Stimming and sensory overload: brain stimulation

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So what I understand is that people with autism spectrum disorder stim to stimulate their brain, while sensory issues occur because the brain is overstimulated. It seems contradicting. I'm confused as to how people with autism spectrum disorders do both (not all do)? Or am I wrong?

that is only one theory of stimming....other theories say that we do it to reduce the amount of stimulation (block out sensory input) and other theories say that we just do it for the sensory reinforcement it allows us.

If it is a response to not enough stimulation...........maybe in some situations we are overwhelmed and in other situations underwhelmed by our environments? We have messed-up senses that are sometimes under-active and sometimes overactive?

I tend to think of it like that joke about the ultimate headache-remover: drop a hammer on your toe and see if your head is still bothering you.

Stimming doesn't seem so much about stimulation, but focused stimulation. By concentrating on the kinaesthetic sensation of moving one's hands, or the tactile sensation of twirling a string, etc, one can de-emphasize other sources of stimulation.

NT's do this too. Ever notice a person impatiently waiting, drumming their fingers or tapping their feet? Rubbing their forehead when they have a headache, or clipping their toenails when ostensibly writing a paper? In each case, it's an activity which one can focus upon in order to distract from an uncomfortably persistent sensation.

People with AS, I think, have a wider definition of "uncomfortably persistent sensation."

In other words, it's not called "stimming" when an NT keeps feeling for his wallet in the subway station, or bites her fingernails a lot on the day of a big test. It is called "stimming" when this behaviour occurs due to stimuli the majority of the population does not react this way to.

Biting one's fingernails while waiting for test results, not stimming.

Biting one's fingernails while trying to work up the courage to go to the grocery store, stimming.

Etc.