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Stims & stimming - new Autistamatic video

Autistamatic

He's just this guy, you know?
V.I.P Member
I said when I posted the #puppetgate video last week that I was working on some new videos in the usual Autistamatic format. Here's the first one of the new batch :)

In this one, I talk about autistic stims, stimming, why we do it and why it's important not to stop us from doing it.

As always, constructive criticism welcome ;)

 
I absolutely love the intro - how did you come up with that?
Another great video - and I never thought of the pen clicking as stimming - something I used to get fussed at over all the time. LOL
Also - thanks - your video came a t a good time - to distract my thoughts. :)
 
Great intro. Well thought out presentation all around. Exploring more about the whys than the hows. Packing so much into a near eleven minute video. Nice touch to mention the difference between stims and tics as well.

Impressive as always. Well done!

PS- I'm one of those persons who is prone to stimming without even realizing it. Swaying back and forth or pacing...often so focused and lost in my own thoughts. And I'm ok with this. :)

Thank you for being such an effective advocate for autistic people.
 
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I love it, especially your exhortation for us to remember to be respectful of others. If we are distracting them by loud stems so we can focus that is not right either. We need to stim responsibly when possible. Some on the Internet are advocating for an in-your-face stim it seems.
 
I absolutely love the intro - how did you come up with that?

I don't know. I think it's because one of my regular stims when I'm sat at a desk or table is to drum my fingers to the beat of the William Tell Overture, so the association between rhythm & stimming is kind of fixed in ma heed!

I love it, especially your exhortation for us to remember to be respectful of others

Thank you, and I do firmly believe that's the best way forward. Up till now it's been all on our shoulders to make the effort to "fit in". We shouldn't expect to reverse that completely. It's no more fair on allistic people than the current situation is to us autistics. There's a middle ground where nobody is inconveniencing the other too much and each side can recognise what the other does to accommodate them :)
 
Exploring more about the whys than the hows.

I figured there's been plenty done by others about fidget tools/toys and "How I stim", "My favourite stims", "Stim Dancing" and more. I haven't come across much detail about the "why" we do it or the fact that it can confuse/disturb others. so I thought I'd best concentrate on those :)
 
Well done.

I didn’t realise it was over 10 minutes long. I thought I’d only been watching you for 5 minutes or so.

Thanks for the pauses too. Gave me a chance to catch up with myself.

I liked the ‘funny’ :) (infinity toy and microphone) :)
 
Very informative video. I do a lot of stimming with my fingers, mostly touching each of my fingertips to my thumb in the same order back and forth. I always thought it was weird. I am also noticing that I will rock back and forth slightly when trying to work through a thought.

I like what you say about body language. Unfortunately, we get pegged for having aggressive or disinterested stances when we are simply calmly paying attention. I tend to believe that my facial expressions don't always match the related emotions or moods either. Different topic.

Thanks for the validation.
 
Very informative video. I do a lot of stimming with my fingers, mostly touching each of my fingertips to my thumb in the same order back and forth. I always thought it was weird. I am also noticing that I will rock back and forth slightly when trying to work through a thought.

I like what you say about body language. Unfortunately, we get pegged for having aggressive or disinterested stances when we are simply calmly paying attention. I tend to believe that my facial expressions don't always match the related emotions or moods either. Different topic.

Thanks for the validation.

You may have noticed me doing the exact same thing in the video. All those I filmed are things I often do myself ;)

I've lost count of the times people have thought I was being ignorant when I was actually paying rapt attention. It took me some time to realise what was going on, and since then I've discovered that many of us have observed the same.

I try to keep my stims quiet and unobtrusive where possible, but I do often realise that I'm stimming unconsciously when I clock the odd looks I'm getting :)
 
I have watched a few of your videos at this point and really appreciate them.

I'm glad you included the comparison with tics because both my son and I received probable Tourettes diagnoses which I never felt were completely accurate.
 
You may have noticed me doing the exact same thing in the video. All those I filmed are things I often do myself ;)

I've lost count of the times people have thought I was being ignorant when I was actually paying rapt attention. It took me some time to realise what was going on, and since then I've discovered that many of us have observed the same.

I try to keep my stims quiet and unobtrusive where possible, but I do often realise that I'm stimming unconsciously when I clock the odd looks I'm getting :)


I do many of the finger flicking type stims you showed though I rarely have a gadget or toy in my hand. I prefer to use my hands themselves as the toy. I also do several things with my face and those are the stims I am most self-conscious about. I blink/squeeze my eyes shut and I press my lips together. I also get quite busy running my tongue around on various teeth, obsessed with a gap or a protrusion. This can result in some very odd looking faces!
 
I watched the first 6 minutes and it lagged a bit which ended me, but then I read the comments and they made me curious so I watched the rest. :D

I don't think I even really knew exactly why I stim until now! Especially if someone is looking directly at me and talking for longer than a few seconds, I either stim, stop listening entirely, leave, or explode into a million pieces like a humpty-dumpty who had a great fall! :eek:
 
I said when I posted the #puppetgate video last week that I was working on some new videos in the usual Autistamatic format. Here's the first one of the new batch :)

In this one, I talk about autistic stims, stimming, why we do it and why it's important not to stop us from doing it.

As always, constructive criticism welcome ;)

Thank you for your videos. I actually thought about "filming" some of my stims and posting them here. As Pats said I never thought of the pen clicking as stimming either. Your videos are very informative and well done. I hope many people besides on this site view them. Learning about all my autistic tendencies has been a journey over the last year or so and I suspect will continue to be. Thank you for what you do and please keep them coming. No criticism here. Good stuff!
 
I used to have one of those infinity cubes - they are great, they perfect fidget tool. Now I really want one again:)
I would like to add that for me, stimming also helps to regulate sensory stimulation. When I'm overloaded, by emotion or a particular sense, it helps me to stim to be able to tolerate that sense. For example, I find walking on sand and then going into cold water for a swim really hard to do because of sensory sensitivity. If I stim while doing so, rubbing my hands together, for example, it makes this bearable. I'm overriding one sensation by introducing another. Also, when I get stressed, or overexcited, I have involuntary stims which help to calm me down and regulate stimulation levels, such as pacing, running, flapping hands.
 
Hooray for finger flicking, touching thumbs to fingers in order, rocking when standing, and all stims that are not unsanitary or harmful or too loud for the people I share space with.

An excellent vid! I liked it. A d the swirls of color at the end appeal to my artist soul.

Well done!
 

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