Stimming, What's YOUR goofy habit?

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So, we all have our autistic rocking, biting, tapping, humming, etc. Normally, they give us nothing but trouble when in study groups or just general life, lol. BUT, today we're gonna take a second to share our own habits and laugh at them for change. Okay, it's only fair I start:

1.) I rock my body when I'm really into something like homework or drawing. Looks like I'm grooving to music, lol.

2.) I wring my hands like there is no tomorrow when I have to decide something. I was choosing which haagendaaz flavors I wanted to stock up on at the super market and my room mate told me he saw me from the end of the aisle and couldn't stop laughing at how serious I looked in my decision making wringing my hands fiercely, lol.

3.) I flutter my pointer/middle finger together. I do the same thing with my toes. In class I just twirl a pen to look cool instead of like I'm on speed or cocaine since I tap my legs constantly to stay attentive, lol.

4.) I pace like crazy when I'm on the phone through the WHOLE house. I look like that rabbit from Winnie the Poo who's freaking out about his house being messy, lol.

5.) And, the cherry to this sundae of neurotic behavior: I put my fingers in my mouth when I'm reading or paying attention. I don't mean I bite my nails, I literally take my finger and put it back by my back teeth, lol. You know how like babies or toddlers would? Minus the drool, of course. Can't get "teh" ladies if I drool in public, now can I? =]


These are all funny habits I've learned to laugh about and love about myself. I think they make me cute like a little kid, lol. SO, with that being said, don't be shy! Tell us your quirks that make you cute and funny! =].

P.S. Explain what it does to help you. I've always wondered how it affects other people when they do this. For me, it relaxes me. It helps slow down my thinking so I can sort through things. I don't know how, though. There has to be some sort of science there, lol. =].

I twirl my hair, crack my back and my neck, tap my toes, smell things, and just generally can't sit still.

This: http://www.wonderquest.com/ears-wiggle.htm XD

It's not noticeable with long hair. I can hold the muscle up as long as I want or I can wiggle my ears.

What's neat is my auditory processing speed improves dramatically as well as my emotion transitioning.

"The same nerve that causes you to smile or frown controls these muscles," says Patrick W. Tank, anatomy professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

I think it relaxes you because it distracts you, much in the same way that fat beer drinking truck drivers watch football to distract them from stress, and it relaxes them.

As for rocking your body and talking on the phone, I think most people don't do that because they are trained not to do that. It seems natural that when in deep thought, moving your body helps to stimulate your mind because we are not sedentary creatures. This is why the U.S. has the highest rate of depression, because we are sedentary.

Here's some more:

6.) I leave my mouth open when I'm REALLY focused into something specifically video games. Since I played video games when I was 3 until even today, I will leave my mouth open when I'm playing. I am also part Japanese/Caucasian, so I have "lazy" looking eyes. I want you to imagine that. It's a pretty funny image, lol. My family used to tease me a lot about it when I was growing up.

7.) I sit in my chair like this:

http://topmangaanime.files.wordpress.co ... my_kun.jpg

I am sitting like this as I type this, lol. This is from a manga/anime called Death Note. One of the main characters (the guy in the picture) is said to have been based on someone with Asperger's. If you like anime/manga, you guys should read/watch this. It's really good. =]. Plus, it makes my weird habits look bad ass in 2D form. =].

This: http://www.wonderquest.com/ears-wiggle.htm XD

It's not noticeable with long hair. I can hold the muscle up as long as I want or I can wiggle my ears.

What's neat is my auditory processing speed improves dramatically as well as my emotion transitioning.

"The same nerve that causes you to smile or frown controls these muscles," says Patrick W. Tank, anatomy professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

I tap my toes, and I drum when my hands aren't busy.

I make always different moves and only notice it when it becomes too much, and then I force myself to stop every body motion completely, which is funny every time, even if Im alone. I have recorded myself on camera, to see how I am, and it is as if my whole body moves along with what I am thinking, very interesting to look at, because I know exactly how I felt by every movement. And the funny thing is, that I tried to just stand still and do nothing, just to get a picture of how I am, and I was not standing still two seconds in a row. Sometimes I find myself in a posture that I have never seen before, when I freeze the stimming.

I chew on anything that is within reach. I flip through pads of post-it notes with my thumb or my teeth. I rub anything cool on my face. I rub anything with an interesting texture.

I used to chew my knuckles and pull on my hair, but I stopped that because the first was rather disgusting and the second left my hair tied in knots.

So, this may seem off-topic which is counter-productive on my part (seeing I was the one who started this topic, lol), but anyone catch themselves acting out a facial expression or gesture when they are daydreaming about what they should have done or what they will do if that scenario occurs again? It's really awkward, lol. I often even mouth out what I said or what I will say to reenact my reaction, lol. Especially, if what I said was funny and I'm doing some weird self-praise gesture, lol. =]. Very odd I am, how about you?

I thump my leg up and down while standing. If it woerds people out i tell them i do it to relieve my back pain.
Another one is moving my fingers qnd flinging my wrist which i do with my hands behind my back so people dont see.

I do any number of those. The most prominent is to tap my fingers. But I will do any number of dance moves.

I crack almost all my joints, I tend to move my legs a lot when I'm sitting and thinking intently.. I also get very twitchy if I'm in overload mode

I run my hand through my (long) hair until I get a strand, and then I have to run the entire strand through my fingertips. Then I start the whole process all over again.

I especially like the gray ones because they have a different texture.

It used to drive my husband CRAZY.

I pace back and forth while walking on my tip-toes and hitting my shoulder with my left hand. I do these things while listening to music and daydreaming.

I'm not sure I'm on the spectrum [never been diagnosed, but am gonna have an evaluation/assessment thinger soon], but I'm definitely a chronic fidgeter, if nothing else.
-I clasp my hands and rub my thumbs together lightly because the prints moving against each other feels cool.
-Hmm... I flex and extend my big toes over and over. It feels cool too, and makes a clicky noise I like.

Uh. I dunno, I have a ton and a half of them, but I dunno if any of them would be called funny. Annoying, maybe. I'm sure liking this idea that it's cute!
I do what I guess could be called "weirder" things when I'm nervous or stressed, like rubbing my forehead and clawing at my palms, but no matter how I'm feeling, I NEVER hold still, unless I'm so deep into a thought that I've basically disconnected myself from the rest of the world. That actually freaks out people I know, because they're so used to me always squirming and touching stuff and generally fiddling around.

I wanted to ask, though, is there any difference between fidgeting and stimming? Is it about whether you're aware you're doing it, or perhaps whether you can stand to hold still for a change, or what? Is stimming usually used to refer to the stereotypical rocking / flapping stuff, rather than the more NT-common things like fiddling with a ring and such?

As for how it helps me, I'm not sure that it does. I just can't NOT do it, unless I fiercely concentrate, and even then I can barely keep it up for a whole minute, because it builds up inside and makes me want to SCREEEAM.