There was a thread a few weeks ago about stimming that I haven't been able to stop thinking about. I wondered what makes a stim an autistic stim versus a normal, everyday one? Articles I've read about it all point out that almost everyone stims, not just autistic people. Toe tapping, twirling hair, biting nails, bouncing leg, etc.--these are common ones. But I've noticed that many autistic people, myself included, tend to view everything we do and everything about us as being the result of autism. But of course this isn't the case. We are autistic, but we are also people--we're people who happen to be autistic. So, then, in addition to autistic stimming (and keep in mind that not all autistic people stim), we must also stim in ways that are not the result of autism. But how do we distinguish?
Here's what I've found: autistic stimming differs from normal stimming in type, quantity, and obviousness of the behavior (I pulled this from verywellhealth.com). If your stimming goes beyond what is "culturally tolerated," then it is an autistic stim. "Mild and occasional rocking is usually acceptable, but rocking one's entire body back and forth is considered to be [an autistic] stim" (more from verywellhealth.com). Twirling your hair is acceptable...but when you can't stop doing it, when you do it more than is considered normal, when you do it over and over when you're happy, excited, stressed out, or sad, then it's an autistic stim.
But autistic stims also tend to be unusual to begin with. Rocking your body side to side or forward and backward isn't something non-autistic people do. Flapping your hands or repeating words/phrases to calm yourself isn't normal. Swaying side to side while standing is unusual. And in fact, one of the earliest and most obvious signs of autism in children is stimming in ways that really stand out as abnormal.
So, that's what I've found. And I'm curious what everyone's autistic stims are and even what your non-autistic stims are. Mine: I've rocked since I was a baby. Nowadays I rock backward and forward. I do it every day, but when I'm stressed or upset, I do it a lot more (maybe two or more hours cumulative per day if I'm really upset about something).