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What is "visual stimming"?

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BroncosRtheBest
Deinonychus
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30 Dec 2010, 10:49 pm

I saw this term in the Games section and I've wondered how it works since. How can you stim off of something you just see? I always thought they were kinesthetic (with the body, i.e. screaming or flapping one's arms).



Wallourdes
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30 Dec 2010, 10:58 pm

Psychedelic videos are an example, I think.
Or the spinning of the laundry in the washing machine.

Anything visually repeatative.


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30 Dec 2010, 11:16 pm

Isn't that the purpose of eye candy?


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31 Dec 2010, 12:50 am

When I was younger I would hold my fingers or hands in front of my face near a light and take my hand away, and put it back in front of my vision for long periods of time. I consider it visual stimming. I also sometimes love staring at clocks and other things of that nature.

Looking at water is probably another.



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31 Dec 2010, 9:04 am

I was recently wondering about the existance of visual stims, but when I googled around I only found something different like squinting, so I didn't think a stim could be visual. Glad to see this, because I think most of my stims are visual because I'm obsessed with particular shades of blue, and I can stare at them for a long time and it makes me happy. As you can imagine I really liked Tron: Legacy :lol: I also love lava lamps (the first time I got it I stared at it for over an hour), water, fairy lights, blue glow sticks...



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31 Dec 2010, 9:10 am

I find many video games to be visually stimming.

I think the more intensely psychedelic games (like Beat Hazard and Rhythm Zone) can actually be overstimulating for me, though.



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31 Dec 2010, 2:39 pm

Sometimes I'll squint at lights to make abstract shapes. This is even better if my eyes are watering. Christmas lights are good for this. You can create bokeh effects with your eyes. :lol:
(It's actually odd. I can't look at Christmas trees if I'm trying to pay attention to someone talking or anything else that's going on. I have to position myself so that it's not in my sight or else it will completely dominate my attention.)

I also do things like make myself see double, or shifting visual perspective on things by closing one eye at a time, back and forth.

I'm pretty sure those things are visual stimming.

I used to love those books where you had to stare at the pictures to see the hidden images.