Weird Stims?

[Fino]

I actually have quite a few. My mouse pad is kind of velvety and when I'm on the computer I'm constantly rubbing it. Anything soft, same thing. I do bounce my foot over the edge of the bed when I go to bed - I didn't realize this until one night sleeping with my sister and she threatened to hang me upside down out the window if I didn't stop. My daughter in law has pointed out the I'm always tapping all my right hand fingertips against the left hand fingertips. I do tap my fingers on tabletops and try to watch that because it gets on peoples nerves. At restaurants to keep myself from doing that I'm playing with straw paper. Guess all those in California can't do that anymore. lol

Now I tear up napkins instead!

 

[tducey]

If I get frustrated I rub my hand across my forehead.

 

[robo]

I used to run into walls and ram into the ground because I liked the feel of it, but I quit that one. My whole life, I've furiously paced whenever I think too hard, often I run and jump onto things too, which is probably what lead me into running into walls LOL. My dad would yell at me to quit making so much noise when I lived with him. I can't run as much in the apartment I'm in right now, and I've replaced it with hair-pulling, which isn't as effective. I have also done the ripping up napkins and tissues thing, and once, on the more extreme side, I cut a bunch of holes in the leather covering of one of my great grandma's fold up tables with a knife and I didn't even notice I was doing it!! I felt very bad about it.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

Finger tapping , face rubbing, facing patting, head smoothing too name a few...

 

[Joel's Hear]

Super weird stim here. I blow spit bubbles. Really big ones. Grapefruit-size bubble of viscous saliva. You get the picture.

I can't blow bubbles with gum.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

Super weird stim here. I blow bubbles. (Putting the pic as a thumbnail for the easily frightened or repulsed).View attachment 49986

I blow spit bubbles as a stims, too, though it's not very often anymore..

 

[Joel's Hear]

I blow spit bubbles as a stims, too, though it's not very often anymore..

I don't chew, flap, or wriggle my fingers anymore. I only blow bubbles when I'm in a certain mood, a casual contentedness, like a munching cow. Never rocked. My most frequent stim is rubbing my hands quickly through my hair, causing my already wiry hair to twist into strange shapes. I do it when I'm very enthusiastic about something, or angry. Sometimes I purposely convulse to blow off steam. But it is so slight that no one ever notices.

 

[Anonym]

A few of my favorites (some maybe more common than others):

Vigorously shaking things (with a rapid oscillating wrist rotation kind of motion) that rattle, clink or jingle
Rubbing soft things between my thumb and forefinger
Smelling vegetable tanned leather
Shaking my head back and forth, especially when it makes my neck pop
Creating pressure between my fingers and toes; like sticking my toes through the holes in an afghan blanket, locking my hands together with my fingers outstretched
Pressing my cuticles back with the edge of my thumbnail
Watching undulating organic rhythm like fire, wind across grass and through trees, etc.
Fiddling with small pieces of paper; I'll fold, crinkle, flatten and generally maim any piece of paper I physically hold on to for more than a few minutes. (This one I'm not so fond of)

I do also chew/peel at my lips and love picking scabs. It's satisfying on so many levels, but I'm careful not to hurt myself. Part of the fun is waiting until it's at that perfect point when I can pick and peel it off without damaging the tissues underneath, but can still feel the resistance as it pulls away. I can always tell I'm in distress when I've been unintentionally picking a lot.

 

[WereBear]

I have a new stim bracelet! It is also medical ID.

An autistic doctor online pointed out that if I have ever "lost my words" under stress, I really need to have one. It can make a difference since EMTs and other medical personnel are now being trained in better handling we autists in such a situation. This doctor is one of the people who are doing the training.

It is color changing "mood beads." I have always loved worry stones, I carry polished crystals in my purse, and now I have this:

It really works! It is constantly changing colors from yellow all the way to deep purple. and all sorts of blends in between. My inner child is delighted

 

[WereBear]

But the frequency of animal mimicry is interesting. Early on I used to have an impulse to act like like Chimpanzee in department type stores. Walking funny and making low chimp noises rummaging thru the merchandise.

Me too! It's like I feel the need to express myself in body language, and since my culture really doesn't have one, I have to borrow from the animal kingdom.

I love stretching like a cat, and as a child I loved to prowl around a carpeted room on all fours. I make cat noises all the time, but then, I'm usually talking to my cats.

Usually.

 

[Tom]

Me too! It's like I feel the need to express myself in body language, and since my culture really doesn't have one, I have to borrow from the animal kingdom.

I love stretching like a cat, and as a child I loved to prowl around a carpeted room on all fours. I make cat noises all the time, but then, I'm usually talking to my cats.

Usually.

Now that raises another interesting aspect/question. Is animal body language easier to read/learn for all or are autistics more attuned (sometimes) somehow? Is the prevalence of so called 'Whisperers' higher among autistics? Etc.

 

[WereBear]

Now that raises another interesting aspect/question. Is animal body language easier to read/learn for all or are autistics more attuned (sometimes) somehow? Is the prevalence of so called 'Whisperers' higher among autistics? Etc.

I can only answer from my own experience, but as a Cat Whisperer I can say that a cat's native language IS body language. I read it better than I "speak" it, since I have immobile ears and no tail. However, give me an animatronic costume and I might become Queen of the Cats!

I have studied this from reading books in my teens, but I always seemed very sensitive to people's voice tones and body language from my attention to small details and my high sensory input.

I think most people can learn, though. I started with book by a former FBI agent. Look up the latest, and the work of The Paul Ekman Group.

 

[guitarandtattoos]

@AuBurney Tuckerson after reading this thread I started doing it I clinch my teeth and sometimes close my eyes hard. I use to rotate my thumb in a circle and it's irritating especially if you notice it and then get self conscious about it and then can't stop until you think about something else.

 

[Ronin82]

I'm definitely a lip-picker, pacer, and foot-jiggler (right foot only). I also have a need for tactile stimulation, so I tend to repeatedly punch or stroke hard but interesting surfaces, like brick walls. I LOVE soft grasses and certain animal furs (but am sensitive to specific textures of furs. HATE wet fur!!). If I have to sit still, I stroke my hair on the back of my head with both hands and rock my right foot from side to side.

One of the reasons I love martial arts is because the forms are all rhythmic, repetitive movements. I have to really watch myself or I'll do favorite sections out in public, in contexts that wouldn't understand those movements.

I like to mimic dogs. I'm a dog whisperer, so making dog-sounds and dog body language are pretty easy for me. Right now I get to work with horses again, and I used to mimic horses as a young 4th grader.

Very interesting thread, thanks!!

 

[Nauti]

Now that raises another interesting aspect/question. Is animal body language easier to read/learn for all or are autistics more attuned (sometimes) somehow? Is the prevalence of so called 'Whisperers' higher among autistics? Etc.

My partner is definitely an animal "whisperer" type of Aspie/HFA guy. All kinds of animals, wild ones as well as pets. They love him. A neighbor's dog adopted him and, was so obsessed with him, we ended up caring for him full-time.

Thats just what I've witnessed, but he's told me lots of stories about other animals, all kinds, a wild wombat, a wild baby possum, snakes, heaps of dogs, a wild kitten, birds ...also tiny children love him. So yeah, my guy is totally an Aspie Animal Whisperer.

We communicate with sounds a lot. And body movements. He's the first person I've even known who totally "get's" me. We both put up with an awful lot of bad treatment before we met each other. I was 37 and he was 44. That was 8 years ago.

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

My partner is definitely an animal "whisper" type of Aspie/HFA guy. All kinds of animals, wild ones as well as pets. They love him. A neighbor's dog adopted him and, was so obsessed with him, we ended up caring for him full-time. Thats just what I've witnessed but he's told me lots of stories about other animals, all kinds, a wild wombat, a wild baby possum, snakes, heaps of dogs, a wild kitten, birds ...also tiny children love him. So yeah, my guy is totally an Aspie Animal Whisperer.

We communicate with sounds a lot. And body movements. He's the first person I've even known who totally "get's" me. We both put up with an awful lot of bad treatment before we met each other. I was 37 and he was 44. That was 8 years ago.

Same. I'm a total animal-lover! Plus I seem to understand them better than the rest of my family.

 

[inkfingers]

I like to smell a clean blanket. I love that clean laundry smell. I carry my blanket around the house with me and sniff it. I also pull out my hair (trichotillomania), but my doctor thinks it might be more of a repetitive behavior than a trichotillomania diagnosis. When I'm really excited, I jump up and down and wave my hands about and kind of squeal.

 

[Nauti]

I like to smell a clean blanket. I love that clean laundry smell. I carry my blanket around the house with me and sniff it. I also pull out my hair (trichotillomania), but my doctor thinks it might be more of a repetitive behavior than a trichotillomania diagnosis. When I'm really excited, I jump up and down and wave my hands about and kind of squeal.

I squeal quite a bit. Only at home really and with people I can be myself with, though.
I jump up and down when excited too. I twiddle my toes, jiggle my legs and feet, stroke myself, tap. I used to sing to stim. I talk to myself. I pick scabs too (I think it's kind of gross but I've always done it), rub my nose, tap my teeth together, grind my teeth when I'm really stressed. I used to suck my hair, as a child and I have pulled my hair out, when super stressed, when younger and when I wanted to not have dreadlocks anymore.
I used to bang my head too. Oh I still slap my thighs quite a bit when excited or stressed.

Also rub or hold my forehead or temples and stroke or hold my face. Rub, tap or hold my hands, fingers or wrists. Lots of stuff.

I also compulsively check the two forums I contribute to, here (just recently) and myptsd (for over a year now).

 

[WereBear]

When I'm really excited, I jump up and down and wave my hands about and kind of squeal.

I am similarly compelled to express happiness with my body and voice, though I generally just “beam with my eyes.”

I have noticed that those movements and facial expressions which get exaggerated in cartooning are things I like to do. Before my diagnosis that was explained by me being “theatrical.”

 

[AuBurney Tuckerson]

I like to smell a clean blanket. I love that clean laundry smell. I carry my blanket around the house with me and sniff it. I also pull out my hair (trichotillomania), but my doctor thinks it might be more of a repetitive behavior than a trichotillomania diagnosis. When I'm really excited, I jump up and down and wave my hands about and kind of squeal.

I used to chew

I like to smell a clean blanket. I love that clean laundry smell. I carry my blanket around the house with me and sniff it. I also pull out my hair (trichotillomania), but my doctor thinks it might be more of a repetitive behavior than a trichotillomania diagnosis. When I'm really excited, I jump up and down and wave my hands about and kind of squeal.

I used to chew on my clean shirts because of the laundry smell and even taste it! Also, I have an urge to pick at scabs. I can't stand having them on me.