What form do stims take??

[Brook]

Hi all,

 

Obviously you dont have to answer this if you dont want to, but I am interested to know in which

way stims manifest in your children or ASD people on here. Are they really noticeable etc..??

 

Thanks

 

Brook

[baddad]

My son's most obvious ones are:

 

mad jumping when excited.

hair twiddling (right on crown - very 'visible')

Golf backswing and accompanying 'swish' noise...

 

L&P

 

BD

[Lynden]

Logan puts his arms straight out behind him and clicks his fingers. He also flaps his arms.

 

His are VERY noticeable!

 

Lynne

[Suze]

my son has some lovely quirks/stims , I say they are lovely only because they set him apart a bit and make him unique.He bounces his hands like a puppet when he,s happy, he pulls odd faces when he,s excited, I,m trying to think of others but I think I,ve become so used to them that they are "normal????"..........behaviours.

[TheNeil]

My leg tends to bounce up and down when I'm stressed and when I'm getting over-excited then my hands tend to wave about like flags in a gale force wind

[Flora]

Bill's stims are stretching and chewing his clothes and a very throaty sniff! He's had these all his life. He also fiddles his fingers but if he can can get his hands on something at the time he shreds or bends whatever he can get. He used to hand flap and leap about and swing his arms like a monkey but he seems to have stopped that now.

 

Ben's stims are to scream and bunny hop when he's excited.

 

Flora

[jb1964]

Hi,

 

I'm not quite sure about this. My daughter (13) has several things she does but not sure if they're a 'stim' or not, they are all noticable but because she's always done them I never noticed them (to a point - until she was being assessed - I just accepted them as part of her).

 

She clicks her thumb and the finger next to the little finger together until it makes some sort of noise - but she does it at the side of her ear as if listening to the sound (I think this maybe a 'stim'?).

 

She also bites her fingers - well the nail bit - but not actually bites her nails just continually closes her teeth around the top half of her nail or the first joint on her fingers - obviously they get sore but she can't stop this - I don't know if this is a 'stim' or not.

 

When she gets very excited or happy she jumps up and down with either her hands in front like a rabbit or flaps her wrists/forearms (not her full arms) just to the side like a little bird taking off. She also has a very loud throat clearing noise - which she does especially when she's nervous.

 

Take care,

Jb

Edited August 21, 2006 by jb1964

[PinkSapphireAngel]

Luke paces around non stop no matter how small a space he is in.

He also does this imaginary football thing where he is kicking and swerving in and out going down the street without a football.

 

If hes sitting down he swings his legs and really has no idea he is even doing it even if he hits something.

[summertime]

one lad I work with has very noticable stims, he kind of does a hop/skip jump, flaps his hands in front of his face anrubs his thumbs across his fingers and also when he's really excited or stressed he pushes his fists into his cheeks and kneads them

[Brook]

Thanks everyone

 

very much appreciated, the reason I'm asking this is because I am still looking into whether my

son is 'ticcing' or 'stimming', all your replies have been very helpful.

 

Brook

[Eva]

Hi,

 

my son stims mainly when he's happy. He paces/skips back and forth and hums tunelessly at the same time. It's a really nice headspace for him to be in.

 

Eva

[joshanddanfans]

MY SONS 5 AND 7 BOTH STIM, THEY, FLAP ARMS LIKE A PUPPET WHEN EXCITED, TWIDDLE LABELS AND CHEW CLOTHES WHEN NERVOUS, FLICK FINGERS IN FRONT OF EYES WHEN BORED, BASH HEAD WITH FISTS WHEN SCARED. 5 YEAR OLD HAND FLAPS, 7 YEAR OLD WHOLE BODY FLAPS LIKE A PUPPET DANCING. FLAPPING IS ALWAYS NOTICABLE ESPECIALLY IF RUNNING.

[Karen A]

Ben fiddles with lables that are on clothes-he rubs them between his fingers.It is not obvious at all-but we did become aware of it when we were away and he had a different pillow without the label.Karen

[LizC]

Hi one I can thing of is Matthew will stand on tip toes and stretch his arms down straight going around like that and slightly bent over (hard to explain lol), he also jumps alot. he also sucks his fingers when nervous. he also shreaks/screams.

Edited August 22, 2006 by LizC

[bramblebrae]

I really don't know/understand what is classed as a stim or not..things S does which might be and any input on whether they are not would be greatly welcomed are:-

 

sucking thumb (at night or when tired or when watching tv- not when excited)

walking all over room and walking on toes when excitedly talking at us about anything and everthing he's interested in(he was in splints which had stopped the toe walking part this but they broke a few weeks ago and we have been waiting for stability boots which we'll get on on friday which may reduce the toe walking again- I had thought the toe walking had stopped but 2 weeks out of splints it's back as bad as ever)

walking on toes and hopping from foot to foot when needing the toilet (he often waits that long he has an accident but it is a good alert to us to remind him to go - though he refuses often and whatever he's focused on needs removed til he goes)

flaps arms a bit when really excited but I just thought it 'normal' for being so excited at 7yo (is it?)

he reads anything that comes to hand to calm himself down when upset(is that?)

Oh I'm confused

I will need to watch more carefully him and nt kids I'm totally unobservant and don't really know what 'normal' is or isn't IYSWIM!

 

take care

Lorraine

[smiley]

Not sure what's a stim.. what's a tic (tourettes).... but here goes..

 

Flaps hands in front of face when exited or stresses.

Flaps hands most of the time now i think of it..

Bounces about like tigger - most of the time

Opens and shuts his mouth (really wide - like that old toothpaste ad)

Clears his throat. Pushes air through his front teeth.

Shrugs shoulders.

Rocks.

Bangs head with hands - or on wall - over, and over..

Lots of noises - clicks his tongue, hums, shouts (at the moment a chicken noise ).

Grimaces his face - kind of scrunches up his nose and shuts his eyes very tightly.. IFYSIM

 

Hmmmmmmmmm think i better stop there!

Not sure what's a stim and whats a tic.

 

It's what makes him unique.

 

[Stephanie]

My son used to flap but doesn't anymore - perhaps on seldom occasions ..

 

He also paces whilst chatting away ... like he needs to pace to think about something. He walks on his toes so paces around on his toes.

 

He babbles on a lot about his toys etc and likes talking out loud ... which drives me bonkers!

 

When he has too much too see he kind of makes a long face, kind of stretches his face somehow and rubs his eyes like he is tired.

 

His stims take up about 5% of his week on average, most of the time he doesn't show any.

[~Jonathan~]

Playing chord configurations on the back of my hand when nervous and then playing 'solos' on it when listening to a guitar track. Snapping the joints of my left hand. Saying the word "Wow!" a lot when talking with people.

[dooday24]

REECE CHEWS ALL HIS CLOTHES. AND MAKES WEIRED AND WONDERFUL FACIAL EXPRESSION AND GROWLS AT U WHEN HES ANGRY.

[Blue-Kat]

swooshing sounds, spinning, twirling jumping, leaping, twirling a stick, ball rotation on tips of fingers,

smoothing and arranging bedding.

hits his own head (says he's had so many head injuries it doesn't hurt / he's immune :/ )

 

he has a thing about glass/crystal ornaments and sheepskin rugs, also likes colouring a whole piece of paper with a single coloured pencil

 

he does a 'masonic' style in leg wear. one sock on and one off, and goes out with one trouser leg up.

 

repetatively invades family members'personal space, touching, prodding,

 

just part and parcel of the whole peson !

 

list of tourrette's tics here:

http://www.tourettes-disorder.com/symptoms/tics.html#ticlist

[lynyona]

Kieran flaps his hands and just walks around and around and he also slaps himself in the forehead he used to always make tee hee noises but he doesnt do that much any more.also if he is sat some part of him as to move be it arms feet leg he cannot sit still.Alsoi waves his arms a bit

 

 

 

lynn

[Kathrynh]

My son has "flappies". Basically any flat object that he can flap in the air or on an object. He uses A4 card that has been laminated. Or he "borrows" tablemats from places like Wacky warehouse. His favourite at the moment is a flat circle of rubber about the size of a dinner plate. He takes it everywhere and flaps it a lot. He also likes to pinch or bite often not agressively but because he likes the feel of it - still painful though.

[brooke]

My son, (i really dont know what stims are classed as) he does a few odd things really he blinks really hard squeezing his eyes shut as if he cant see or is too close to something and now he has taken to pushing his jaw back with his mouth and sticking his touge out he has only recently started doing these things he is 5. It doesnt bother me but i get his grandma saying he watches too much telly or hes on the computer too long im sure it has nothing to do with this but it just makes you feel like a rubbish parent

[openyoureyes]

isn't it great to see so many others with all variations of Stimming.

 

My As 12yr old flaps, jumps, itches nose, clicks wrists, hits himself, spins on his bum, does a kind of ballet periot in the air, pulls his hair, draws boxes all over his legs and arms (only when in school - bored I think), throws himself around the floor (and the furniture when we are not looking), rolls around the floor when watching tv, all in all he is constantly doing some form of stimming. As Suze says we have just got used to it so don't bat an eyelid now. He does control it more when out of the house (thank goodness).

 

Our 6yr ASD son is not as bad, he just flaps, jumps, rolls around, winks with his left eye, not much else at the moment.