Hitting yourself?

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It is my AS definitely. I do get Tourettic head hitting/punching/slapping, but it feels different. With the TS its quite sudden and doesn't give me any sensory pleasure. With the deliberate head hitting, I feel calmer for doing it.

Thanks Jellybean. The reason I asked is because I have been wondering if my son has TS too. However, the more time goes by, I feel pretty sure that all of the things that I thought might be tics are stims. He was doing a lot of repetitive talking and noise making. Now that seems to be getting a bit more under control, but he is now doing a lot more repetitive movements. None of this really seems to be out of his control though. He can control his stims in certain situations, but he is still so young, he has a hard time especially when excited.

Bit late to the party but figured I'd throw it out there in case it might help...

I did quite a bit of this growing up, during meltdowns, shutdowns, and when perfectly happy.

This was for me related I think in a lot of ways to me being hypo-sensitive, and I found myself "self harming" more often than not, in order to feel something, or out of curiousity, as some others said it gives an interesting sensation visually, and tactilely and can most definitely make you feel more calm.

Just something to maybe consider as well, hypersensitivies tend to be more common, but hyposensitivities are known as well to exist within the Autistic Spectrum.

I don't know what to make of that... I would assume it's related to the flapping (very common), or it could also be an emotional response to a thought of something embarrassing he thinks he has done in the past, and he's recalling it silently. I do that sometimes, and my reflex is to grimace or even reach for my face as if to hit, but I have learned to keep that well under control as an adult. I never actually hit myself in the head (at least not on purpose; only when I'm trying to start a lawnmower and the rope breaks, LOL).

I can say that many of the little quirks I had as a toddler and young boy, were outgrown by the time I was in my teens. Your son has the best chance to work through those things, with people in his life who care enough about him, and autism, to join & ask about it on this forum!

Charles

Thanks so much Charles. I just want to be able to try and help him the best I can. I am so grateful to have WP to come to to talk about these things with people who understand. My son is doing so well in many areas and still struggling in others. I am hopeful for him, and just try my best to understand.

I sometimes hit and slap myself but it does not injure me.

When I was younger, I used to punch myself in the head whenever I was extremely upset with myself (usually when my mom and I got in a fight), but I stopped doing it by the time I was 8 or 9.

I hit myself on my head all the time. I don't know why I do it. I also bang myself on the walls as well as hard as I can. In fact when I bang my head against the walls, I get a bump on my head and it all bruised up. I end up with a headache. I won't go into the reasons for the head banging. Its not the autism for that. I know that is an autistic symptom though.

The best way I can explan why I tap my head things, are hit it, is that it sort of helps me feel where my head is.