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Difficulty understanding stimming

Tallen01

New Member
Can someone explain to me what constitutes something as stimming or a repetitive behavior? I understand the stereotypical hand flapping, verbalizations etc. But I’m curious about the more nuanced forms that higher functioning individuals might engage in including durations/frequency. Please don’t judge me for my “stims”. I frequently will rub my fingers where my nose meets my face and smell my fingers. I do this repeatedly and I’m not sure why. My wife hates it lol. I also love running my sheet through my fingers when I’m in bed. I love the feeling of it when it’s cold. I’ll do this for sometimes 20 minutes at a time. I’m assuming these would be considered self stimulatory behaviors. I am diagnosed by the way but I do question my diagnosis.
 
Can someone explain to me what constitutes something as stimming or a repetitive behavior? I understand the stereotypical hand flapping, verbalizations etc. But I’m curious about the more nuanced forms that higher functioning individuals might engage in including durations/frequency. Please don’t judge me for my “stims”. I frequently will rub my fingers where my nose meets my face and smell my fingers. I do this repeatedly and I’m not sure why. My wife hates it lol. I also love running my sheet through my fingers when I’m in bed. I love the feeling of it when it’s cold. I’ll do this for sometimes 20 minutes at a time. I’m assuming these would be considered self stimulatory behaviors. I am diagnosed by the way but I do question my diagnosis.
I rock back and forth, from side to side, or round and round. It calms me down. It used to drive my mum mad as autism was understood back then and she thought I looked like a dada.
 
Read o.c.d behaviours and self stimulation(stim,stimming) behaviours to know specifically which are autism,it will probably be tailored to you personally
 
Read o.c.d behaviours and self stimulation(stim,stimming) behaviours to know specifically which are autism,it will probably be tailored to you personally

ah thank you. That was an informative read. I would definitely say my repetitive behaviors that I engage in now are more in line with ASD rather than OCD because I do find enjoyment in them and they are relaxing. However, as a child I had an obsession with the number five and then it was three and I would count to three repetitively and do “stim” behaviors in threes perhaps that was more of an OCD thing.
 
Not sure there is actually concensus on what is 'officially' considered Stimming.

I take a broad view and think in terms of any repetitive behavior. I also think NTs do it as well as ASD folks.

I have a somewhat similar bedtime ritual making repetitive motions with my hands.
 
Before I became disabled, I used to pace and spin a lot. Now it's kind of funny, in my electric wheelchair, I pace and spin sometimes. Since the wheelchair can go 4.5 mph, It's actually lots of fun, sort of like a carnival ride.

One time I was out in a trendy part of town with my daughter, and we ran into my brother. He seemed to not be high for once, and was actually his pleasant, funny, if not a little cocky self.

I ended up asking him if he wanted to eat pizza with us. It was covid, so we had to wait at tables outside the restaurant. I was nervous having my brother around, and I was bored waiting for the pizza to cook, so I got back into my wheelchair and started driving figure-eights in the wheelchair.

My brother piped up, "Hey Sissy, you can't use your wheelchair as a fidget spinner!!" I suddenly stopped driving it and cracked up laughing to the point of tears. My daughter was howling too.

So yeah, I guess that's a stim too!

I just bought those spinners. Maybe for gifts? Sometimes obsessively concentrating on something when l am bored helps me. It seems l can have a low threshold for boredom, that can outweigh a lot of my other issues. I always want to think, watch, read, play solitare, race video cars, cook - whatever. And then l found my zen.

I agree with @Yeshuasdaughter
I love to spin.
 
ah thank you. That was an informative read. I would definitely say my repetitive behaviors that I engage in now are more in line with ASD rather than OCD because I do find enjoyment in them and they are relaxing. However, as a child I had an obsession with the number five and then it was three and I would count to three repetitively and do “stim” behaviors in threes perhaps that was more of an OCD thing.
Realise that anxiety has probably been with since the uterus ,unless you were blessed to be barely anxious ,think of what you did ,if you were anxious ,another common diagnosis is a.d.h.d, picking is one of the symptoms,yes welcome to the world of the not fun comorbidities(health conditions that aren't your neurological state !autism),a.s.d is a neurotypical (largest percentage neurology worldwide)title ,because we aren't little Neurotypicals ,they can't stand that,rarely will a n.t.(neurotypical)learn your method of communicating,but we must!!! learn theirs I was diagnosed 6 years ago later in life ,so im slightly ahead of you, in what I've crammed in my very full head.
 
What's a "dada" :confused:
A politically incorrect word for someone who rocks back-and-forth, for example, in a mental institution, handicapped in some way.
In the 70's and 80's we used to say Duh! to anyone who said anything daft and call them politically incorrect names like sp4z :(
 

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