A question re stimming?

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Is it something you consciously do ie you can stop it as and when you want?

To an extent. I stim (rocking back and forth) while listening to music on my earphones and usually notice it, but others have noticed certain stims that I don't do consciously; for example, someone once pointed out very noticeable hand movements I make when in conversation.

Stimming works by using something you control (motor neurons) to affect something you want to control (sensory inputs which feed into your senses and state of mind).

The reason this is desirable is that those neural networks can otherwise get caught up in activities you don't like. This difference, in turn, stems from the neurological differences underpinning autism itself.

To address the question... The underlying need might be met by either conscious or subconscious stimming (motor commands). I.e. you might get an intrusive thought and seek to regain control by doing a stim. Or, you might notice a high pitched noise has been annoying you for a while, then notice your hand (or whatever) has been doing some stim for a while, without you having thought about it consciously.

It follows, one often can change or suppress a stim consciously, however this has state-of-mind implications and the control itself is effortful and thus can contribute to depletion of the day's available cognitive energy. (Now I'm talking about masking / autistic burnout / spoon theory)

Experience of folks with severe traits may differ from what I've accounted here.

I'd say it's sort of semi-conscious. I'm not usually aware when I start doing it, but if I notice it, I'm very much aware of it and can make myself stop doing it, although I'll probably start doing it again when I'm not paying attention.

Maybe kind of like breathing, to a somewhat lesser degree?