so it turns out ive been stimming a lot without knowing it

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Kyton
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11 Dec 2012, 1:55 pm

so i had roughly a 96% sure case of self diagnosed aspergers, until some weeks ago, when i was officially diagnosed. WP has helped me learn a lot about it as i didnt know a whole lot about it before, and ive come to the conclusion that i stim a lot.

i poke my fingertips with the pointed corners of fabrics any time theres a pointy fabric nearby(corners of pillow cases especially)

i similarly play with the tiny balls of fabric that form on well-used clothing, blankets, sofas, ect, it relaxes me in ways you wouldnt think it would

both of the above extend to rubbing them under my nails, or in my mouth against my tongue or in between my teeth, and sometimes i do it for hours, i actually have a rating system for the quality of the puff ball/corner

when frustrated i pace and flap my hands

also when frustrated i have full on conversations with myself, the more frustrated i get the louder and more intense they become

i have never equated any of this to stimming or aspergers or autism or anything of the sort but upon seeing stuff some of you do it seems to be a clear case of multiple stims

anyone else do these?



iggy64
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11 Dec 2012, 2:04 pm

I used to think I didn't stim, then I realised
- I bite my nails. A lot.
- I roll my tongue against my teeth without noticing
- I pace whenever I'm left alone with nothing to do (especially in public places like libraries etc)

And I also play with those fabric balls, although I don't see many of them. If my clothes have loose threads I will pull them and roll the into a ball to mess about with though.


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Kyton
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11 Dec 2012, 3:05 pm

Quote:
- I bite my nails. A lot.
- I roll my tongue against my teeth without noticing


oh ffs i do these too lol



windtreeman
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11 Dec 2012, 3:59 pm

Yar, during my assessment I was talking about how I didn't think I stimmed terribly often and then I realized I do plenty of things that I hadn't considered stimming until we talked about it; clicking teeth when nervous/anxious, drumming fingers on everything, a fixation with anything in my hand; twirling a pencil, flipping a phone or channel changer or water bottle into the air and catching it repeatedly, bla bla bla. I had a hard time understanding that these were even unusual actions because I see plenty of people doing different, but equally strange things, ha.


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sbarne3
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11 Dec 2012, 4:46 pm

I'll just admit up front that I don't know a lot about stimming (I probably do it and don't realize it), but I am wondering where the line is drawn between stimming and ocd... they seem very similar (at least the outward behaviors), but I would imagine that the "motivation" (for lack of a better word) for the behaviors would differ.
While they are both anxiety based, stimming would seem to help relieve the anxiety, whereas an ocd obsession is done because you have to and it may or may not relieve the anxiety.
Anyone have any thoughts on that?


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