Autistic behavior I am trying to control

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BrandonSP
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06 Jul 2010, 11:10 pm

Occasionally, when I am going on a walk and am absorbed in my thoughts, I burst into a short sprint. It's particularly likely to happen when I have a really exciting thought. I think these bursts of speed are a symptom of my AS as I never see NTs do it.

However, I know another guy with autism (or some similar disorder) who randomly bursts into runs like this (except he usually hums when he runs), and honestly, I find it irritating when he does that. It embarrasses me to admit that I do almost the same thing he does. I don't want to look like this guy, so I want to control my running. Does anyone here know of a way I can control autistic behaviors like this?



Sparrowrose
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06 Jul 2010, 11:16 pm

I know (online) plenty of NTs who break into a run out of exuberance or just out of a desire to stay fit and active.

It's my opinion that it's generally inadvisable to try to suppress one's stims unless absolutely necessary (for example, if you have a loud stim and want to use the library, you need to suppress the stim while you're in the library.) Suppressing stims can lead to long-term stress which can lead to mid-life autistic burn-out and some people are unable to recover from that.


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