Rocking, pacing, tapping/drumming on a hard surface, rubbing my hands or feet together, and the reason I am not allowed near pens ckicky clacky clicky clacky clicky clacky 😂😂😂
😂I will click a pen top and flick the clip thing until the whole thing falls apart😅it usually happens in a very unexpected moment with parts and springs flying everywhere. 🤦🏼♀️
It's been 6 months since I got diagnosed and for the first time in my life I had period cramps last 2 months. It was surprising noticing that tapping my leg removed that pain and I could sleep. So yes, it's important to stim and it can help with pain. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻.
I tap on surfaces with my acrylic nails, pick under my nails, wiggle my toes up and down, rub my feet together, repeat words over and over because I like the way it sounds in my mouth, sing constantly, dancing constantly, pull my hair (occasionally causing bald spots), blink rapidly, pick at my skin, spinning, rock back and forth or side to side. These are just the ones I know about.
I actually just got a sticker that says "stimming isn't enough, I may need to explode" 😂 as a later diagnosed adult, most of my stims are very quiet bc I was punished/shamed for the more potentially disruptive things. so I stick to things like very discreetly tapping fingers together or toe curling.
I tap my teeth along with the syllables in my thoughts, very gently. Probably because angry drunk parents couldn't hear or see that, I think I have done it since I was a tiny tot.
I was diagnosed at 68 and as a child had been beaten for what I now know to be stimming. After my diagnosis, I consciously allowed myself to stim. I flapped my hands because that was the only thing I understood to be stimming. It felt so good! Now I find that I mainly bounce my legs when I am sitting. I also like to feel silky textures - thank you. I didn't know that was stimming!
That was my experience. Verbal threats, and physical repercussions. Some stims are incredibly annoying to others, but mine never were. It didn’t matter to them.
@@carriev9608 aww, that's tough. Potato chips are my favorite, but I'm sensitive to the oils and particular salts used, and can't eat them often. I find potato chips cooked in avocado oil and other certain brands easier to digest and not as inflammatory. But I still have to take it easy on those!
For real! I sucked my thumb up until I was 10 and then my father decided that was inappropriate and started trying different ways to break my oral stimuli. I’d chew on hair, pens and then, sometime between then and there it became food and cigarettes. I personally never got into gum and found popsicles a preference but they don't last very long. It's a real struggle.
Gosh I just keep adding to my list of stims I didn’t know I did 🤣😂 I genuinely have on many occasions played the same song for an entire 2 hour round trip in the car 🤣😂 how else am I meant to learn my new favorite song lmao
Who else looks for favorite songs looped on repeat on RUclips that go for an hour to 2 hours? REPRESENT! Also rocking, foot bouncing, and hair twisting.
Haha, If I hear a song I really like, I will play it over and over. I didn't think of that as stimming, but I guess maybe? Something very soothing to my brain is.lookong for 4 leaf clovers. I think it has something to do with seeing patterns. I can literally feel my brain being soothed.
one thing that I do often that really confuses people is I sigh! I sigh when I’m feeling energetic, tired, stressed, happy, productive- sooo often. It’s gotten me in trouble a few times (especially in class and with bosses oops) but I didn’t realize it was a stim until recently. I didn’t even realize it was rude to sigh until a teacher in middle school yelled at me for it! I’ve had to fumble through so many apologies and try to explain that I wasn’t trying to be rude. I do try to stifle it a bit mostly around strangers/people I don’t interact with often because I really don’t want to offend anyone! But it’s much easier to explain to friends and coworkers with the context of it being a stim :)
Yes! It’s even more noticeable (and probably annoying to many) if you use your vocal chords (“uhhhh”), which my father did and I do. It can be due to an unpleasant thought, but I think also an unpleasant sensation like a burst of anxiety. The sound is sort of an attempt to clear my head.
Oh my gosh. I did not think of this as a stim, but it makes so much sense! I sigh a lot! My daughter started noticing and apologizing to me because she thought I was upset with her! I was like, no, I'm ok! Sometimes I just need to do that!
This is the kind of thing that got my hands smacked constantly as a child. I learned to hide my stimming (usually) with cigarettes for many years. Vape these days, but still using it to hide stimming. One thing I found that is not talked about often when it comes to reasons for stimming, education. Learning is a means of overstimulation of the brain, and we often stim (everyone not just the neurodivergent) when trying to learn difficult material.
Accelerated blinking. I only realized after my autism discovery that I've done this all my life, not just at "uncharacteristically nervous moments." I've lived my life telling myself that my most "together" moments were the "default" me, and all the other moments (that together amount to practically 'all the time') were the aberration. It was all upside-down and inside-out the whole time. I'm not longer ashamed of myself and humiliated over things like the blinking or other manifestations of autism.
"I'm so sorry, Debbie."😂😂😂😂😂 I love this❤ I over share inappropriate things too... At least I that's what I pick up in people's facial expressions. By the time I pick up on the look on their face l, it's too late. They're pissed😅
I'd love to see a video on how to stop destructive stimming because that's most of what I do. I'll perceive a bump in my skin, scratch until it's gone and bloody, then pick off the scab over and over and over until it eventually heals just to spite me. Then, a few weeks later, it'll begin again, and in between that I will do the same thing in other places, pull out my eyelashes (I have none left,) etc. I fear getting a skin infection but I can't stop it.
Oh sqiggly line in my eye fluid, I see you lurking in the periphery of my vision. But when I try to look at you, you scurry away. Are you shy squiggly line? Why only when I ignore you, do you return to the center of my eye? Oh squiggly line, it's alright. You are forgiven.
My stimming has changed over the years. As a stressed teenager, cheek biting, cuticle picking and teeth gringing were the main ones that I didn't like. Somehow I've manged to stop all three - I live alone, that helps. I love to touch soft things, can't help myself in a shop. I find having a pen in my hand while having a conversation at work very soothing/maintaining. I used to listen to the same cd on repeat for hours while playing card games on the computer. I believe that was my attempt at calming down. Visuals with light, like stained glass really attracts me. I can't really explain things without using big gestures with my arns and hands. It's very distracting to people I'm talking to. They can end up watching that and not listening to what I'm saying. That's a bit irritating for me. Thanks for the video.
It is irritating when people get annoyed with my expressive hands! Luckily the people who love me think it adds to the stories I tell 😂 Though I have swiped rather a lot of coffee cups (and other things) off tables in my time 😬
recently I found the Rubik's cube very soothing :D not trying to solve it or anything, just turning the blocks, and turning, and turning, using one hand, turning... or also squeezing it to hear that crackling of the plastic that all my colleagues hate a lot lol.
I do a lot of vocal stims, usually when I am feeling uncomfortable. My father did the same, probably for the same reasons. Both of us were/are also incurable pen and pencil biters. At some point I realized that I do hand flap when I get really frustrated, and I while I don’t hit my head on things, in meltdown I have on occasion hit myself. There’s also skin picking, one of the few things that I have a pleasurable version of. I have also always taken baths, and when my skin gets soft, I like to exfoliate dead skin with my fingernails. It’s not damaging, and the sensation of white doughy dead skin cells accumulating under my nails is quite pleasant. As I write that, I’m chagrined to discover that it doesn’t sound pleasant when you describe it. I could go on, but I’ll stop here.
I knead my sugar balls (self cooked knee doo balls) all the time now, since I allow myself to stim, in public. You helped me a lot to allow myself. Thank you for that.
As a person diagnosed with ASD1 (formerly Asperger’s Syndrome), I tend to stim when I feel very stressed or excited. For example, when I get anxious or upset because of school or its environment, I tend to do stuff like fiddle with my ears, twitching or meowing* (*that tends to happen when I am excited and energetic). Great video as always. They are very informative.
Showed this video to my 9 year old. He wanted to share that he hums, taps, and stares at stuff for a long time. And a bonus is that he does a lot of hand motions near his head because it helps him calm down.
You called me out on biting my cheek. However, I learned that me kicking the empty boxes at work is stimming. I also constantly have one earbud in listening to music while I'm outside the home.
Hi Chris, thank you for this video. I do not have diagnosed yet, but I have some doubt I might be somehow autistic. One stimming that might be less usual is a visual one for me. I'm completely obsessed with the color fuschia, this kind of dark pink. Everytime I see this color I cannot put my eyes away from it. Sometimes I can stare at it for something like 2-3 minutes. Since I know it's weird and unusual, I control myself, but if I could, I would stare at this color for like 10 minutes. So yeah, I guess it's a kind of stimming. :)
Playing instruments. Like not playing full songs or practising something but just messing around with the instrument. Making strange ridiculous sounds with it or coming up with some crazy rhythm that feels fun in the fingers. Cloud gazing. Watching sky is nice but especially choosing one corner of a cloud and then seeing how it morphs so slowly that you can barely notice. These are my cutest ones lol
I checked some old home videos and noticed with amusement that as a child I clapped my hands together when excited (don't think I do that anymore), and rubbed soft fabric between my fingers (that I remember well). Now, I rub my face with my finger tips, listen to songs repeatedly, hum, fidget with my fingers, and speak to myself aloud (I try to mask that one out when I catch myself in public, woops!).
i used to bite my nails and pick at my skin a lot, but now i make my nails fancy with uv/gel polish and grow them out a bit which makes me not hurt myself but also gives me the new and arguably better stims of tapping my nails on different surfaces and flicking them against each other, plus they look pretty and i can make them whatever colors i want :D vestibular stims will always be my favorite though, i could spend all day on a swing set
The butt pinching story had me ACTUALLY laughing out loud 😂😂😂 I used to have rings on all my fingers and would tap them incessantly. Drove my teachers crazy. I really need to invest in some more rings I forgot how awesome that was 🤔 Edit: Added a paragraph because my thoughts changed and evolved as they are wont to do.
In oral stims, you forgot whistling and "whistling for oneself" or even "singing in your head" repeatedly the same music. I do this when overwhelmed by uncomfortable noise (street , conference, meeting). I'm totally allergic to "frying-pan voice" speakers (M/F) in conferences sessions. In this case I cannot escape putting my fingers in my ears and close eyes, or leaving the conference room. Leaving/flying as stims ? I mean when you sing in your head are you stimming or flying ? Maybe it is more socially accepted invisible stims.
One of my favourite and most soothing stims is rubbing something smooth like the back of my fingernail or a polished rock just above my cupids bow on my upper lip.
After a lifetime of stuffing the stimming (and somehow doing it internally, viscerally...not good, by the way), because I knew it was COMPLETELY unacceptable socially, and also because I got demeaned and humiliated in very early life for it (like navigating my way through the house by touching points, edges, of walls and furniture all along the way, or singing to myself in the school halls, especially during 7th grade, the first year of "changing classes" during the day, coping with the masses of students, movement, noise in that overwhelming tide, until, again, I was ridiculed out of it), after I arrived at my autism realization just over a year ago I finally, though not immediately, understood what all that was about. Stimming was absolutely the LAST thing I expected to find out was a part of my autism "profile"--okay to the rest of it, but not that! Because of my stereotypes about it. But as the weeks and months passed after my discovery and the scales steadily fell from my eyes, and I was able to review my life with greater transparency, it dawned on me, "Well, for Pete's sake, I've been a stimmer all my life!" Never saw that coming.
As a small child i used to rub the care labels in my clothes, the sensation was pleasurable but some of my clothes were hand made for me so didn't have a label and once i discovered that i got very frustrated. I also had repetitive noises or words, I initially considered then OCD, which they probably were but also i see now they were a form of stimming. This was 35 years ago and these days I always have something nearby to fidget with while I'm in meetings or whatever to keep my mind focussed.
Thank you for sharing this video. Stimming is something Im ashamed of in myself. I been abused and discriminated against for it…. You helped me so much understand why I have need to and why I feel so off holding in. Lol. Thank you again.
Twirling things, could be my hair could be my tangle or part of my clothing. Just love twirling things around my fingers, especially smooth things. Often I will stroke the labels on my clothing because they’re silky and that’s quite calming. Definitely bite the inside of my mouth a lot and clench my jaw but most of the times it’s subconscious. Listening to songs over and over and over again. Or the same sound bites. I’m pretty sure I drove my mum crazy when I was in my teens 😂 If excessively happy though I will be bouncing of the ground with my arms basically vibrating because I cannot express how excited and happy I am. It looks crazy but I love it ❤
Missed the ‘shy’ you!!!!!! Watching a (carefully controlled and safe) fire is a great winter stim. Add a glass of wine, favourite song and weighed blanket - perfect way to de-stress at the end of the day.
A harmful way for me to stim, is swearing, when I am upset and overwhelmed. I feel like Kreacher, the house elf from serious black from Harry Potter. Just walking around doing things, I would rather not do and swearing all the nasty stuff. That is especially bad because some that my kids are picking up.
I would be lost without the repeat button for music. I will literally play the same song over and over for days or weeks to help me focus while working. Sadly songs lose impact after a few weeks and I must choose a new one or rotate in other songs for a while. In my youth, throwing myself repeatedly against a concrete wall until I was too exhausted to move was common. I also rub smooth fabric between my fingers or toes like sheets. I have a strong urge to crunch things even when I am not hungry. Was eating crap like potato chips for this but now make home made juice popsicles which work better. I reread my favorite books 100's of times for calming purposes. Some I have worn the covers completely off and had to buy second or even third copies of my favorite series. Great video.❤ Thank you.
I refer to it as listening until it doesn't make me happy anymore. Then I find the new song that makes me happy. Same applies to a food. I eat it almost daily until it doesn't make me happy anymore.
Not autistic (as far as I know, one day I might get a diagnosis) but what I notice is I shake my right hand when either trying to think and process my next few jobs, for example "I need to do the washing, then take a shower, then get cooking started." I also do the same thing when dealing with bad memories. Wasn't sure why on that last one but if it's helping me process them I'll consider it a win.
Some time between age 8 and 11 I used to bang my head on metal pipes. Do a lot of rocking, singing a two-word song over & over & over and rubbing my thumbs & index fingers together in wee circles. Probably others.
Great video as always! Some of my stims as an Autistic adult are as follows: Touching my fingers in a equal pattern, first 3 digits on left, first 3 digits on the right hand, and repeat the process; Constantly clicking my pen; Constantly spinning my pen across my fingers; Listening to the same music; Bouncing my legs; Clicking my mouse button; Day dreaming. When I was a child some of them were as follows: Sucking my clothes, scratching my legs until they bled, rocking back and forth, and some of the above. As an adult I mask heavily and as a result I feel as though I am suffering greatly because I can't just be me!
Oh! I like to touch every second finger to my thumb - 2 then 4, 3 then 5 and repeat! I always I thought my finger habits like that were just things I'd picked up from when I used to learn the piano, but you've just made me realise that it's actually another stim for me!
I can recommend Mate. I drink it in the traditional way in a calabaza, a gourd, with a bombilla, a filtered straw. Warm and soft to hold, naturally suger free and so relaxing to sip from. I have also started learning Begleri. Very relaxing, as long as I don’t try fancy stuff I don’t master yet… 🙃
Thanks for sharing.Sometimes I stim intentionally with different toys I have, but also there are so many stims I do which I don't always notice eg: tapping, counting, hair playing, chewing my lip, wriggling my toes, playing with my zip, and I realise it once I have been doing it for a while.
I usually descover new stims when I’m anxious. A few months ago when I went into get tested I started raising my sholders and pressing them agenst my neck and then releasing again and again. Eventually I discovered that throwing my head back while doing that and feeling my head hit my back felt really good. Then I got a neck cramp one day and I stopped doing it. Been kinda doing it again and I’m glad because it feels good.
I have chewed the inside of my mouth to a point where it becomes painful before I realise I have to stop. Often I’ve bitten my lip to the point it’s bleeding and badly swollen and bruised. When I’m stimming massively, I’m not always aware. Certainly have often had diarrhoea, but didn’t know, until now, that the reason behind it is overstimulation. I’ve always just blamed that on other things.
One of my most constant stims is playing with my long nails, which is tactile in a number of ways (my nail beds are sensitive to the sensory difference between long and short nails), but also has a sonic component that I really enjoy, the subtle skritchskritch as I flick my nails against my thumb is just a great sound.
My major stim is shaking my leg in rythmes or patterns. I also have some minor ones; singing (both outloud and in my head), touching soft things (like my service dog's fur), cracking my knuckles, picking at my skin and worst of all; scratching the living daylights out of my skin (service dog trained to alert and intervene). There are a few more, but they only appear in very specific situations.
I have a long beard. My stimming includes holding my beard in one hand and either biting or rubbing my lips on my moustache. I also use either my nail or teeth to put pressure onto the folds where my fingers bend (first knuckle only, Im not a monster) or at the point where my finger nails start.
Nail biting, skin picking, echolalia, staring at neat things or sparkles, and probably more. I unlearned most of them even the non harmful ones and Im realizing how bad i need it
Stimming takes away the "ghost" in my belly that's frantically scrambling for something to fix on so that it can leave me alone and stop bothering me while I'm trying to actually get something done, like serious thinking, or even just coping with the stress of a long telephone conversation. And, yes, stimming definitely takes away pain. Just walking and bouncing a ball can make the pain of inflammation go away.
I really try to quietly stim. On account of a nasty boss who ripped into me for fidgeting when I was supposed to be quietly listening to important information. I was not being verbal, I still don't understand what I did many years later. I tap a lot, I sniff a lot, I rock, but am conscious of that when I'm out in public. I often look like I'm listening to music and keep time. This isn't so bad for me because I'm musical. I stare at the fan. My fingers are always busy. Either rubbing or tapping. I slowly rub my wrists with my thumbs. I always wondered why I did that, so when I became aware of being ASD. I found that a relief to my weird stimming. I love rocking chairs. They are so calming.
Toe curls, leg shakes, happy hands that look like jazz hands because they face palms towards the ground or towards others, wrist stretches, knuckle popping, happy squeal, the need to touch things that look soft or bright or scratchy, musical/rhythmic fingers, tongue clicking, lip pops, repeatedly messing with the skin around my right thumb, humming, singing, laughing, listening to the same song until I have every word and chord memorized, trying to find patterns and/or movement in every day things, crocheting/knitting when I’m not overwhelmed by physical touch, spinning or swinging when I can, the hop/skip dance move I learned in 7th grade but can’t remember the name of, and my newest one (thank you Chris) is the sign for fish and saying the word with the shshshshsh drawn out. All are immensely satisfying.
I have ASD and ADHD, and I have quite a few stims. My go tos are popping and cracking my knuckles, playing with my eyelids and blinking, rocking, biting my lips, and humming. I used to pick my fingers often, but that caused issues with bleeding, so I stopped doing it as much as I used to. I’d been doing most of these behaviors practically all of my life, but didn’t realize they were associated with ASD and ADHD until taking assessments and doing research. Stimming definitely helps to calm my nerves and helps me to focus. My attention span is limited, so when I’m trying to get information from videos, I’ll put my device down and stimulate as I’m listening. I retain the information a lot better… I know it can be difficult for neurotypical people to understand stimming. They may find it weird, or even scary at times. I wish more people would take the to learn more about Autism and neurodiversity; they’d know that stimming is perfectly normal, and it’s an important method of self regulation and management of symptoms…
I talk to myself a lot. It's very soothing. But yeah, I am anxious 24/7. Ugh! I play with my nails. Ill rub them, in a smoothing over and over movement, I will chew on them (don't bite them since I was a kid), I shake my feet when reclining, and I constantly play with my hair. I'm female BTW. So when i was young, and my hair was longer, I would twist it until it was in knots and then I'd pull it out. 😮. Then I got my hair cut short so I could spike it. No more hair twisting. I liked that actually. Now my hair is almost shoulder length. I run my fingers through it a lot! But no more twisting and pulling. I know about how causing physical pain releases endorphins. I've done that, but it was very bad and did leave permanent marks. I don't do that anymore. I am NDAF: I have both ASD and ADHD. It's a crazy life. 😂
I find that a little bit of pain is useful for focusing and distraction from other discomfort. So I poke my finger over and over with my thumbnail. I get a callus because I do this so much.
I live in "another country" where I'm learning the language, after having already lived in yet "another country" for nearly 30 years where I became fluent in yet another language. Thankfully the two languages are cousins, so that helps. When I'm walking around in the city and I see words on signs that I really want to make sure I grasp and say right, I say them out loud. Or even when I haven't see a word but one has just come to my mind. I say it, and repeat it a few times, and feel its "shape" within my vocal apparatus, as if melding with it, making it part of me (in fact, I am, 'cause that's what it means to learn a language). And then, inevitably, I realize with a start that I've been doing it again, walking along talking to myself, and I look around to see whether anybody is staring at me...or shepherding their children away from the strange man talking to himself....
I do a "woodpecker" foot tap, or wiggle. It drives my hubby nuts, so bought an ONO roller to see if I could replace the more disruptive habit with a less annoying one. So far it's worked!
I was chewing on a straw watching this and realized that i'm stimming lol. reminded me that as a kid, I used to chew on pencils and even the mouth part of my nebulizer machine I had to use for asthma.
My stims that occur almost mindlessly are picking at seams (i.e. - on clothing, on pillows, etc.), tapping my fingertips in order back and forth with my thumb, and pacing.
Ever since I was a child, I would listen to music and rock back and forth on the floor. I also take objects like pencils and shake them with my hand constantly throughout the day. I always did these things in secret.
I stim mostly by biting the inside of my lips and cheeks. It hurts, but i can't stop. I also stim by flicking my fingers, usually while counting. My last stim is rocking or bouncing my leg.
I trained myself out of biting my nails, but now I click them almost all the time (annoying my husband) I shake my legs when I'm bored or anxious, I press the palms of my hands together hard when I'm overwhelmed, I rock when I'm in pain and is very soothing. I like to dance too it helps me self-regulate.
Tactile (tactical 😎) stimming is huge for me. I love textured objects and fidget toys. After that is proprioceptive stimming, like arm-swinging, rocking, and swinging on swings. I also head bang but I hate it so much because I need all the brain cells I can spare. I’m trying to replace self harm stims with biting chewelry, breathing exercises, and a spiky fidget toy.
AuDHD Here, didnt know I had a Diagnosis until I was 25 due to family withholding that info from me, so Not technically late-diagnosed, anyway, Learning what kind of stims I typically use was an interesting process. Definitely have Visual stims and Auditory stims, I beatbox and talk to myself alot. (The talking to myself is the main way I keep my thoughts in check, as thinking out loud slows down my thought process a large amount) I also love sound design to death, which ends up being an extension of the auditory stims. Definitely also do the throwing things stim, we have these semi weighted hammers at work that have the perfect balance for doing spins around the finger and getting sick quad rotations in a throw with a perfect catch. As I work in a manufacturing environment, the only reason I havent gone insane is the required earplugs and my bone conduction headphones. Also I dance alot, either to music I'm making up in my head or what I'm listening too, doesnt matter what genre, I'll try to dance to anything if the vibe fits.
Not sure it counts as stiming but listening to recording of bath water filling a bath (lots of examples on RUclips). Can't sleep without it, but also calming during the day if I can't focus or just need to get away from stuff. Less helpfully i pull my eyebrows
I'm always stimming, even when I think I'm calm. My toes particularly, are always moving. I guess because usually no one sees them, they are inside my shoes. Just the other day I was viewing a house because I'm going to move to another town, and I filmed the visit to share with my friends. When editing the video, I saw my left hand going... rubbing and pinching my fingers, wiggling them... First time I ever caught one of my stims on camera. I also "dance" from foot to foot a lot when I'm forced to wait. I pace back and forth, and always turn to the left, because turning to the right doesn't feel right 😅 if I'm sitting, my left foot will get going, bouncing up and down. It doesn't feel right if I do it with the left foot. It has to be the right. I scratch and pick my head all the time, or scratch and pick at my arms face and neck. Then I say it's because I have allergies if I'm talking with people at the time. I hum a lot, or whistle, and people think it's because I'm happy. I don't try to change their minds about that. Let them think I'm a "happy & carefree" person🤷🏻♀️ When I'm getting to sleep, I rub my feet on the bottom sheet.
For me it's finger snaps, whistles and tweets, owl hoots, gurgles and growls, bouncing leg, and picking at my skin. I've gotten really good at making sounds, like water drops, bird tweets, and SciFi stuff. People think it's cool, but my friends understand it's more complicated.
Not yet. I’m currently traveling and English is not the official language, so a little bit tricky tracking down supplies. I am traveling with one of my needoh gumdrops 😝😝
I've always messed with my piercings, and since I guaged my ears I'm always touching those and smelling my fingers after. I also touch and rub my scalp a lot -unless my hair is in a bun, so I may take it out, fingercomb my hair, rub my scalp, and then put it back up only to do it all over again a few minutes later. Those are just some things.
Wow! I didn't even realize I was stimming when I was in school. I used to smell my eraser right after I used it. Kids used to pick on me for it, but I didn't care because it made me feel better. I also stare really hard at random items (sometimes people it gets awkward) I clap repeatedly and sometimes end it with a yip. And when I'm really tired i rub my legs together.
I chew the inside of my mouth whenever I drive a car. I also blink my eyes a lot when driving. I also rub my thumbs while driving. I hum, i used to chew my nails. In school, I used to chew my hair until a teacher shamed me for it. I make clicking sounds in the back of my throat. I used to tap my foot all the time and rarely could sit down for long. As soon as I had a thought a b out something, I'd have to get up and do something about that thought. I used to have to tighten the muscles in my arms and legs. Then I'd have to do the other arm or leg to even out the feeling.
I think my most common stim is scratching the tips of my fingers with my teeth. Not biting or gnawing... even if it looks it... I'm just scratching the pads of my finger tips. I also do it with my nails... but more commonly with my teeth. Not the most hygienic thing to be doing, especially when covid was prime... but it helps me. That and bending my fingertips backwards a little. Like a little stretch... only I'll do it for 40 minutes at a time and not realize it
ADHD here diagnosed at 44; all mt life I have done such…Cough, sniff, blink, my eyes, press on hard objects such as my phone, make my ears pop as if I’m yawning,roll my tongue in my mouth, click pens, roll things such as coins in my hands, smell things … the list goes on.
I just realized I have a stim, that I'm working to stop but didn't know was a stim. When I get really stressed, like I'm panicking because I need to go somewhere and don't know what I might bring, I start to hit my legs, but I end up after one or two hits stopping myself because I know its not a good thing :) but here are some of my other stims hehe -opening and closing the top two parts of my fingers, like opening and closing youe fist, but only the top two joints for each finger -i make this tic tic tic, kinda sound lol -Hand FLAPPIESSS -music, I have a playlist of song that just feel right, like they all have the same kinda tics and bops, their normally more electric or have more of those kind of sounds -tapping, normally like my right hand, then left hand, eta. -this is more of a coping skill I use to try and focus on other senses such as if I'm listening to someone or focusing hard, I'll just stare at something and unfocused my eyes I have more but it's not like I can remember, let alone describe them all lol
I'm a massive nail biter/skin picker. Also, if I'm doing a task that requires me to keep track of where I am (eg going down a list or spreadsheet) I'll tend to say "boom" as I go from one thing to the next, or some other sort of vocal stim. And I fidget - a lot. However, I'd completely forgot about a couple of things I do until you mentioned the bath thing. I used to like pressing my ear against a table so you'd start to hear surrounding noises differently. Or I might look at something and start rotating my head from left to right while my eyes keep fixed on the object - that's partly to see how things change depending on which part of my glasses I'm looking at it through. There's quite a few things like that which I do or have done that I'd completely forgotten about and didn't really relate to stimming before. Anyway, very interesting video!
The ceiling fan. My son loved fans when he was a toddler. He was my first kid and i had PND so when we went to baby groups and he just wanted to look at the fan i would always try and redirect him back to the group thing and would be so worried about his spinning obessesion. I wish i could turn the clock back and have just followed his interests at the time..seriously this people if youre overly worried about your kids. He still love spinning things. Hes not diagnosed but has so many of the traits. Now we know better we handle snd 'indulge' his 'quirks' more than we would have as does his school. I do wonder if a proper diagnosis would help him more though
I have many stims. I used to bite my nails and hair. I've switched to running my nails between my teeth and running my hands through my hair or braiding and unbraiding it repeatedly. Sometimes I look like Albert Einstein afterwards, lol. I also like drumming my fingers in weird orders, not pinky to thumb or back, but other orders. I think this is because I took piano lessons early, so my fine motor coordination was trained early. I also remember banging my head into the back of my parents' ENORMOUS high-backed couch over and over while watching TV or while seated in the back seat of the car as a kid (I'm too old for booster seats, we had only lap belts). I don't do any head banging anymore. I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of. I catch myself doing things sometimes, but I don't worry about it too much anymore. It used to embarrass me, but as I get older, I care less and less what other people think. As long as I'm not making a weird noise, I figure it's not hurting anyone.
Since I was little I picked at my nails. (More like ripping my nails… I’m now realizing that it’s probably a harmful stim…) but now I chew the inside of my mouth, and am fairly Echolalic
I've always had the habit of biting my nails since I was 6, maybe even before. When people asked me why I do that, I just said that's normal for me. I don't know If I'm in the spectrum or not, but for years I've been wondering why do I have such a weird habit.
I do the light watching stim on my empty plate after I finish eating. My wife just asked me last night what I was looking at on my plate and I laughed when I realised it was a stim.
Feeling the texture of my fingernails on top or the edge with adjacent fingertips or my teeth, blurting out the name of my dog, tapping surfaces with my finger nails, putting tension on the muscles in my hands, playing a new pleasing song non stop for days, smelling real cinnamon or star anise and looking at cute or funny pet pictures, chewing chewy food or candy, chain smoking cigarettes (managed to quit tho)
I’m, like, 99% sure that I’m autistic. One of my favorite ways to stim is cracking my fingers. I always start with my left or right middle finger and I have no idea why😅. I also bounce my foot a lot and the typical rocking back and forth.
I wag my feet and bounce my knees tons! It unfortunately can irritate anyone who sits next to me. My mom would get pretty irritated by the knee bouncing at times but she also called my foot wagging “happy feet” because my feet most often get to wagging when I’m happy. 😅
I noticed my daughter stimming when she was an infant. When she's tired she would thrust her hips up and down. She's 6 and still does this, but she puts her hands between her thighs and holds the back of her legs. It looks really inappropriate (if you follow what I'm describing), but she's not doing anything wrong. I don't know if I should try and get her to figure out another stim or leave it be. I worry about what her peers might think/do as she gets older if they see her doing this.
I had 8 months of explosive diahhrea. it sucked. thanks for cutting back on stock clips. next request is to cut down on back and forth camera cuts. tell Steve the things that come into the screen (like the bruise)are artfully done. love the butt pinching story. next time you see a Christmas tree, squint your eyes. best visual stim ever.
I’m starting the process of a diagnosis and still wrapping my head around what I think, if it is Autism or not. Certainly, I have and have had various things that must only be stims…as a child I would compulsively made this weird sound with the back of my throat but soon picked up I shouldn’t be ‘weird’. Now I push my fingers or teeth together to the pain barrier, rub my left temple quite hard and others but I wonder from you guys if anyone has this- if a plan (even very minor) starts to go off my time schedule: like last night I wanted to join a group call with friends at 7 and my partner wouldn’t stop talking and as soon as it hit 7 first my foot was going, then I was rocking my hips back and forth and eventually almost my whole body was vibrating. Anyone have something like that?
I use to click my pen to stim, until I did it at the wrong time in the wrong class at high school, never did it again and internalized my stim at school
We spend too much time talking about stimming, and far too many Autistic/ADHD influencers infantile it. In childhood, all of my stims(we didn’t call them that) were self destructive (nail biting, mouth biting, skin picking, etc). I still do some of those. Excessive masturbation is one I’ve carried for decades. All of those are frowned upon, by society.
Rocking, pacing, tapping/drumming on a hard surface, rubbing my hands or feet together, and the reason I am not allowed near pens ckicky clacky clicky clacky clicky clacky 😂😂😂
Same! Clicky pens cannot be trusted around me and others 😂
I just commented about getting in trouble at high school for it.
😂I will click a pen top and flick the clip thing until the whole thing falls apart😅it usually happens in a very unexpected moment with parts and springs flying everywhere. 🤦🏼♀️
It's been 6 months since I got diagnosed and for the first time in my life I had period cramps last 2 months. It was surprising noticing that tapping my leg removed that pain and I could sleep. So yes, it's important to stim and it can help with pain. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻.
I tap on surfaces with my acrylic nails, pick under my nails, wiggle my toes up and down, rub my feet together, repeat words over and over because I like the way it sounds in my mouth, sing constantly, dancing constantly, pull my hair (occasionally causing bald spots), blink rapidly, pick at my skin, spinning, rock back and forth or side to side. These are just the ones I know about.
I actually just got a sticker that says "stimming isn't enough, I may need to explode" 😂 as a later diagnosed adult, most of my stims are very quiet bc I was punished/shamed for the more potentially disruptive things. so I stick to things like very discreetly tapping fingers together or toe curling.
I tap my teeth along with the syllables in my thoughts, very gently. Probably because angry drunk parents couldn't hear or see that, I think I have done it since I was a tiny tot.
That's very relatable. I might put that on my fridge or something. Lol
@@NiaLaLa_V I quietly tap my teeth as well.
I was diagnosed at 68 and as a child had been beaten for what I now know to be stimming. After my diagnosis, I consciously allowed myself to stim. I flapped my hands because that was the only thing I understood to be stimming. It felt so good! Now I find that I mainly bounce my legs when I am sitting. I also like to feel silky textures - thank you. I didn't know that was stimming!
I am so sorry for how you were treated as a child! You didn't deserve that!
That was my experience. Verbal threats, and physical repercussions. Some stims are incredibly annoying to others, but mine never were. It didn’t matter to them.
As a child I would flap my hands and bounce a tennis ball for hours up and down the driveway. I still do tapping on surfaces and shoe clicking.
One of my stims is eating, eating, eating, when I'm not actually hungry. I bought a chew necklace, but I want crunch!
I used to eat a whole bag of chips at a time but developed food sensitivity issues to potatoes and grains... 😭
Sunflower seeds in their shells? It's still eating but probably less calories than you'd get from eating other things.
@@carriev9608 aww, that's tough. Potato chips are my favorite, but I'm sensitive to the oils and particular salts used, and can't eat them often. I find potato chips cooked in avocado oil and other certain brands easier to digest and not as inflammatory. But I still have to take it easy on those!
For real!
I sucked my thumb up until I was 10 and then my father decided that was inappropriate and started trying different ways to break my oral stimuli. I’d chew on hair, pens and then, sometime between then and there it became food and cigarettes.
I personally never got into gum and found popsicles a preference but they don't last very long.
It's a real struggle.
Gosh I just keep adding to my list of stims I didn’t know I did 🤣😂 I genuinely have on many occasions played the same song for an entire 2 hour round trip in the car 🤣😂 how else am I meant to learn my new favorite song lmao
😂me too , I download the same time to last an hour long , makes driving really fun my husband tells me …. Never knew why I did that ….😂
Who else looks for favorite songs looped on repeat on RUclips that go for an hour to 2 hours? REPRESENT!
Also rocking, foot bouncing, and hair twisting.
Haha, If I hear a song I really like, I will play it over and over. I didn't think of that as stimming, but I guess maybe? Something very soothing to my brain is.lookong for 4 leaf clovers. I think it has something to do with seeing patterns. I can literally feel my brain being soothed.
one thing that I do often that really confuses people is I sigh! I sigh when I’m feeling energetic, tired, stressed, happy, productive- sooo often. It’s gotten me in trouble a few times (especially in class and with bosses oops) but I didn’t realize it was a stim until recently. I didn’t even realize it was rude to sigh until a teacher in middle school yelled at me for it! I’ve had to fumble through so many apologies and try to explain that I wasn’t trying to be rude. I do try to stifle it a bit mostly around strangers/people I don’t interact with often because I really don’t want to offend anyone! But it’s much easier to explain to friends and coworkers with the context of it being a stim :)
Yes! It’s even more noticeable (and probably annoying to many) if you use your vocal chords (“uhhhh”), which my father did and I do. It can be due to an unpleasant thought, but I think also an unpleasant sensation like a burst of anxiety. The sound is sort of an attempt to clear my head.
Oh my gosh. I did not think of this as a stim, but it makes so much sense! I sigh a lot! My daughter started noticing and apologizing to me because she thought I was upset with her! I was like, no, I'm ok! Sometimes I just need to do that!
This is the kind of thing that got my hands smacked constantly as a child. I learned to hide my stimming (usually) with cigarettes for many years. Vape these days, but still using it to hide stimming. One thing I found that is not talked about often when it comes to reasons for stimming, education. Learning is a means of overstimulation of the brain, and we often stim (everyone not just the neurodivergent) when trying to learn difficult material.
Accelerated blinking. I only realized after my autism discovery that I've done this all my life, not just at "uncharacteristically nervous moments." I've lived my life telling myself that my most "together" moments were the "default" me, and all the other moments (that together amount to practically 'all the time') were the aberration. It was all upside-down and inside-out the whole time. I'm not longer ashamed of myself and humiliated over things like the blinking or other manifestations of autism.
I like to blink one eye and then the other back and forth.
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"I'm so sorry, Debbie."😂😂😂😂😂 I love this❤ I over share inappropriate things too... At least I that's what I pick up in people's facial expressions. By the time I pick up on the look on their face l, it's too late. They're pissed😅
The realization is always after it happens!! 😂😂
I'd love to see a video on how to stop destructive stimming because that's most of what I do. I'll perceive a bump in my skin, scratch until it's gone and bloody, then pick off the scab over and over and over until it eventually heals just to spite me. Then, a few weeks later, it'll begin again, and in between that I will do the same thing in other places, pull out my eyelashes (I have none left,) etc. I fear getting a skin infection but I can't stop it.
I do that to my scalp. I have very short hair.
band-aids help me
Oh sqiggly line in my eye fluid, I see you lurking in the periphery of my vision. But when I try to look at you, you scurry away. Are you shy squiggly line? Why only when I ignore you, do you return to the center of my eye? Oh squiggly line, it's alright. You are forgiven.
Stevie Griffin?
My stimming has changed over the years. As a stressed teenager, cheek biting, cuticle picking and teeth gringing were the main ones that I didn't like. Somehow I've manged to stop all three - I live alone, that helps.
I love to touch soft things, can't help myself in a shop. I find having a pen in my hand while having a conversation at work very soothing/maintaining.
I used to listen to the same cd on repeat for hours while playing card games on the computer. I believe that was my attempt at calming down.
Visuals with light, like stained glass really attracts me.
I can't really explain things without using big gestures with my arns and hands. It's very distracting to people I'm talking to. They can end up watching that and not listening to what I'm saying. That's a bit irritating for me.
Thanks for the video.
It is irritating when people get annoyed with my expressive hands! Luckily the people who love me think it adds to the stories I tell 😂 Though I have swiped rather a lot of coffee cups (and other things) off tables in my time 😬
I have so many of these too!!
I love this. I love this so much. I have listened to the same song on repeat for 3 days straight 😅
Oh yes! Same here. And I don't put on repeat, I press 'play again' at the end of the song manually, hundreds and hundreds of time.
I code with the same 3 item playlist. The same songs, in the same order, for hours and hours.
100% agree 😂
recently I found the Rubik's cube very soothing :D not trying to solve it or anything, just turning the blocks, and turning, and turning, using one hand, turning... or also squeezing it to hear that crackling of the plastic that all my colleagues hate a lot lol.
I do a lot of vocal stims, usually when I am feeling uncomfortable. My father did the same, probably for the same reasons. Both of us were/are also incurable pen and pencil biters. At some point I realized that I do hand flap when I get really frustrated, and I while I don’t hit my head on things, in meltdown I have on occasion hit myself.
There’s also skin picking, one of the few things that I have a pleasurable version of. I have also always taken baths, and when my skin gets soft, I like to exfoliate dead skin with my fingernails. It’s not damaging, and the sensation of white doughy dead skin cells accumulating under my nails is quite pleasant. As I write that, I’m chagrined to discover that it doesn’t sound pleasant when you describe it.
I could go on, but I’ll stop here.
I knead my sugar balls (self cooked knee doo balls) all the time now, since I allow myself to stim, in public. You helped me a lot to allow myself. Thank you for that.
Ohhh! How do you cook those? Sounds good!
As a person diagnosed with ASD1 (formerly Asperger’s Syndrome), I tend to stim when I feel very stressed or excited. For example, when I get anxious or upset because of school or its environment, I tend to do stuff like fiddle with my ears, twitching or meowing* (*that tends to happen when I am excited and energetic). Great video as always. They are very informative.
Showed this video to my 9 year old. He wanted to share that he hums, taps, and stares at stuff for a long time. And a bonus is that he does a lot of hand motions near his head because it helps him calm down.
You called me out on biting my cheek. However, I learned that me kicking the empty boxes at work is stimming. I also constantly have one earbud in listening to music while I'm outside the home.
Hi Chris, thank you for this video. I do not have diagnosed yet, but I have some doubt I might be somehow autistic. One stimming that might be less usual is a visual one for me. I'm completely obsessed with the color fuschia, this kind of dark pink. Everytime I see this color I cannot put my eyes away from it. Sometimes I can stare at it for something like 2-3 minutes. Since I know it's weird and unusual, I control myself, but if I could, I would stare at this color for like 10 minutes. So yeah, I guess it's a kind of stimming. :)
Playing instruments. Like not playing full songs or practising something but just messing around with the instrument. Making strange ridiculous sounds with it or coming up with some crazy rhythm that feels fun in the fingers.
Cloud gazing. Watching sky is nice but especially choosing one corner of a cloud and then seeing how it morphs so slowly that you can barely notice.
These are my cutest ones lol
The more videos I watch on stimming the more stims I realize that I have!
I checked some old home videos and noticed with amusement that as a child I clapped my hands together when excited (don't think I do that anymore), and rubbed soft fabric between my fingers (that I remember well). Now, I rub my face with my finger tips, listen to songs repeatedly, hum, fidget with my fingers, and speak to myself aloud (I try to mask that one out when I catch myself in public, woops!).
i used to bite my nails and pick at my skin a lot, but now i make my nails fancy with uv/gel polish and grow them out a bit which makes me not hurt myself but also gives me the new and arguably better stims of tapping my nails on different surfaces and flicking them against each other, plus they look pretty and i can make them whatever colors i want :D
vestibular stims will always be my favorite though, i could spend all day on a swing set
The butt pinching story had me ACTUALLY laughing out loud 😂😂😂
I used to have rings on all my fingers and would tap them incessantly. Drove my teachers crazy. I really need to invest in some more rings I forgot how awesome that was 🤔
Edit: Added a paragraph because my thoughts changed and evolved as they are wont to do.
In oral stims, you forgot whistling and "whistling for oneself" or even "singing in your head" repeatedly the same music. I do this when overwhelmed by uncomfortable noise (street , conference, meeting). I'm totally allergic to "frying-pan voice" speakers (M/F) in conferences sessions. In this case I cannot escape putting my fingers in my ears and close eyes, or leaving the conference room. Leaving/flying as stims ? I mean when you sing in your head are you stimming or flying ? Maybe it is more socially accepted invisible stims.
One of my favourite and most soothing stims is rubbing something smooth like the back of my fingernail or a polished rock just above my cupids bow on my upper lip.
After a lifetime of stuffing the stimming (and somehow doing it internally, viscerally...not good, by the way), because I knew it was COMPLETELY unacceptable socially, and also because I got demeaned and humiliated in very early life for it (like navigating my way through the house by touching points, edges, of walls and furniture all along the way, or singing to myself in the school halls, especially during 7th grade, the first year of "changing classes" during the day, coping with the masses of students, movement, noise in that overwhelming tide, until, again, I was ridiculed out of it), after I arrived at my autism realization just over a year ago I finally, though not immediately, understood what all that was about. Stimming was absolutely the LAST thing I expected to find out was a part of my autism "profile"--okay to the rest of it, but not that! Because of my stereotypes about it. But as the weeks and months passed after my discovery and the scales steadily fell from my eyes, and I was able to review my life with greater transparency, it dawned on me, "Well, for Pete's sake, I've been a stimmer all my life!" Never saw that coming.
As a small child i used to rub the care labels in my clothes, the sensation was pleasurable but some of my clothes were hand made for me so didn't have a label and once i discovered that i got very frustrated. I also had repetitive noises or words, I initially considered then OCD, which they probably were but also i see now they were a form of stimming. This was 35 years ago and these days I always have something nearby to fidget with while I'm in meetings or whatever to keep my mind focussed.
Thank you for sharing this video. Stimming is something Im ashamed of in myself. I been abused and discriminated against for it…. You helped me so much understand why I have need to and why I feel so off holding in. Lol. Thank you again.
Twirling things, could be my hair could be my tangle or part of my clothing. Just love twirling things around my fingers, especially smooth things. Often I will stroke the labels on my clothing because they’re silky and that’s quite calming.
Definitely bite the inside of my mouth a lot and clench my jaw but most of the times it’s subconscious.
Listening to songs over and over and over again. Or the same sound bites. I’m pretty sure I drove my mum crazy when I was in my teens 😂
If excessively happy though I will be bouncing of the ground with my arms basically vibrating because I cannot express how excited and happy I am. It looks crazy but I love it ❤
Missed the ‘shy’ you!!!!!! Watching a (carefully controlled and safe) fire is a great winter stim. Add a glass of wine, favourite song and weighed blanket - perfect way to de-stress at the end of the day.
A harmful way for me to stim, is swearing, when I am upset and overwhelmed. I feel like Kreacher, the house elf from serious black from Harry Potter. Just walking around doing things, I would rather not do and swearing all the nasty stuff. That is especially bad because some that my kids are picking up.
I would be lost without the repeat button for music. I will literally play the same song over and over for days or weeks to help me focus while working. Sadly songs lose impact after a few weeks and I must choose a new one or rotate in other songs for a while.
In my youth, throwing myself repeatedly against a concrete wall until I was too exhausted to move was common.
I also rub smooth fabric between my fingers or toes like sheets.
I have a strong urge to crunch things even when I am not hungry. Was eating crap like potato chips for this but now make home made juice popsicles which work better.
I reread my favorite books 100's of times for calming purposes. Some I have worn the covers completely off and had to buy second or even third copies of my favorite series.
Great video.❤
Thank you.
I refer to it as listening until it doesn't make me happy anymore. Then I find the new song that makes me happy. Same applies to a food. I eat it almost daily until it doesn't make me happy anymore.
Not autistic (as far as I know, one day I might get a diagnosis) but what I notice is I shake my right hand when either trying to think and process my next few jobs, for example "I need to do the washing, then take a shower, then get cooking started."
I also do the same thing when dealing with bad memories. Wasn't sure why on that last one but if it's helping me process them I'll consider it a win.
Some time between age 8 and 11 I used to bang my head on metal pipes. Do a lot of rocking, singing a two-word song over & over & over and rubbing my thumbs & index fingers together in wee circles. Probably others.
Great video as always! Some of my stims as an Autistic adult are as follows: Touching my fingers in a equal pattern, first 3 digits on left, first 3 digits on the right hand, and repeat the process; Constantly clicking my pen; Constantly spinning my pen across my fingers; Listening to the same music; Bouncing my legs; Clicking my mouse button; Day dreaming. When I was a child some of them were as follows: Sucking my clothes, scratching my legs until they bled, rocking back and forth, and some of the above. As an adult I mask heavily and as a result I feel as though I am suffering greatly because I can't just be me!
Oh! I like to touch every second finger to my thumb - 2 then 4, 3 then 5 and repeat! I always I thought my finger habits like that were just things I'd picked up from when I used to learn the piano, but you've just made me realise that it's actually another stim for me!
I can recommend Mate. I drink it in the traditional way in a calabaza, a gourd, with a bombilla, a filtered straw. Warm and soft to hold, naturally suger free and so relaxing to sip from.
I have also started learning Begleri. Very relaxing, as long as I don’t try fancy stuff I don’t master yet… 🙃
Your time & attn to detailed, thorough info & examples are SECOND TO NONE 🏆🥇🎯 🤍 🖤
Thanks for sharing.Sometimes I stim intentionally with different toys I have, but also there are so many stims I do which I don't always notice eg: tapping, counting, hair playing, chewing my lip, wriggling my toes, playing with my zip, and I realise it once I have been doing it for a while.
I usually descover new stims when I’m anxious. A few months ago when I went into get tested I started raising my sholders and pressing them agenst my neck and then releasing again and again. Eventually I discovered that throwing my head back while doing that and feeling my head hit my back felt really good. Then I got a neck cramp one day and I stopped doing it. Been kinda doing it again and I’m glad because it feels good.
I have chewed the inside of my mouth to a point where it becomes painful before I realise I have to stop. Often I’ve bitten my lip to the point it’s bleeding and badly swollen and bruised. When I’m stimming massively, I’m not always aware. Certainly have often had diarrhoea, but didn’t know, until now, that the reason behind it is overstimulation. I’ve always just blamed that on other things.
One of my most constant stims is playing with my long nails, which is tactile in a number of ways (my nail beds are sensitive to the sensory difference between long and short nails), but also has a sonic component that I really enjoy, the subtle skritchskritch as I flick my nails against my thumb is just a great sound.
My major stim is shaking my leg in rythmes or patterns. I also have some minor ones; singing (both outloud and in my head), touching soft things (like my service dog's fur), cracking my knuckles, picking at my skin and worst of all; scratching the living daylights out of my skin (service dog trained to alert and intervene). There are a few more, but they only appear in very specific situations.
I have a long beard. My stimming includes holding my beard in one hand and either biting or rubbing my lips on my moustache. I also use either my nail or teeth to put pressure onto the folds where my fingers bend (first knuckle only, Im not a monster) or at the point where my finger nails start.
Nail biting, skin picking, echolalia, staring at neat things or sparkles, and probably more. I unlearned most of them even the non harmful ones and Im realizing how bad i need it
Stimming takes away the "ghost" in my belly that's frantically scrambling for something to fix on so that it can leave me alone and stop bothering me while I'm trying to actually get something done, like serious thinking, or even just coping with the stress of a long telephone conversation. And, yes, stimming definitely takes away pain. Just walking and bouncing a ball can make the pain of inflammation go away.
I really try to quietly stim. On account of a nasty boss who ripped into me for fidgeting when I was supposed to be quietly listening to important information. I was not being verbal, I still don't understand what I did many years later.
I tap a lot, I sniff a lot, I rock, but am conscious of that when I'm out in public. I often look like I'm listening to music and keep time. This isn't so bad for me because I'm musical. I stare at the fan. My fingers are always busy. Either rubbing or tapping. I slowly rub my wrists with my thumbs. I always wondered why I did that, so when I became aware of being ASD. I found that a relief to my weird stimming. I love rocking chairs. They are so calming.
Toe curls, leg shakes, happy hands that look like jazz hands because they face palms towards the ground or towards others, wrist stretches, knuckle popping, happy squeal, the need to touch things that look soft or bright or scratchy, musical/rhythmic fingers, tongue clicking, lip pops, repeatedly messing with the skin around my right thumb, humming, singing, laughing, listening to the same song until I have every word and chord memorized, trying to find patterns and/or movement in every day things, crocheting/knitting when I’m not overwhelmed by physical touch, spinning or swinging when I can, the hop/skip dance move I learned in 7th grade but can’t remember the name of, and my newest one (thank you Chris) is the sign for fish and saying the word with the shshshshsh drawn out. All are immensely satisfying.
I have ASD and ADHD, and I have quite a few stims. My go tos are popping and cracking my knuckles, playing with my eyelids and blinking, rocking, biting my lips, and humming. I used to pick my fingers often, but that caused issues with bleeding, so I stopped doing it as much as I used to. I’d been doing most of these behaviors practically all of my life, but didn’t realize they were associated with ASD and ADHD until taking assessments and doing research. Stimming definitely helps to calm my nerves and helps me to focus. My attention span is limited, so when I’m trying to get information from videos, I’ll put my device down and stimulate as I’m listening. I retain the information a lot better…
I know it can be difficult for neurotypical people to understand stimming. They may find it weird, or even scary at times. I wish more people would take the to learn more about Autism and neurodiversity; they’d know that stimming is perfectly normal, and it’s an important method of self regulation and management of symptoms…
I talk to myself a lot. It's very soothing. But yeah, I am anxious 24/7. Ugh!
I play with my nails. Ill rub them, in a smoothing over and over movement, I will chew on them (don't bite them since I was a kid), I shake my feet when reclining, and I constantly play with my hair. I'm female BTW. So when i was young, and my hair was longer, I would twist it until it was in knots and then I'd pull it out. 😮. Then I got my hair cut short so I could spike it. No more hair twisting. I liked that actually. Now my hair is almost shoulder length. I run my fingers through it a lot! But no more twisting and pulling. I know about how causing physical pain releases endorphins. I've done that, but it was very bad and did leave permanent marks. I don't do that anymore. I am NDAF: I have both ASD and ADHD. It's a crazy life. 😂
I find that a little bit of pain is useful for focusing and distraction from other discomfort. So I poke my finger over and over with my thumbnail. I get a callus because I do this so much.
thanks you for the vidéo
I live in "another country" where I'm learning the language, after having already lived in yet "another country" for nearly 30 years where I became fluent in yet another language. Thankfully the two languages are cousins, so that helps. When I'm walking around in the city and I see words on signs that I really want to make sure I grasp and say right, I say them out loud. Or even when I haven't see a word but one has just come to my mind. I say it, and repeat it a few times, and feel its "shape" within my vocal apparatus, as if melding with it, making it part of me (in fact, I am, 'cause that's what it means to learn a language). And then, inevitably, I realize with a start that I've been doing it again, walking along talking to myself, and I look around to see whether anybody is staring at me...or shepherding their children away from the strange man talking to himself....
Wear ear pods so they think you are talking to someone.
I do a "woodpecker" foot tap, or wiggle. It drives my hubby nuts, so bought an ONO roller to see if I could replace the more disruptive habit with a less annoying one. So far it's worked!
Incognito mode for me. Cheek biting, muscle activation (twitching quad muscles), silent snapping…
I was chewing on a straw watching this and realized that i'm stimming lol. reminded me that as a kid, I used to chew on pencils and even the mouth part of my nebulizer machine I had to use for asthma.
My stims that occur almost mindlessly are picking at seams (i.e. - on clothing, on pillows, etc.), tapping my fingertips in order back and forth with my thumb, and pacing.
Ever since I was a child, I would listen to music and rock back and forth on the floor. I also take objects like pencils and shake them with my hand constantly throughout the day. I always did these things in secret.
I stim mostly by biting the inside of my lips and cheeks. It hurts, but i can't stop. I also stim by flicking my fingers, usually while counting. My last stim is rocking or bouncing my leg.
Stimming for me mostly includes tapping my fingers, feet, saying certain phrases and listening to a song I enjoy over and over.
I trained myself out of biting my nails, but now I click them almost all the time (annoying my husband) I shake my legs when I'm bored or anxious, I press the palms of my hands together hard when I'm overwhelmed, I rock when I'm in pain and is very soothing. I like to dance too it helps me self-regulate.
Tactile (tactical 😎) stimming is huge for me. I love textured objects and fidget toys. After that is proprioceptive stimming, like arm-swinging, rocking, and swinging on swings. I also head bang but I hate it so much because I need all the brain cells I can spare. I’m trying to replace self harm stims with biting chewelry, breathing exercises, and a spiky fidget toy.
AuDHD Here, didnt know I had a Diagnosis until I was 25 due to family withholding that info from me, so Not technically late-diagnosed, anyway, Learning what kind of stims I typically use was an interesting process. Definitely have Visual stims and Auditory stims, I beatbox and talk to myself alot. (The talking to myself is the main way I keep my thoughts in check, as thinking out loud slows down my thought process a large amount) I also love sound design to death, which ends up being an extension of the auditory stims. Definitely also do the throwing things stim, we have these semi weighted hammers at work that have the perfect balance for doing spins around the finger and getting sick quad rotations in a throw with a perfect catch. As I work in a manufacturing environment, the only reason I havent gone insane is the required earplugs and my bone conduction headphones. Also I dance alot, either to music I'm making up in my head or what I'm listening too, doesnt matter what genre, I'll try to dance to anything if the vibe fits.
Not sure it counts as stiming but listening to recording of bath water filling a bath (lots of examples on RUclips). Can't sleep without it, but also calming during the day if I can't focus or just need to get away from stuff.
Less helpfully i pull my eyebrows
I think a good video topic could be about how/why people with ASD/ADHD mask and how much "battery" it uses
Perfect timing! The video I’m posting today is all about masking!
I'm always stimming, even when I think I'm calm.
My toes particularly, are always moving. I guess because usually no one sees them, they are inside my shoes.
Just the other day I was viewing a house because I'm going to move to another town, and I filmed the visit to share with my friends. When editing the video, I saw my left hand going... rubbing and pinching my fingers, wiggling them...
First time I ever caught one of my stims on camera.
I also "dance" from foot to foot a lot when I'm forced to wait. I pace back and forth, and always turn to the left, because turning to the right doesn't feel right 😅 if I'm sitting, my left foot will get going, bouncing up and down. It doesn't feel right if I do it with the left foot. It has to be the right.
I scratch and pick my head all the time, or scratch and pick at my arms face and neck. Then I say it's because I have allergies if I'm talking with people at the time.
I hum a lot, or whistle, and people think it's because I'm happy. I don't try to change their minds about that. Let them think I'm a "happy & carefree" person🤷🏻♀️
When I'm getting to sleep, I rub my feet on the bottom sheet.
For me it's finger snaps, whistles and tweets, owl hoots, gurgles and growls, bouncing leg, and picking at my skin. I've gotten really good at making sounds, like water drops, bird tweets, and SciFi stuff. People think it's cool, but my friends understand it's more complicated.
Did you try to cook your Knee Doo Ball? Just finished cooking a big fat two handed super ball. 😻 I am in love
Not yet. I’m currently traveling and English is not the official language, so a little bit tricky tracking down supplies. I am traveling with one of my needoh gumdrops 😝😝
@@ChrisandDebby You can COOK a Nee-Doh? Why and how?
I've always messed with my piercings, and since I guaged my ears I'm always touching those and smelling my fingers after. I also touch and rub my scalp a lot -unless my hair is in a bun, so I may take it out, fingercomb my hair, rub my scalp, and then put it back up only to do it all over again a few minutes later. Those are just some things.
Wow! I didn't even realize I was stimming when I was in school. I used to smell my eraser right after I used it. Kids used to pick on me for it, but I didn't care because it made me feel better. I also stare really hard at random items (sometimes people it gets awkward) I clap repeatedly and sometimes end it with a yip. And when I'm really tired i rub my legs together.
I know now I've stimmed all my life, but could have benefited from knowing it when I was young instead of told off for it.
I chew the inside of my mouth whenever I drive a car. I also blink my eyes a lot when driving. I also rub my thumbs while driving. I hum, i used to chew my nails. In school, I used to chew my hair until a teacher shamed me for it. I make clicking sounds in the back of my throat. I used to tap my foot all the time and rarely could sit down for long. As soon as I had a thought a b out something, I'd have to get up and do something about that thought. I used to have to tighten the muscles in my arms and legs. Then I'd have to do the other arm or leg to even out the feeling.
I think my most common stim is scratching the tips of my fingers with my teeth. Not biting or gnawing... even if it looks it... I'm just scratching the pads of my finger tips. I also do it with my nails... but more commonly with my teeth. Not the most hygienic thing to be doing, especially when covid was prime... but it helps me. That and bending my fingertips backwards a little. Like a little stretch... only I'll do it for 40 minutes at a time and not realize it
I appreciate you. 🖖
ADHD here diagnosed at 44; all mt life I have done such…Cough, sniff, blink, my eyes, press on hard objects such as my phone, make my ears pop as if I’m yawning,roll my tongue in my mouth, click pens, roll things such as coins in my hands, smell things … the list goes on.
I just realized I have a stim, that I'm working to stop but didn't know was a stim. When I get really stressed, like I'm panicking because I need to go somewhere and don't know what I might bring, I start to hit my legs, but I end up after one or two hits stopping myself because I know its not a good thing :) but here are some of my other stims hehe
-opening and closing the top two parts of my fingers, like opening and closing youe fist, but only the top two joints for each finger
-i make this tic tic tic, kinda sound lol
-Hand FLAPPIESSS
-music, I have a playlist of song that just feel right, like they all have the same kinda tics and bops, their normally more electric or have more of those kind of sounds
-tapping, normally like my right hand, then left hand, eta.
-this is more of a coping skill I use to try and focus on other senses such as if I'm listening to someone or focusing hard, I'll just stare at something and unfocused my eyes
I have more but it's not like I can remember, let alone describe them all lol
Thanks
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I open and close my hand when anxious or overwhelmed
Just like one of my favorite students!!😊😊
Yes, “one hand clapping” - I do it quite fast when very anxious.
I'm a massive nail biter/skin picker. Also, if I'm doing a task that requires me to keep track of where I am (eg going down a list or spreadsheet) I'll tend to say "boom" as I go from one thing to the next, or some other sort of vocal stim. And I fidget - a lot.
However, I'd completely forgot about a couple of things I do until you mentioned the bath thing. I used to like pressing my ear against a table so you'd start to hear surrounding noises differently. Or I might look at something and start rotating my head from left to right while my eyes keep fixed on the object - that's partly to see how things change depending on which part of my glasses I'm looking at it through. There's quite a few things like that which I do or have done that I'd completely forgotten about and didn't really relate to stimming before. Anyway, very interesting video!
The ceiling fan. My son loved fans when he was a toddler. He was my first kid and i had PND so when we went to baby groups and he just wanted to look at the fan i would always try and redirect him back to the group thing and would be so worried about his spinning obessesion. I wish i could turn the clock back and have just followed his interests at the time..seriously this people if youre overly worried about your kids. He still love spinning things. Hes not diagnosed but has so many of the traits. Now we know better we handle snd 'indulge' his 'quirks' more than we would have as does his school. I do wonder if a proper diagnosis would help him more though
I have many stims. I used to bite my nails and hair. I've switched to running my nails between my teeth and running my hands through my hair or braiding and unbraiding it repeatedly. Sometimes I look like Albert Einstein afterwards, lol. I also like drumming my fingers in weird orders, not pinky to thumb or back, but other orders. I think this is because I took piano lessons early, so my fine motor coordination was trained early. I also remember banging my head into the back of my parents' ENORMOUS high-backed couch over and over while watching TV or while seated in the back seat of the car as a kid (I'm too old for booster seats, we had only lap belts). I don't do any head banging anymore. I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of. I catch myself doing things sometimes, but I don't worry about it too much anymore. It used to embarrass me, but as I get older, I care less and less what other people think. As long as I'm not making a weird noise, I figure it's not hurting anyone.
Since I was little I picked at my nails. (More like ripping my nails… I’m now realizing that it’s probably a harmful stim…) but now I chew the inside of my mouth, and am fairly Echolalic
I take back the echolalic part but I do do a lot of auditory stims. This is not a comprehensive list but thought it would be interesting to share!
I've always had the habit of biting my nails since I was 6, maybe even before. When people asked me why I do that, I just said that's normal for me.
I don't know If I'm in the spectrum or not, but for years I've been wondering why do I have such a weird habit.
I do the light watching stim on my empty plate after I finish eating. My wife just asked me last night what I was looking at on my plate and I laughed when I realised it was a stim.
Singing songs using only one sound like meow meow meow or bock bock bock is a lot of fun.
I don't bite my nails but I pick/scrape the skin on my thumb
Feeling the texture of my fingernails on top or the edge with adjacent fingertips or my teeth, blurting out the name of my dog, tapping surfaces with my finger nails, putting tension on the muscles in my hands, playing a new pleasing song non stop for days, smelling real cinnamon or star anise and looking at cute or funny pet pictures, chewing chewy food or candy, chain smoking cigarettes (managed to quit tho)
I’m, like, 99% sure that I’m autistic. One of my favorite ways to stim is cracking my fingers. I always start with my left or right middle finger and I have no idea why😅. I also bounce my foot a lot and the typical rocking back and forth.
47 times? More like 4700, am I right? Me @ Me: Oh wait, are you on week three of Listening to /That/ Song? 🤣🤣🤣
I wag my feet and bounce my knees tons! It unfortunately can irritate anyone who sits next to me. My mom would get pretty irritated by the knee bouncing at times but she also called my foot wagging “happy feet” because my feet most often get to wagging when I’m happy. 😅
😅 LOL thumbs up for the butt pinch stim lie 😅 👍
I noticed my daughter stimming when she was an infant. When she's tired she would thrust her hips up and down. She's 6 and still does this, but she puts her hands between her thighs and holds the back of her legs. It looks really inappropriate (if you follow what I'm describing), but she's not doing anything wrong. I don't know if I should try and get her to figure out another stim or leave it be. I worry about what her peers might think/do as she gets older if they see her doing this.
I had 8 months of explosive diahhrea. it sucked. thanks for cutting back on stock clips. next request is to cut down on back and forth camera cuts. tell Steve the things that come into the screen (like the bruise)are artfully done. love the butt pinching story. next time you see a Christmas tree, squint your eyes. best visual stim ever.
I’m starting the process of a diagnosis and still wrapping my head around what I think, if it is Autism or not. Certainly, I have and have had various things that must only be stims…as a child I would compulsively made this weird sound with the back of my throat but soon picked up I shouldn’t be ‘weird’. Now I push my fingers or teeth together to the pain barrier, rub my left temple quite hard and others but I wonder from you guys if anyone has this- if a plan (even very minor) starts to go off my time schedule: like last night I wanted to join a group call with friends at 7 and my partner wouldn’t stop talking and as soon as it hit 7 first my foot was going, then I was rocking my hips back and forth and eventually almost my whole body was vibrating. Anyone have something like that?
I use to click my pen to stim, until I did it at the wrong time in the wrong class at high school, never did it again and internalized my stim at school
I try hard to hide my stims. Its nice though when i am alone i can do more of them.
We spend too much time talking about stimming, and far too many Autistic/ADHD influencers infantile it. In childhood, all of my stims(we didn’t call them that) were self destructive (nail biting, mouth biting, skin picking, etc). I still do some of those. Excessive masturbation is one I’ve carried for decades. All of those are frowned upon, by society.