Question about "stimming"--
Find a Conversation
Question about "stimming"--
| Sat, 11-04-2006 - 4:34pm |
I'm curious what exactly "stimming" is. ??
First of all, is "stim" short for something else?
Secondly, when Henry is acting fairly normal with me, but then goes berserk when a stranger (such as the server in a restaurant) gets near--like making strange noises and waving his arms--is that stimming?
After I got Henry's probably dx, someone asked me if he stimmed, and I said that I didn't think he did.
But now I'm wondering if he does. And I just didn't know what it was.
Thanks.

Basically, "stimming" is like a repetitive body movement or even repetitive speech. Examples would be rocking, picking of skin, various things like that. Its a way of self-stimulating senses and finding a comfort zone I suppose.
Haley picks at sores that she has created on her hands and has the repeats the same sentence or phrase several times as well.
Jill
Mom to Erin (19) and Haley (10yo Asp
Often stimming is a way for kids with autism to try and regulate thier systems when things start to go haywire. They process the world much differently than the rest of us do and so it is thier way to get thier brain grounded again.
Kind of like when you are stressed and may need something to eat, bite you nails, go for a run, what ever helps.
For our kids it may be finger flicking, rocking, spinning, making noises, etc because they are trying to make sense of thier world the way they process stuff. This helps them make sense of the world. When they are more stressed (like in a restaurant) it will come out more like I bite my nails when I am stressed.
Renee
Liam has hopped from foot to foot, (sometimes in a pattern, sometimes random), licked his lips to the point of bleeding, finger movements, (like finger flapping), and more pronounced is delayed echolalia, (repeating lines and phrases from movies, commercials, songs etc).
Like the others said - it's a repetitive, calming (to them) behavior.
My 10yo Josh stims by flapping his hands and making strange (animal-type) noises. His little brother is more of a "get up and run around the table" type kid.
David leaps around the room.
Malcolm is a chewer. He will use chewing gum, but if he forgets, his shirt collars and sleeves sure do suffer!
Also, he scooters up and down the hallway, stands on his head on the couch, rolls somersaults, crawls under blankets and wraps himself tight, hangs upside down off the ends of couches and beds, sings to himself under his breathe.
In the bad school last Spring and Summer, he was rolling on the beanbag chairs in the corner, had half his shirt down his throat and was refusing to to get OFF the beanbag chairs to participate all day last Summer, once he had given up completely! And when he was really, really stressed, he paced.
Sara
ilovemalcolm
Reading this thread has done more to cement the fact that my son and I *do* have Aspergers (and I'm not just being a hypocondriac again) than just about anything else. Between us we have *so* many of the types of 'stimming' I've seen here.
My son leaps around the house and hits walls... makes random animal noises... and repeats his favorite movie/TV lines constantly. His little brother and sister have started repeating the animal sounds back to him... they think it's all a big game for their benefit. :)
I *also* leap around the house and hit walls... and talk to my 'characters' sometimes for hours on end. For as long as I can remember I have *not* been able to go to sleep without telling myself 'stories' about my characters.
Kristy
OMG, Kristy!