What are your stims?

[8398]

My stim used to be sucking my thumb, until 14 or so. Now it's whistling quietly. I'm good at it now, but there's no way I can show it off because, it's almost silent haha.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

Flap, spin, rock and teeth grind mostly.

 

[_eri_bellehumeur]

When I'm anxious I hum a lot, play with my nails, tap my foot, tongue clicks, pick at my skin, and others. I keep my hair down so that I can untangle it when I'm uncomfortable and it brings less attention than other stims. If I'm excited I snap my fingers A LOT, to a point that its probably annoying so I've learned to snap my fingers without actually producing the sound, lol. I also pace- being at home most of the day, I probably spend on average like 2-3 hours a day just pacing and working out thoughts.

 

[sport]

When very little would run to couch and rock my self as I got older pace a lot and rub my hands also some.

 

[Soleil]

Normally I spin things, like coins or pencils, or I'll tap my fingers against things. I may pace a lot, especially while thinking. I also spin myself in circles, hum/ sing to myself, or just meow at myself. If I'm having a conversation with a friend I tend to fiddle with a plushie.

When I'm anxious or upset, then I tend to play with a plushie or a fidget spinner. Otherwise I may play with my hands and fingers. I don't normally rock unless I'm very upset.

 

[Gift2humanity]

rocking, and playing bubble shooter

 

[Boggle]

I have a bunch of things I do and I have no idea if they are stims but I found this thread very interesting and made me notice some things about myself (not sure if I have asd):

All the time things:
- Smelling things (not admitting what)
- Scratching my scalp all over with one finger
- touching my nose and sniffing
(So glad this is anonymous!)
- signing (sign language) words and phrases to myself
- twirling hair
- tapping fingers in certain patterns so all fingers get the same number of taps
- tapping my fingers onto my thumb as if I am playing a tune on the recorder (not the actual notes but I pretend to go up and down in pitch to match the music I’m imagining)

When I’m stressed:
- rocking
- biting hands
- humming noises
- rubbing forehead
- closing eyes
- tapping forehead
- rubbing palms together
- occasionally hitting my head

I’ve not admitted this list to anyone ever! Although some of it I do in front of people, some I save for when nobody is watching.

 

[Soleil]

- signing (sign language) words and phrases to myself

I'm curious, is sign language your primary language? I believe a lot of autistic people repeat words and phrases to themselves, including myself, but the only time I ever sign to myself is if I get carried away with a daydream. But then, despite being hard of hearing I don't really know much ASL

- tapping fingers in certain patterns so all fingers get the same number of taps

Same! I also try to make sure I tap the center of my finger, and not the sides.

 

[Boggle]

I'm curious, is sign language your primary language? I believe a lot of autistic people repeat words and phrases to themselves, including myself, but the only time I ever sign to myself is if I get carried away with a daydream. But then, despite being hard of hearing I don't really know much ASL


Same! I also try to make sure I tap the center of my finger, and not the sides.

My primary language is English but I trained and qualified as a sign language (Auslan) interpreter. I haven't actually done the job because I realised it was completely not for me by I love the language!

 

[Streetwise]

I love them "yankee candles" you get at garden centres and gift shops. There's a shop near where I live with nothing but that brand of candle.
With the smelling, do you ever sniff your hands or other random things? Like continually.

yep I did it with a shampoo called Timoteo so much I inhaled the liquid

 

[watersprite]

pace
various games
re-reading books
evening out items so they’re visually balanced in their space
tea
small repetitive tightening of jaw, teeth grinding
wggling my feet
sometimes I rock but only when alone

 

[clg114]

I always carry a Leatherman Tool with me. I spend a lot of time unfolding and folding it back up. When I do that it makes slight mechanical noise that I find very soothing. I need to be doing something with my hands and that is usually it.

We have a couple of rocking chairs on the front porch. I like to sit out there and rock if the weather is OK.

 

[watersprite]

@clg114 The soft mechanical sound combined with the feel of the ‘click’ reminded me of being a little kid and being fascinated with those rachering wrenches. They also have a good little click noise. As do some bicycle gears.
The haptics on the phone are okay but really not on the same high level lol.

 

[Streetwise]

I do pace and hand flap-I tap my fingertips together like Mr Burns on the Simpsons and do a funny twisting motion with my arms-and I do rock and tap my feet rhytmically from heel to toe.

Banging my leg against the settee(sofa ),least is flapping my hands ,rubbing the sole of my foot on my calf ,picking! really like picking.

 

[Raggamuffin]

When I'm sat at work it's restless leg - both bouncing up and down nonstop. Lots of finger tapping on the desk. Playing with pens, pencils, biting nails, skin picking, facial mishaps, whispering verbal ticks etc. When I feel very hyper I'm literally buzzing inside, so much so that my body will start to shake and twitch. I almost want to let off my random noises and exclamations, but I can only whisper them. It's difficult to bottle up that level of excitement. I also direct a lot of that energy into my work - nobody in the office can navigate the system as well as I can. I've memorised keystrokes, mouse clicks, location of buttons on the screen before they've appeared. Literally getting things done 2-3 times faster than others can. Probably why I've been called "a machine" in every job I've worked.

I tend to feel very energised on my lunch time walks. My walk is odd and bouncy anyway, and almost walking on tip toes. I tend to feel hyper when I leave the office, as I mask and bottle up a lot of what I feel I need to get out. So when I'm on my break, walking through the woods alone - I feel very energised and excitable.

At home - it's mainly being sat on the floor and swaying from left to right. But not a subtle sway - basically going as far to each side as I can without losing balance and doing this for 6-12+ hours a day. When I'm excitable I'll rapidly tap/slap my thighs, air drum in the air. Let off random verbal shouts and ticks of excitement etc. I also run everywhere in my house. I love nothing more than sprinting up and down stairs. Running and sliding across the wooden floor downstairs etc.

In the car - I tend to be very hyper. Restless leg, rapid drumming on the steering wheel. Verbal ticks seem to be at their most active and loudest in the car. I go through some extremely intense hyper moments in the car. I think it's because I need to get it out my system before masking at work. And then when the day is done - I have to release all that pent up energy that I couldn't let out in the office.

I think this is one aspect I worry about with my upcoming ADHD assessment - whether they'll be of the opinion that I should or "need" to be medicated in order to stop such behaviour. Personally I enjoy being hyper, but I only do it in my own company. Although Kristy did see a lot of my maskless antics, and it felt quite comforting to be able to truly be myself around someone.

Ed

 

[Gift2humanity]

I might have replied to this thread I rock back and forth and I also rotate my body in circles.