Let’s talk about stimming
Stimming is something I struggled with when I first started my unmasking journey. I thought to myself, “I can’t be autistic, I don’t stim”
But the reality is that I was stimming, I was stimming a lot, I just didn’t realise that a lot of the things I was doing where considered stims.
So what exactly is stimming?
Stimming is described as repetitive actions such as repetition of physical movement, repetitive mouth sounds, (such as noises, words, song lyrics etc) moving objects around or lining things up, and it is done in order to stimulate the senses.
There are different types of stimming. You have visual, auditory, tactile, verbal, oral, olfactory, vestibular and proprioception.
EXAMPLES OF
Visual Stimming
Staring at objects such as walls, lights, lava lamps, fans, glitter jars or kaleidoscopes
Forced blinking, Flickering lights
Moving things infant of your eyes such as fidget toys or your fingers
Lining items up in order just to look at them
Watching others move such as dancing
Looking at bright colours and patterns
EXAMPLES OF
Auditory Stims
Clicking pens
Fidget toys that make noises such as poppers or clickers
Singing, and singing the same song over and over
Listening to music
Music boxes, listening to ambient noises, or humming
Tapping things to hear the sounds
EXAMPLES OF
Tactile Stimming
Using fidget toys such as tangles, fidget cubes or tapping on items
Playing with items such as bubble wrap
Touching or rubbing items with different textures, such as teddy bears and fluffy socks
Wearing comfort items of specific textures such as jumpers to rub the texture
Scrolling on your phone or playing with keychains
Touching / playing with items such as slime or playdough
EXAMPLES OF
Verbal Stimming
Repeating words of phrases (also common with echolalia)
Humming and making mouth sounds
Singing made up songs, singing what you are doing, singing along to music
Groaning, yelling, screaming and making random loud noises
Squealing
Whistling, mimicking sounds, throat clearing
EXAMPLES OF
Oral & Olfactory stimming
Biting or sucking the inside of your mouth
Eating, sucking on or chewing items such as fizzy sweets or chewable jewellery,
Sucking thumbs, fingers or grinding teeth
Smelling clean clothes or fresh scents
Smelling essential oils or scented candles
Seeking out particular scents
EXAMPLES OF
Vestibular & Proprioception stimming
Swinging, rocking or dancing
Playing on swing sets, spinning in circles
Balancing on one leg and then the other
Weighted blankets, pressured hugs and weighted teddy bears
Weighted body wraps / weighted clothing
Compression vests, building and “hiding” in blanket forts.
TIPS FOR STIMMING
Have a look at what stims people do, and just try it, see if it works for you.
Understandably not all stims will be your cup of tea, and you may feel really silly at first, but that's just the initial reaction.
If you have spent your life repressing your stims, its only natural to feel a little uncomfortable when you begin to allow yourself the freedom of expressing yourself.
It may take some time but you will find what stims work for you, you may even trigger some memories of stims you did as a child which will help even more. Eventually it will just come naturally to you, and your body will just know what it needs to do in order to stimulate itself.
Remember, you don't owe anyone anything, be yourself and stim freely.
Have a super good day
Adelaide x
