Repeated body movements?
Right, im kinda sitting here wondering.
Often, especially if i feel bad, is bored, tired, etc. etc., i start tapping my foot, tap my fangers to the table or things like that.
I do it without even being aware of it.
Is this another "trait" of aspergers? People seem to think its weird, because its not that its not obvious that i do it all the time. My left shoe is totally gray on the tip of it, because i tap it against the floor all the time.
But i just cant help it. I am not aware of the fact i do it before i start doing it, yet it calms me down so nicely.
Often, especially if i feel bad, is bored, tired, etc. etc., i start tapping my foot, tap my fangers to the table or things like that.
I do it without even being aware of it.
Is this another "trait" of aspergers? People seem to think its weird, because its not that its not obvious that i do it all the time. My left shoe is totally gray on the tip of it, because i tap it against the floor all the time.
But i just cant help it. I am not aware of the fact i do it before i start doing it, yet it calms me down so nicely.
From what I've understood, that could be called stimming. Even NTs sometimes have these repetitive movements, but it's far more common in autistics (including aspies).
I myself have noticed (fairly recently, but I think they've been present for so long that they were always so natural that I wouldn't pay attention to them until I had something to compare them to) that I do similar things to what you've described. Things like swinging my legs in a specific rhythm (including movements of the foot), fiddling with pens and such are the ways I channel them in public. In private it's usually slight rocking combined with fiddling with a specific set of hair clips in a repetitive way.
It's calming, definitely. Part of it for me at least is that I have to restrain myself *not* to do it, so it's relaxing to just "let go" sometimes. Channeling the urges into slightly more socially acceptable forms that still feel good to me is how I prefer to manage it in public if I have to sit relatively still through a lecture.
Since I noticed these tendencies I've paid attention to whether other people (NTs) in my group do any of these. There's an occasional swinging leg, and sometimes someone may fiddle with their pens, but I'm the only one who's nearly constantly moving in some way.
From the diagnostic criteria. I do the same thing, and I fiddle with things a lot. I've worn out the clasps on many things (watches and so forth) from constantly opening and closing them.
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Music Theory 101: Cadences.
Authentic cadence: V-I
Plagal cadence: IV-I
Deceptive cadence: V- ANYTHING BUT I ! !! !
Beethoven cadence: V-I-V-I-V-V-V-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I
-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I! I! I! I I I
It's calming, definitely. Part of it for me at least is that I have to restrain myself *not* to do it, so it's relaxing to just "let go" sometimes. Channeling the urges into slightly more socially acceptable forms that still feel good to me is how I prefer to manage it in public if I have to sit relatively still through a lecture.
Long before I was diagnosed, people at work would jokingly ask me from time to time if I were autistic, because my constant swaying from side to side, hands in pockets, made them seasick. It was amusing to observe how many of them would pick it up and start swaying themselves to keep up, but while I can stop for a few seconds if I have to, it always resumes unconciously in a minute or so. Fortunately, a lot of radio stations have stand-up control boards, so I was shut up all day swaying repetitively in a small room alone, just me and the music. And I got paid for that. Good times.
Sitting, I prefer a back and forth rocking (I've worn out several rocker/recliners), though if I have to sit back, the knee starts to bounce (the folks who shared a pew with me in church as a kid really loved that one). The finger drumming starts when I'm waiting at a counter, or feeling impatience anxieties and the pattern is always loosley based around a drum rythm learned as a child.
Bottom line, it's just easier to do it than to not do it. Being asked to stop actually increases my anxiety tremendously. It's one of those things that have labeled me as weird for years, yet it's so natural to me, that I don't even realize I'm doing it.
And it goes great with music. I suppose it's the Aspie equivalent of dancing...yeah, definitely. Definitely like dancing. I'm an excellent driver...
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