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fiddlerpianist
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29 May 2009, 12:42 am

So I've done this "thing" since I was fairly little, and it appears to be so atypical (even for WP) that I'm completely unsure if this constitutes a stimming behavior or not.

I subtlely, simultaneously, and symmetrically move something (ligaments, tendons?) in each shoulder which achieves the effect of temporarily dislocating my shoulder inwards. It doesn't hurt. Then I release whatever it was I dislocated and pop both shoulders back into position, making a very subtle gutteral sound that's synchronized with the popping sound.

Sometimes I time this behavior with something that's happening in real life, such as walking over a sidewalk crack, or doing it right before my body crosses a particular perpendicular plane.

I can't say that I do this to calm myself, necessarily. I certainly can control it, but often it just "feels right" to do it. And I don't do it all the time, just occasionally.

Is this just inexorably weird? :) Anyone else have similarly complex behavior?


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millie
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29 May 2009, 1:30 am

I have read somewhere - in my many ASD travails - and do not ask me where as I cannot remember - that lax joints and lax muscle tone can be a feature of ASD's.

It is a feature in my family. My brother kind of "dislocates" his double jointed shoulders, not with quite the same acumen as you describe (i enjoyed the detailed description,) but he does some funny things with them. Others in my family have abnormally high levels of suppleness and stretching capacity. I do, as if there is no resistance to bending and stretching and hence the need for weighted things and pressure and the need for firmness and pulling and deep pressure. My ASD psych suggested i get one of those racks where you lie down and can hang upside down to stretch the body out. one day when i can afford it, i will buy one.



dustintorch
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29 May 2009, 2:35 am

Wait so being flexible can be an AS trait?? Wow, I'm really flexible. That's one of the reasons I've been succesful at ballet. I'm more flexible than about any boy I know and a lot of girls too. Add that to the list I guess.



outlier
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29 May 2009, 3:30 am

It can be described as stimming if its purpose is to stimulate yourself: self-stimulatory behavior.

millie wrote:
My ASD psych suggested i get one of those racks where you lie down and can hang upside down to stretch the body out. one day when i can afford it, i will buy one.


I'm more supple than average too. If I ever got one of those racks, I might start to suspect I'm actually one of the undead, as my lifestyle already resembles that in some ways.



Last edited by outlier on 29 May 2009, 3:34 am, edited 1 time in total.

Justin6378
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29 May 2009, 3:33 am

I have the same thing with my shoulders, but for me, i like to watch them when i do it!
totaly hypnotised by the shapes they make, i also do a similar thing with my legs, tensing and relaxing the muscles just to see the shapes they make as well! :lol:



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29 May 2009, 3:49 am

my legs just shake when i sit down.. there are other stims but this one is really obvious to others.



LostAlien
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29 May 2009, 6:34 am

Cool information. I didn't know that double jointedness was an AS trait.



embernator
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29 May 2009, 7:36 am

I do that exact same thing, but with the big toes on my feet. It really creeps out my mom if I'm standing on something that amplifies the sound.

I'm also deffinately more flexible then I should be in some ways. My doctor says I've for hyperflexable ligaments, but the rest of me isn't so it causes me some problems. My knees and shoulders are slowing destroying themselves because of it and it makes it really easy for me to get muscle and tendon injuries :(



fiddlerpianist
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29 May 2009, 7:53 am

dustintorch wrote:
Wait so being flexible can be an AS trait?? Wow, I'm really flexible. That's one of the reasons I've been succesful at ballet. I'm more flexible than about any boy I know and a lot of girls too. Add that to the list I guess.

LOL... I am anything but flexible! This is just a joint thing, I think. I do have a decent amount of double joints (like in my fingers, for instance), so maybe I have double-jointed shoulders?


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sbcmetroguy
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29 May 2009, 8:13 am

outlier wrote:
It can be described as stimming if its purpose is to stimulate yourself: self-stimulatory behavior.


This makes me think of something that I was actually going to bring up at some point, wondering if it counted as "stimming". Every evening before bed, I spend about 15-20 minutes flossing my teeth. I have had bad teeth and gums all my life thanks to my life-long obsession with sweets, so I try to make up for it as an adult by flossing and brushing regularly. When I am flossing, however, I feel a slight pain. It's not a bad pain, it actually gives me a head buzz and I like it. I like it so much that I seek it out and will use the "pick" end of my flossers to poke at specific spots on my gums that I know give me that feeling. I get such a rush from it, it feels so good, my eyes actually close. It's honestly like a really good orgasm, except I only feel the pleasure in my head, not in any other part of my body.



fiddlerpianist
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29 May 2009, 8:19 am

sbcmetroguy wrote:
outlier wrote:
It can be described as stimming if its purpose is to stimulate yourself: self-stimulatory behavior.


This makes me think of something that I was actually going to bring up at some point, wondering if it counted as "stimming". Every evening before bed, I spend about 15-20 minutes flossing my teeth. I have had bad teeth and gums all my life thanks to my life-long obsession with sweets, so I try to make up for it as an adult by flossing and brushing regularly. When I am flossing, however, I feel a slight pain. It's not a bad pain, it actually gives me a head buzz and I like it. I like it so much that I seek it out and will use the "pick" end of my flossers to poke at specific spots on my gums that I know give me that feeling. I get such a rush from it, it feels so good, my eyes actually close. It's honestly like a really good orgasm, except I only feel the pleasure in my head, not in any other part of my body.

Sounds a bit like acupuncture of the gums.


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sbcmetroguy
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29 May 2009, 9:12 am

fiddlerpianist wrote:
sbcmetroguy wrote:
outlier wrote:
It can be described as stimming if its purpose is to stimulate yourself: self-stimulatory behavior.


This makes me think of something that I was actually going to bring up at some point, wondering if it counted as "stimming". Every evening before bed, I spend about 15-20 minutes flossing my teeth. I have had bad teeth and gums all my life thanks to my life-long obsession with sweets, so I try to make up for it as an adult by flossing and brushing regularly. When I am flossing, however, I feel a slight pain. It's not a bad pain, it actually gives me a head buzz and I like it. I like it so much that I seek it out and will use the "pick" end of my flossers to poke at specific spots on my gums that I know give me that feeling. I get such a rush from it, it feels so good, my eyes actually close. It's honestly like a really good orgasm, except I only feel the pleasure in my head, not in any other part of my body.

Sounds a bit like acupuncture of the gums.


Pretty much, yes. I think of it along the lines of people who cut their skin to achieve a certain feeling. But rather than cutting, I can just poke these specific spots on my gums and it gives me such a rush. Eating certain foods gives me the same head rush. I can't explain it, it's quite odd ... BUT I love it. :)



KingdomOfRats
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29 May 2009, 9:34 am

fiddlerpianist wrote:
So I've done this "thing" since I was fairly little, and it appears to be so atypical (even for WP) that I'm completely unsure if this constitutes a stimming behavior or not.

I subtlely, simultaneously, and symmetrically move something (ligaments, tendons?) in each shoulder which achieves the effect of temporarily dislocating my shoulder inwards. It doesn't hurt. Then I release whatever it was I dislocated and pop both shoulders back into position, making a very subtle gutteral sound that's synchronized with the popping sound.

Sometimes I time this behavior with something that's happening in real life, such as walking over a sidewalk crack, or doing it right before my body crosses a particular perpendicular plane.

I can't say that I do this to calm myself, necessarily. I certainly can control it, but often it just "feels right" to do it. And I don't do it all the time, just occasionally.

Is this just inexorably weird? :) Anyone else have similarly complex behavior?

the physical side to it sounds similar to hypermobility- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermobility
am know a lot of members on a disability forum who have it,or EDS [a form of it],and some have shown photos of what their joints can do,amazing stuff,some pay for it with mobility problems and severe pain though.


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29 May 2009, 9:42 am

I crack my fingers alot and bend them aorund. But I'm not flexible at all, I'm really stiff lol.


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Last edited by MONKEY on 29 May 2009, 9:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

fiddlerpianist
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29 May 2009, 9:42 am

KingdomOfRats wrote:
fiddlerpianist wrote:
So I've done this "thing" since I was fairly little, and it appears to be so atypical (even for WP) that I'm completely unsure if this constitutes a stimming behavior or not.

I subtlely, simultaneously, and symmetrically move something (ligaments, tendons?) in each shoulder which achieves the effect of temporarily dislocating my shoulder inwards. It doesn't hurt. Then I release whatever it was I dislocated and pop both shoulders back into position, making a very subtle gutteral sound that's synchronized with the popping sound.

Sometimes I time this behavior with something that's happening in real life, such as walking over a sidewalk crack, or doing it right before my body crosses a particular perpendicular plane.

I can't say that I do this to calm myself, necessarily. I certainly can control it, but often it just "feels right" to do it. And I don't do it all the time, just occasionally.

Is this just inexorably weird? :) Anyone else have similarly complex behavior?

the physical side to it sounds similar to hypermobility- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermobility
am know a lot of members on a disability forum who have it,or EDS [a form of it],and some have shown photos of what their joints can do,amazing stuff,some pay for it with mobility problems and severe pain though.

It's nothing that dramatic. You can't even tell when I'm doing it. It may have to do with double-jointedness, I don't know. My fingers are definitely double-jointed, so maybe?


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ViperaAspis
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29 May 2009, 11:12 am

I'm not flexible. Even when I was 18, taking martial arts, and trying to do the splits I could never even get close.

I do have double-jointed fingers, however. I wonder what the incidence of this is in the general population so we have some basis of comparison.


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