to spend a vast amount of my energy and concentration to stop myself from doing it... and stress DOES build up tangibly.
The more social a situation i'm in, the more I do it too. Sitting alone at home, never. at work, empty store, seldom... waiting at counter, while many people in store.. i start doing it a lot.
I'm not sure if it's "calming" per se... rather i think its distracting from the dis-calming effect of being around others.
It stops build up, as opposed to relieves it.

I tend to pick at my ears and yank my nose hairs out too.. but i don't think that would be considered a stim.. just a nervous habit.

Anyways, thanks to those who've commented, and I hope to hear from others.