what does stimming do for you?

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i am an NT mom of an AS boy, and was wondering the purpose of stimming?
is it a relaxation thing?
a compulsion?
involuntary?
or someting else.
and what kinds of things do you do?
i was reading on a post that some one makes random noises, and i know 've gotten a bit upset with my boy for just making noise for the sake of making noise, i guess it would be different if it was his way of stimming.
thanks in advance for helping to educate me.

It stimulates me.

You've basically answered your own question. Stimming is all those things you listed. I don't stim, so I'm not an expert. But you'll find someone here that does soon enough.

it relaxes me, helps me to calm down. cheaper than drugs....

It depends on the stim really. Some are on purpose like make noises (I did this a lot as a kid) and some are invountary like tapping my foot. If I were to forcefully stop an involuntary stim (or even a volunatry one) something else would take it's place (ex.flicking my fingers instead of tapping, etc.) or I would become agitated.

Mostly they are neccessary to calm down or to keep from getting upset. I stim when annoyed, in pain, etc. I also do it when happy/excited.

It's different for each person I'm sure. For your son, perhaps the noises are a way to regulate sound, a calming noise that he enjoys?

It helps me relax and let out inner energetic being at times I cannot. I would consider it semi-voluntary; that is, it's an instinctual act for me but I can stop it if I so desire.

It is a release.

If something is building up, for instance a tramatic memory; I may give a short burst of volcalization. It makes that buildup cease-disapear-balance. It NORMALIZES me. ie: release.

I get the same effect playing music or singing or excersise.

Just a release. We think more thoughts. It is not bad. It just is. To get away from them or sometimes to ponder them.

I rock. hum. growl. meow. form sylablic arrangements. jump. skip. imagine Im a soaring bird. curl up in a ball. stand on my head. mostly I just stare off into space head cocked to one side. I cant say whether or not these are all stimming. I am just being me and those things make my world feel good. I've learned to be careful who sees me; as for staring; I can't help that. I think things through longer. I might be pondering an old memory unresolved; things like that.

oh, and I beat on things. make noises (beats) with my mouth. too tooo too tet tet tet.
touch/sense things with the back of my hands for temperature, texture, *feel*.
I wouldn't touch the cracks in the sidewalk when younger. Wanted to see how big my steps could get.
Never bored.
I also stared into lightbulbs while resting in braced position at the top of door jambs.
It was interesting to me. Everything. Was interesting to me.

In case you haven't read my answer before (on my blog)...

What is Stimming and What does it feel like (Life with Aspergers)

i still find myself utterly lost: what does that mean?

Release of tension. Partially involuntary, but if I notice it, I can stop it. And then trying to sit still is maddening because it feels like there are bees or ants or something buzzing/humming/vibrating just under my skin, too deep to scratch.

It dissipates tension and brings me back to normal. I'm a hand flapper/shaker. Occasionally I also rock or vocalize, but only when alone or in safe company. The hand flapping dissipates tension built up from things like social interaction or not being able to find a street address or place on a map, for example. Same for vocalization. It's like a pot is boiling and stimming is lifting the lid...everything calms. Rocking, for me, manages situations with unavoidable stress, like when I was doing my Statistics assignments. I rocked a LOT. The screws in my chair got loose! lol

At night when I am in bed sleeping I rock on my side. I have done this since I was 3 and even had to adapt/change the way I do this cause I can no longer lay on my arm I got to big in the teen years and it would fall asleep.

When I do this it just feels good, its addicting and cannot imagine shairing a bed with someone or even a room, collage is over, NEVER AGAIN!

I just realised that I stim by listening to music. I do tap and drum someitmes too I only realise that I'm doing it when people tell me to shut the f*%# up.

it gets me hot, and exited!

When I rock, it is probably barely noticable. It is probably like .5"(a little more than 1cm), or a fraction of a degree, if I am sitting. It is almost like a calf/knee exercise when I am standing, and maybe like an inch(2.5cm up). Although people have noticed. nobody ever called attention to it. Another is far more obvious. Let's just say they can hear me coming. Only a couple people mentioned it, and it isn't bad, etc...

So I don't think you can say it is unacceptable. The really violent leg bobbing, or finger drumming is FAR worse.

To me it helps relax me and clam me down when I get excited. I usually do most of my stimming when I'm listening to music.