About Stimming

[lassedk78]

U shud really put that cam in the windowsill next time u make a vid.

[RachaeIMarie]

Thank you for enlightening me as to what stimming is.

[RJPBurtonBoards]

I was just searching for Stimming because he is a great artist, does anyone know if he has a disability?

[jakevidzz]

blue tack! that shit is sooo helpful!

[tstodgell]

Good point about the harm in punishing kids for stimming. I mean... you wouldn't punish NT kids for _their_ disruptive behaviors? "Billy, you've been communicating non-literally again. Straight to the principal's office with you!"

[Sicowkaksin]

My Stimming is usually hand flapping, shaking a pen, chewing on things, repeatedly turning pages, or stomping my foot.

[gorramdoll]

@krstcmjns like I dunno if it's technically stimming but I feel like for some people talking & even thinking in certain ways can be repetitive behaviors and be comforting in the same way.

[krstcmjns]

@gorramdoll Um, I know this doesn't have anything to do with what was being discussed previously, but, is it common in people with asd to become mentally foggy, confused, empty minded or disorganized etc. at times? This is kind of rare feedback for me. Sorry and thanks!

[gorramdoll]

@krstcmjns I think so, I certainly do and so do some of my friends

[krstcmjns]

@gorramdoll Thank you.

[scruethedemiurge]

Don't most people, perhaps all have some kind of physical ritual that they perform for whatever emotional reasons they might have for performing it? Nothing about what you call "stimming" strikes me as particularly autistic.

[gorramdoll]

@scruethedemiurge I'm glad that you feel that way. Some rituals tend to be performed by people with disabilities (like handflapping) and as a result they're seen as a "disabled" thing to do and they become stigmatized. Or stimming is more obvious or done more frequently when done by disabled people. But to some extent, it is actually a universal thing, which is what makes it so fucked up that particular kinds of motion are so stigmatized for disabled people.

[etwolfe2]

I totally agree. Stimming is my way to let off steam from overstimulation. Again you nailed it with your intelligence! Ln Red

[dilcofilms]

My stimming tic is hand flapping, pacing, toungue rolling and head shaking.

[momscouter]

Thanks for all of these videos. They are wonderful.

[ctanis1]

Thanks for sharing this. Stimming is very important. My 5 yr old has Autism and his stimming is spinning. I asked him one time how does spinning make you feel and he said happy :)

[skriglangka]

I think that this is one of the best and most important videos about autism.

I will make this available in my forum and recommend this to everyone.

Thanks for explaining this so well.

[Magnulus76]

Hi there, my therapist says i have Aspergers and i am getting tested at age 34. I did some stimming behaviors, especially as a kid. I notice you voice is sort of like mine, i tend to talk with the same low monotone hum you've got. I also have the habit of babbling about stuff that sometimes annoys other people.

[gorramdoll]

@EvCat888 you're fine. don't worry!

[miasansom]

I stim as a coping mechanism. I also have PTSD. I worked in an office environment for over ten years and felt that I had to suppress my stimming as much as I could and it was very harmful to me to do this and I ended up having a major breakdown. I gasp (and can not control this) dozens of times a day when I become excited or anything piques my interest. This is more of a tic. I rock and flap at will now, but suppress it slightly if appropriate for the situation. I cannot suppress it altogether.

[19ufo47]

Would sayng some dumb thing over and over that I made up and think is funny, but nobody else understands or shares my sense of humor- could that be "stemming"?

I say a few things all the time, and have been for years. I just makes me feel better.

[AHS1953]

WOW! As a neurotypical, I was riveted by your explanation of stimming. So worthwhile, I watched it three times in succession.

Thank you very much.

[miasansom]

@AHS1953 thank you for your effort to understand ASD stimming as a NT. I wish more people would be as open-minded as you are.

[kijejo43]

Thank you for sharing this video. I have a couple quick questions for you. Was you allowed to stim as a child? Did anyone try to stop you? Do you feel stimming helped you to focus more? I admire who you are and the fight you have in you to be that person. God Bless you.

[gorramdoll]

people didn't exactly try to stop me in a concentrated way but I understood from being made fun of for it, etc., that it was considered to be a bad thing to do. I feel stimming in certain ways helps me to focus more. however, I feel that because I felt embarrassed about it and tried to repress it as a kid, I have sort of problems with it (cont.)

[gorramdoll]

I tend to repress it and then end up doing really dramatic jumping around, almost unconsciously, without planning it out. this is bad because if you stim that dramatically it makes your heart beat really fast and sort of disrupts what you were doing before. I wish that I could just stim in more low-key pervasive ways, like maybe handflapping all the time--I'm trying to transition myself to stimming more like that, now that I'm older and can understand what's going on.

God bless you too. thanks.

[3laraaslisaani]

@gorramdoll How has the procession of low-key pervasive stimming been? I went through the unconscious explosive jumping when I was in high school, and now I'm trying to relax more in public (and to let off steam in private after getting really repressed), and use stimming as a way to get unselfconscious and focus on what the other person is saying (or a music video. Or on a thought.) 

[gorramdoll]

@3laraaslisaani the procession has been AWESOME, things have really changed since I made this video. I still jump around sometimes when I'm excited, but it doesn't feel like this explosion of pent-up emotion that I can't control. I don't know that I'm an extremely visible stimmer now, but movement just happens. It feels very different and it's even better than I hoped for.

it's cool to hear that someone else is going through the same experience.

[3laraaslisaani]

@gorramdoll I feel like I've been under a rock for protection for most of my life, and I want to be a free little crab on the sand. Enjoy the waves.

[gorramdoll]

@3laraaslisaani that's such an awesome thing to say!

[cubbs357]

@gorramdoll I have Aspergers too I rub my hans together really fast or touch walls back and fourth it doesn't bother me at all because I'm use to it.Other people look at me as if I'm mentally challenged it's ets annoying when people look at you just because you do random things such as stimming,o you ever have the same problem.

[cubbs357]

@gorramdoll I stim alot people look at me weird.

[DChatc]

I simply channel all that excitement onto my fingers, I clench one thinger at a time from the index to the pinky in a wave motion, sometimes I tap a surface in this pattern also.

I also rotate my right foot under a table.

I also lightly rock back and forth when I'm really into something, and I rub my hands together whenever I have a breakthrough of some sort.

I essentially just modererated and augmented it.

[gorramdoll]

That's true. I wonder what makes it look different for us; I mean, what makes it be bigger movements and things like that. That's funny about masturbation, I guess the nature of the movement is the same.

I don't think I get sensory overloads. It used to be really bad when I was a kid. I remember not being able to wear boots and getting into these horrible states when I was in crowds. But a lot of that is gone now, which is really cool. I don't know if sensory issues commonly change with age.

[gorramdoll]

well, that's cool that you have the earplugs to help you with it. I'm surprised they help that much, though; I'm more used to seeing ASD people use headphones. and it's neat that you have the motorcycle. I'm really glad I started flapping a lot more though, lately, because it is portable.

[gorramdoll]

yeah, that's what I mean by portable. I've started actually thinking about my stimming on a conscious level in the past few months, and have realized that my stimming is often just these big, exhausting explosions. And I've tried to take more control of it and realize how helpful it is to do handflapping when I am waiting in line or in a crowd or something else stressful. To some extent this has resulted in less flapping/jumping when I am alone, which is AWESOME.

[gorramdoll]

yeah, I hate waiting. and I agree about controlling stimming being like holding your breath.

[dietcokewithcherry]

I hate stimming; and the feeling of doing something 'wrong' then really stresses me out, which causes more stimming, and it goes on and on and on. Although when I'm alone I don't really care about it anymore, it's a good thing and I know it. Still, I go to bed for exactly 30mins every afternoon to keep my stimming at its bare minimum, because I feel bad about it.

[dietcokewithcherry]

Also, I was wondering if you feel anything when you see another person stim? Maybe it is just me, but I always seem to feel like an immense sense of calm, it's hard to explain. It's almost like seeing someone stim is like looking through a window into their core being and I feel the strongest connection. Not just in my mind (i.e. "we're alike")-- it's actually a physical thing, to the point where my eyes water and my stomach flips and.. right..

Do you feel anything at all?

[gorramdoll]

Wow, sleeping more makes you stim less? That's interesting. Sometimes I don't like stimming when I feel like it just sort of takes control of me and I'm not stimming to do something better, I'm just stimming for the sake of it for a long time. That's the only time I really hate it.

I don't know if I feel that emotional but it definitely makes me happy. I really like hearing autistic people vocalize, it's the most comforting sound (the really long moany sounds, like whales).

[jjazman1234]

Interesting video. I think it is stimulating the brain in a way that distracts people away from other things that are bothering them. Like the brain is overloaded with disturbing information and the stimming is relaxing because it presents a repetative stimulation to the brain that counteracts it. It seems similar to calming down a baby by rocking the baby, except you are "self rocking" in a manner of speaking. I totally agree with you that it is good unless the person is hurting themselves.

[gorramdoll]

yes, exactly