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robert7111a

Adult Self-Stimulatory Behaviour

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A topic I've recently got interested in is stimming. How many of you adults out there stim? Come on, be honest. And what are your most annoying (to others) or most embarrassing stimming habits and why do you do them?

 

I am not talking about nail-biting, knee bouncing, twirling hair etc, minor body rocking etc that everybody on the planet does. I am talking about stim habits most pertitent to people on the autistic spectrum.

 

I used to spin around a lot whilst walking when I was nervous but this is rare now

I blink heavily when I'm stressed

I stare

I cover my ears when there's a loud noise

I still sleep with toy furry animals

I bite the tips of my fingers

 

and I'm still looking for other behaviors...

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I still use my remote control as a finger skateboard. even though i quit skating nearly 10 years ago, that old habit hasn't left me.

 

Oh btw, i have plenty more to come. This topic has not seen the last of me.

Edited by A-S warrior

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Pacing when irritated, pacing back and forth.

nail chewing when bored or absent minded, even when they have engine grease on them

Twisting my hands around from the wrist joint, full arc with fingers extended fanned out

Edited by Sa Skimrande

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I pace all the time, also I flick each one of my fingers in sequence, hitting my fist into my palm, chewing the inside of my lip/cheeks.

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Robert7111a! As soon as i see your name attached to a thread i KNOW it's going to be an interesting read! I was only thinking today about starting something similar...i saw this thread last night but ran out of time and saved reading what it was about for tonight. I didn't even know what stimming is! I thought at first that it sounded like something rude but now i get it!

 

You still take you cuddlies to bed!!! I'm telling my husband as we speak because he thought i must be the only adult in the world who still sleeps with my comforter!!! I have an incredible friend, known only as "MY teddy" who has not left my bedside in more years than i can remember. I have to take him with me if staying away from home. I can't sleep without him! I'm so glad i'm not the only one!

 

You really wanna know what i get up to to ease anxiety and calm my mind for a while? I pluck. I can spend hours and hours during the night plucking the hairs on my legs with the same pair of tweezers i've had since the age of 15!!! Only my husband knows this. and i have to pretend to him that i do it less than i really do because he gets annoyed that it makes my legs sore and red!!! Is that called `stimming` then? I don't do it for the same reasons as an ocd suffere would. For me it's like a form of meditation. It just calms me down.

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Robert7111a! As soon as i see your name attached to a thread i KNOW it's going to be an interesting read!

 

Merry - I'm deeply honoured. I don't post much over a period of time, usually just in short bursts. Thank you! :cheers:

 

I never really knew what stimming meant until I joined this forum - and even then, it didn't really twig. But I never knew until recently that it isn't just peculiar to those on the autistic spectrum.

 

It's only really since I met my wife that teddy bears came into the family. We acquired a pair of identical teddies whilst we were courting (we were both drinking heavily at the time to drown our anxieties) and when we got married, the teddies kinda became "married" too. Then the girl teddy "died" when she accidently got dropped into the sea when our daughter was 3 so the male "widow" we both took pity on. Sounds really daft doesn't it? So he has a lot of sentimental attachment to us both. Over time, our daughter got a collection of furry toys; some of the smaller ones (plus our teddy) live on our bed with our (real) cat who doesn't mind sharing the space. Hence our bed gets a bit crowded sometimes!

 

I tend to play certain short made-up exercises on the piano repetitively: certain key signatures, notes, harmonies etc have a calming effect on me. But I might have to repeat the exercise until my fingers drop off. Also I might listen to a sustained organ note for minutes at a time - I listen out for all the harmonics going through my head. It's calming.

 

 

Bet your husband loves your legs....:o

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He's a leg man....shame! We are very very similar...bit spooked!!! My lil one has a monkey drum that i'm quite obsessed with at the moment...when she's well and truly bored of her music session, i'm still in a transe-like state, hearing the beat echo within me like a Buddhist monk in a funeral meditation!

 

P.S You're my first proper friend here woohoo i feel special!

Edited by A-S warrior

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I thought of another one... When i get off the train I talk like a station announcer, 'the train now approaching platform 3' etc. I also list every station that the on board announcer lists. Calling at Redhill, Gatwick airport, Three bridges, Horsham, all the way back to Bognor regis. I really don't know why i do it, i just get a lot of satisfaction out of it lol.

Edited by A-S warrior

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I also talk to myself a lot, I appreciate this might be because I love on my own, but really it's not I have always done it and when people have asked who I am talking to, I snap out of it and just say just thinking aloud, is thinking allowed ?

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I get up and run from one side of the room to another.

 

I flap my hands

 

I pace

 

I scratch at spots on my face and pick off the skin on my lips (I hate myself doing this but can't stop it.)

 

I make the cursor on my computer "dance" by making circular movements with the mouse.

 

I bite the inside of my cheek.

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I count over and over again on my fingers;

 

I crack a bone in the top of my foot whenever I'm sitting down (drives my husband mad);

 

I flap my hands but less than when I was a child;

 

I also do the talking like a station announcer and listing all the stations - I really thought I was the only one to do this.

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I travel on trains a lot when I'm out photographing (especially your way Warrior) so I find myself uttering under my breath all the calling stations etc. I almost know the routes off by heart.

 

Today I sat with my laptop in a coffee shop. There was music blaring. I must have been the only one who thought it was too loud so ended up putting earplugs in.

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I almost know the routes off by heart.

 

 

Sorry guys, i have to do this, im going to test myself and list every station from brighton to portsmouth. (excluding Littlehampton and Bognor regis as they spur off the main line into an end of the line station)

 

Here we go,

 

Welcome aboard the southern service to Portsmouth harbour, calling at:

 

Hove,

Aldrington,

Fishersgate,

Portslade,

Southwick,

Shoreham by sea,

Lancing,

East worthing,

Worthing,

West worthing,

Durrington on sea,

Goring by sea,

Angmering,

Ford,

Barnham,

Chichester,

Fishbourne,

Bosham,

Nutbourne,

Emsworth,

Warblignton,

Havant,

Bedhampton,

Cosham,

Fratton,

Portsmouth and southsea,

And

Portsmouth harbour.

 

I'm so sad lol

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Ah worthing a bunch of us claimed worthing beach on behalf of the Iron Age celts in 1995, whilst upsetting the local fuzz walking through the streets of Worthing town armed with sword and spear, they couldn't do a thing about it, it was great.

 

But Nutbourne is that where nuts are born ?

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Ah worthing a bunch of us claimed worthing beach on behalf of the Iron Age celts in 1995, whilst upsetting the local fuzz walking through the streets of Worthing town armed with sword and spear, they couldn't do a thing about it, it was great.

 

But Nutbourne is that where nuts are born ?

 

:lol: I think that must be the strangest name for a town ever, i might have to google the origin and get back

 

I lived in worthing for 4 years, it could be a nice little town, it just needs alot of money injected into it. They've recently put in an £18 million swimming pool.

 

 

Right, in a minute i might have to do Bognor regis, to London victoria :lol:

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:lol: I think that must be the strangest name for a town ever, i might have to google the origin and get back

 

I lived in worthing for 4 years, it could be a nice little town, it just needs alot of money injected into it. They've recently put in an £18 million swimming pool.

 

 

Right, in a minute i might have to do Bognor regis, to London victoria :lol:

 

I'm gonna steal your thunder ...

 

Barnham, Ford, Arundel, Amberley, Billingshurst, Christs Hospital, Horsham, Ifield, Faygate, Crawley, Littlehaven, Three Bridges, Gatwick Airport, (Horley), East Croydon, Clapham Junction and...London Victoria.

 

This is coach number....4 of....4. Please keep your luggage with you at all times.

 

I may have gotten some of the stations between Horsham and Three Bridges out of order and I haven't included the suburban stations in London the train passes through.

 

Sorry Warrior...couldn't resist

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Darn it! lol, although your missing Pulborough and Redhill. Other than that, very impressed, Spot on.

 

Darn, should have known about Pulborough as I was doing a photographic stint on the Arun Valley line last year. And how could I forget Redhill? Perhaps the train I got didn't stop there...? It didn't stop at Horley either.

 

:) This thread is a lot of fun!

 

Um....ok.... :lol:

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Do NT people stim too then? Im always biting the inside of my cheeks, often sub consciously but also consciously to the point that they bleed. And i always jiggle my legs when im sitting down, i do it without realising. It doesnt feel right for me to stay still unless im asleep lol. Both of these things relax me.

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Well i think it's a symptom of the extra stress people on the spectrum feel. Anxiety is a huge part of it. NT people can also experience huge amounts of stress...and you clearly have a lot of stressful things to deal with so i'd be amazed if you didn't show symptoms of stress! That's my outlook anyway. x

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Yeah i show pleanty of stress symptoms, to many... But the biting and leg jiggling has been going on before i had any kids. I think there must be some amount of stimming in NT people.... Jack stimms a lot, its interesting to watch him. I want to know more about it!

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All NT people stim but I'm of the understanding that autistic people do it more or have more odd stim habits...? I'm sure anxiety plays a huge part and stimming is a way to reduce that anxiety.

 

Perhaps somebody will confirm or correct me...

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I'm the only guy i know that walks down the street, saying, 'Attention please, this is platform alteration. The 2056 southern service to Brighton, will now depart from platform 3'

 

I could be wrong.

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Is that stimming though?

 

and when im biting my cheeks my face looks really odd! So its very noticable. But i know a lot of other people do this, also leg jiggling is really common. Jacks stims i have never seen/heard other people doing. Neither has his paediatrician.

Edited by A-S warrior

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I really don't know. I think i might be (What's that saying?-either lost for words or stuck for words) for a change!

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All NT people stim but I'm of the understanding that autistic people do it more or have more odd stim habits...? I'm sure anxiety plays a huge part and stimming is a way to reduce that anxiety.

 

Perhaps somebody will confirm or correct me...

This is true - NTs do stim when they are anxious. But I think that autistic people often stim in a more obvious or unusual way, and get something different out of it - it can be to soothe anxiety or it can help to regulate sensory input.

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