rebeccadanielprophet wrote:
What is hand flapping? I might be doing it not knowing to laabel it as that, I don't know. I do play with my hands sometimes but I dont know if I flap them, if I did I wouldn't use the word "flap"...I would just call it playing with my hands, which I do when I'm talking more than when I'm not.
Other people might have a different definition, but I would say hand flapping is when you bend your elbows completely so that your hands are not too far in front of you, and then shake your hands up and down. I think it's probably the second most well-known stim, after rocking. It's probably more associated with Classic Autism than Asperger's.
As I mentioned in my OP, I didn't think I did it at all until I noticed myself doing it yesterday when wearing a loose, long sleeved sweatshirt and I noticed I'd pulled my hands inside my shirt and was flapping not just my hands, but the sleeves of my shirt as well. I still don't think I do this at all when wearing a short sleeved shirt, which is most of the time.
As for playing with my hands, I absolutely do that A LOT and would say it's definitely a stim for me, but it's not hand flapping.
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Level 1 Autism Spectrum Disorder / Asperger's Syndrome.