Spinning

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I am aware that this is likely a ridiculous question.

Does spinning in a spinny chair (very technical!) have something to do with autism? I don't mean, the occasional time any kid would just sit and spin for a bit. I mean continuous spinning over and over again for long periods of time. Even when we went to McDonald's as a kid (which was the cheapest when I was a kid, so we went there a lot), I would be upset if we sat at a table that didn't have a spinny chair, and I would spend the entire time spinning in it. I still do this. But maybe this is an "everyone" kind of thing?

I loved playing in spinny chairs as a child. When no one's looking I still do. Not sure if it's an Aspie thing, but I love the way it feels to spin around.

Experts call it whirling, and it is a common symptom of autism. My boys will spin any way they can: they'll stand and whirl, they'll spin in chairs, they'll even walk in circles. We have an old desk chair with the back off of it that they can lie and spin on.

They don't seem to get dizzy like normal children either: It takes a lot to make them fall down!

That is actually how i stim, ill go into my kitchen where there is a lot of open space, and ill start spinning as fast as i csn with my eyes open for as long as i can, it gets rid of stress for me.

My daughter (11) loves to do that. I do not understand how she does not get dizzy.

I do that, my sisters do that. I dunno what it is. It's just fun.

My son spins, he founds it entertaining. He did it more when he was younger... I think is related to autism. I'd like to know why do you enjoy spinning...

I think I read somewhere (might have been in one of Donna Williams' books) that there's something that people's eyes are supposed to do--some sort of little twitching movement that links visual and vestibular processing..... that in people with autism said eye-movement doesn't happen enough, and spinning seems to induces it.

Spinning in spinny chairs was one of my favorite things to do as a kid. I have no idea whether its associated with autism for me or not.

My favorite chairs were the rolly chairs that were also spinny chairs. The house was a really old one, so the floors weren't quite level, and I'd let the chair roll around while I was also spinning it.

My NT sister also did this, but she did it less than I did.

I think it is related to autism. I used to spin A LOT as a kid. I still swing on spinny chairs (I recently bought one and I rarely sit still on it! When I was young I loved the swirling sensation spinning gave me and I used to press my fingers against my eyeballs (gross I know!) to feel my eyes 'tracking' from side to side! I would eventually end up falling over (usually over one of my own feet!) and laughing hysterically. Mum said I was always entertaining myself in such ways and with one kid who had ADHD she wasn't in a hurry to stop me!

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

@Jellybean: Love your avatar. "Tank girl" was a great movie. Loved the mix of comics with live sequences, the colors, Lory Petty... I still smile when I remember it, specially the dancing sequence: "Let's do it, let's fall in love!! !"

Take an object in your hand, and move it in a diagonal path in front of your face tracking it...notice how the eye movement is very fluid?

Now do the same thing, but this time look through empty air...the best way to do this is to put up your hands 1 metre apart and just look from one hand to the other slowly through nothing without tracking anything, your eye movement will be very jerky while it tries to focus on anything.

This is why most people when spinning get dizzy, their eyes are constantly telling their brain to focus on something but it is getting signals from the ear which would suggest that it cannot.

People with autism traits do not have this issue.

Thats what I think anyway in my capacity as a non doctor.