Hand flapping.

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i just do foot tapping
& finger tapping.

i happens when i'm bored.

Forgive me for being ignorant, but is the hand "flapping" exactly what it sounds like? Like when you wash your hands, but there's no paper towels or like air drier to dry them off, I sort of flap them back and forth to air dry them. Is that what is meant by it? If so, I don't really do it that often (that I notice, at least). I'm definitely very figgity in my seat and move around a lot, always tapping my feet and always feeling uncomfortable in the seat. Sometimes I'll be sitting one way for a minute, then have to move and change positions to feel comfortable (one leg on the other sometimes, sometimes one foot underneath me... sometimes I have my legs straight out, other times they'll be leaning underneath my chair... etc. etc.). I also definitely do a lot of pacing around back and forth when I'm standing. I also have a tendency to always pick at my face and re-adjust my glasses.

I don't think i do the classic flapping motion with my hands up in the air... But when i'm stressed i sometimes move my hands down at my sides in different ways, sometimes a bit flappy. A newer one i've been doing when i'm nervous at work a lot is moving my fingers rapidly back and forth. I think the most noticeable and autistic-looking stim of mine is the rocking, which i've been doing for a long time, but has gotten more pronounced over the years. Most of my stims depend on the position i'm in, though... And some i'll do anytime, whether nervous or relaxed, and others i do more when nervous or frustrated. I usually rock when i'm sitting somewhere and not leaning on the back of the chair(like if i'm doing something at a table, on the computer, or whatever) and i'll do it no matter how i'm feeling. Right now i'm on my laptop and i'm leaning back in my chair, which is a recliner, and i have the foot rest part up... so i'm moving my left foot up and down(sort of foot-flapping, lol).. And i'm not nervous, i'm totally relaxed. Other things, like the hand movements i mentioned, i do more at work when i'm stressed. When i'm standing it's hard to rock, unless i'm leaning on something(and i do sometimes rock when i lean back on the table when i take a phone call or something), but i sometimes sway from side to side, shifting my weight from foot to foot. While walking i sometimes tap my fingers at my side.. And, i don't know if this would be considered a stim or what it is exactly, but at work i have a habit of tapping the shelves as i walk by(it kind of distracts me from all the people and stuff going on).

@JCPatriots, when my son was younger -- up until he was about 2-1/2, he flapped. It was an up-and-down flapping of his hands like he was trying to fly away. Now his flapping is usually more of a repeated thigh-slapping. I guess it gives him more sensory input that way. When he's super excited he still does just the hand-flapping, with jumping up and down added in.

Again, I think it's adorable. He clearly finds it enjoyable. But I am worried about how this will play out in school when he's older. I've read a LOT of posts on WrongPlanet from adults and teens with Autism Spectrum Disorders who suffered really heinous bullying in school. Hopefully schools are more on top of this nowadays, but still, it worries me.

Sometimes I do (at home) if I'm about to eat with my hands, because I always think there might be a hair on my hand, and having hairs on my food or accidentally put in my mouth while chewing food literally makes me wretch with disgust.
But that hand flapping is not a stim, that's different.

Otherwise, no I don't flap my hands and I never did do, even as a child.

I handflap. In more than one way at that -- side to side and up and down. And with my hands in several possible positions. But my most common stim (especially these days) is any of a number of other complex hand or finger movements. It interests me that I seem to still do a lot of hand related stims whereas many of my other stims are becoming less frequent due to movement issues and extreme muscle fatigue. Maybe because they are easier. Maybe because I still use my hands a lot to type with so I get more practice moving that body part than most others, so it's less affected by the movement issues. Who knows. I just know that hand stims are now my most frequent by far.

I don't hand flap (at least I don't think so), but I do rock.

I'm not really sure what hand flapping is but I do some weird repetitive movements when I pace in a circle listening to music sometimes. It does seem like hand flapping. But I rock a little sometimes as well, and I flick my fingers most of all. A lot of it is subtle or I can control it but i never realized i had so many stereotypical autistic symptoms. It kind of sucks to be honest. After you realize what they are and you ask yourself "am I ret*d?" but nothing changed.

Not hand-flapping, but I'm finger-drumming almost constantly. Sometimes just a rapid sequential movement, other times playing a phantom keyboard to a tune in my head.
Or tapping the tips of my fingers in sequence against the tip of my thumb on each hand as fast as possible.
I move my arms about and gesticulate like a demented windmill if I'm really getting into talking about something.

To the person who asked about what it is.

One kind of flapping:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTpV4giH5Cw[/YouTube]

Another kind of flapping (with a tiny bit of the first kind thrown in somewhere):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfHxoUDBQ4w[/YouTube]

It can vary in a lot of other ways too.

those people have autism in those videos? That must be severe, I do a lot of weird movements but it's really hard to describe. I do this a lot: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE0ZiyhzFQ4[/youtube]