Fuck Yeah, Stimming!

It’s time to start submitting your stims and getting the conversation rolling! The idea of this blog is to explore how stimming is experienced by autistic people, and to build a database of behaviour types. What are your stims? How do they feel? What parameters of the stim are the most relaxing? What music is best for stimming?

I want to hear how happy you all become when you do your favourite stims. I want to see diagrams of what kind of movements have the biggest effect. I want to see pictures of what you imagine when you stim. I ask not just what stims you have, but how you conceptualise stimming as a sensory experience.

I’m interested in what triggers them as well (add warnings if they’re traumatic). One of my major triggers is actually reading about stimming, so this will be an interesting blog to run!

The blog is currently run by Alyssa.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

Up Where We Belong toward Autism Acceptance | drive mom crazy

So he totally talks about stimming when he’s talking about autism acceptance.

Stim More! Creating a Judgement Free Zone

Winfulness, actually. 

Anonymous asked
I know most NTs stim at some point in their lives, but are there certain systems that autistics do that NTs don't? Like handflapping is the stim most often considered characteristic with autism. Is that because so many autistics do it or because so few NTs do it. Just curious.

Probably some of both. 

Spinning is another one, since NT kids usually stop doing that and then you’ll see Autistic adults spinning. (I spin sometimes. Finished a final, left, dropped my bag, spun around on the quad until I fell over. A professor who knows me fairly well walked out of the building just in time to see me fall over, actually… he might have figured out that I’m not NT by now?)

Drumming/Stimming

Anonymous asked
HOLY SHIT, that thing where you press on your eyes to create phosphenes can be a stim?!?!!!?!?!! I love that! And then when you open your eyes again, everything looks kind of "fuzzy" and "staticy" for a while. I've done the eye pressing thing since I was a young kid before I even considered the idea that I could be autistic and never knew until now it could be related. Sometimes I worry that I'm not really autistic, and finding out things like this helps me feel more legitimate. So, thanks! :)

I don’t know if it’s a stim, but I know that I do it.

*Suspects that there may be a better thing to do than lump everything under stimming because there are so many things that get covered under it with really, really different reasons. Oh well*

A video of stimming to music made in response to today's anon

Not by me. Is very good.

Quiet Hands

Anyone who thinks that “redirecting” or “ignoring” the need to stim is a good idea needs to read this, then shut up and think about their choices. 

hidden-agender asked
THIS BLOG IS AWESOME!!! And ooh, you have a music sidebar! Can we submit music? Also, I was wondering—does anyone else have skin problems because of their stimming? My main stim is running my hands over my face really quickly (although I flap, too) and it actually happens for me in both excited and anxious situations. The problem is, it gives me acne! I wish that weren't the case. :(

Go ahead and submit music that you stim to or on :)

If you keep your hands clean and wash your face well, that might help with the acne? If not, I’ve found oatmeal can at least reduce the itch from it.

Anonymous asked
I've been diagnosed with aspergers some time ago, and I do some of the stims like flapping. I'm wondering if this is a stim. I kind of drag my leg to the ground, or press it there when I'm angry or frustrated. I'm not certain if it's actually anything, but I'd be interested to hear an opinion.

I think I know what you’re doing… I sometimes do it, and I don’t know if it’s a stim.

just-rise-again asked
I also do the flap-like stimming with my hands turned inwards when I'm excited! If there are other people around, I usually clap my hands instead. People think that's quite strange as well, but I don't want to stop myself from doing it because it makes me even more excited. My other stim is to "write" letters or words on my hands using my fingers to calm anxiety.

I used to clap a lot, too. And I do sometimes write with my fingers like that if I haven’t got any other stims.