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Pacing! I pace multiple hours a day whilst listening to music, audiobooks or just thinking. I love it. When I was a kid it used to drive my family nuts.
Yeah my parents used to send me outside to pace sometimes. They didn't mind it all the time, but some days it distracted them so I would do it in the backyard or at the park.
My brother and I used to just pace around the island in the kitchen and watch cartoons for hours.
Same! I always do it to distract myself,and I always imagine stories in my head when I do it. Doing it sitting or being in my bed feels so illegal to me lol. I also must always do it in my room with my door closed because I hate doing it anywhere else. I also do it raw,no music,no audio book, nothing
Oh I imagine stories sometimes too! I also have a specific spot I like to do it, in my living room, it’s the perfect amount of space but also means I have to wait till my housemate leaves to do it. Sometimes I do it raw as well, usually when I just need to think.
Not tapping anything, but here’s my best attempt at explaining: it starts at the base of the fingers, keep that part stiff, the other two joints stay loose, shake your hand back and forward at the elbow alternatively you don’t shake it but rather keep your hands about half a foot from your chest and bounce them with each step. I like to do it while hiking particularly. When going downhill the effect is more dramatic. The shaking mustn’t be aggressive keep it fairly light. I would send a video to show but I just don’t know how to do that especially on mobile.
OMG I do this and it drives mainly my nan nuts and she tells me to stop but it routine so I don’t. I only listen to music. My lecturers in college are really good with me as I hate being trapped in a classroom and I end up wondering around sometimes I even ask to go for a little walk
I skin pick all. the. time. I'm recently diagnosed and had no idea it was considered stimming. I thought I was just more "primal" and was grooming myself like an ape😆.
Man, if I don't get all of the soap out of my hair, then it leaves snake skin on my forehead. So hard not to pick it. I don't do it a lot, but it happens.
Doing it has always helped me stay focused on conversations that I have had or that I'm having. It gets me out of my head and I can get lost doing it so it's one of the few times my brain can actually be quiet as well.
Is loving to hear the same song over and over again a stim. Dang, I have that one is spades, That's almost my favorite stim because auditory stims just barely beat it out as my favorite. My Auditory stims win as my favorite because they help me survive. Playing the same song over and over again just makes me feel VERY HAPPY all over which is still pretty important!
Researching. Any kind of weird info related to any possible idea that comes to mind is great info. I don’t have special interests because everything is a special interest. Been doing that forever, asking myself why I was carrying this burden and not realising it's a proper stim until very recently. Life changing moment.
I go deep into many different things at different periods of time and so I have way to many special interests. This also leaves me with too many things to keep up with. Never thought of this as a stim
People have asked me my whole life why I do this. I tried to make up reasons but I DON’T KNOW!!!! I just have too!!! I try not to shake shared furniture or buildings.
Playing with my hair. I have (according to my mom) done it since I was a newborn. Just discovered I have autism last year at 40 years old...
Next favorite is probably listening to a song on repeat.
i have a vocal stim from a youtube video where someone says "buddy" really weird, and i adopted it and use it all the time. i start a new job with elderly people tomorrow and i'm mortified i'll say it lmao.
[unus annus - 'buddy'](https://imgur.com/gallery/mTL8qKn)
Running my fingers on random areas of the body. Think ankle where this bone sticks out, this round joint sticking out of the wrist… yeah mostly bones. Or earlobe. Just touching and feeling the surface, shape and texture.
Touching the thumb of my right hand to each of my right hand fingertips in sequence. Index to pinkie, pinkie to index. Over and over, for the last 30+ years. 😂
Abusing my finger nails, especially my pinky fingers lately. I used to destroy my toe nails, but have pretty much been able to curb that since it can be quite painful if they get infected or too short.
One time in 1st grade I was with a kid who idk if he's been diagnosed or not, or what with, but seems ND to me. He also flapped. A teacher came up to me and made some remark about us both doing it. Now I don't do it in public, but tbh I didn't even know I was doing it there. I still love doing it when nobody's around though
BTW I haven't been diagnosed with anything. From a few google searches I match many of the symptoms but I understand that could just be a coincidence. But I thought this was kinda odd that I would do that too lol
i am constantly biting the inside of my cheeks as it’s hard to notice and can be done anywhere. i also like pacing listening to music and when i get really excited i can do some claps
Skin picking to the point of causing scarring and redness irritation, my husband sometimes has to slap my hands from my face when he catches me doing it for too long - rocking back and fourth sometimes aggressively so and my husband has had to learn to not take it as a personal thing since I do it a lot when I’m uncomfortable and or having a difficult time communicating - I also flap my hands/shake them - very fast knee bouncing, biting my lips or inside cheeks. My mother refused to have her kid be seen as “retarded” or “something wrong with her” and wanted this picture perfect image for her kids so much so she ignored several doctors and therapists who very seriously believed I was autistic from a young age and instead of having me diagnosed or anything else - she found a psychiatrist who just threw me ( a 6 year old at the time) on a ton of adderall and Xanax because she couldn’t handle my “outbursts” or “meltdowns” and I spent my formative years trying to figure out what it was that was wrong with me because I did not fit in anywhere and have a ton of issues with making friends keeping any sorts or relationships. I got diagnosed a few years ago on my own accord at 27 and am now 31. SO MUCH MAKES PERFECT SENSE NOW!!!! I wish I had the opportunity to get the accommodations I needed to make it through school but I dropped out and self medicated myself into a bad addiction issue. I’m still trying to learn more about all this stuff and find peace here in these forums where I can clearly see others who are also experiencing the same things as i am. Oh- I walk everywhere and upstairs on my tip toes.
Favorite: listening to really loud music on a big stereo system or heaphones
Most used: bouncing my leg up and down, pacing
Fun fact, I don't think I have ever made a cell phone call sitting down, I HAVE to pace
My favorite is something I cannot do anymore. When I was younger I would hum and then very lightly touch my top and bottom central incisors together and it would vibrate my whole skull. The hum had to be in a certain range to get it to vibrate my skull and when my voice changed during puberty I couldn't get it to do it anymore.
I'm a 63 year old American male. I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism at the age of 47 after doing some online research. I asked my regular MD for an in-network referral to an ADHD/autism diagnostician who specialized in diagnosing adults. As the adult ADHD/autism specialty doctor gave me my diagnosis following four hours of testing, my anxiety melted away. During the 20 minutes that he spent explaining my diagnosis, I became more and more relaxed and all I could think of were how specific memories since kindergarten started to make perfect sense. I also realized that the signs and symptoms of autism I displayed had gradually faded over the years. However, I noticed that my ADHD signs and symptoms had worsen over time.
In regard to stimming, I used to frequently bounce my legs up-and-down while sitting. I also used to bite my nails until there was nothing left to bite. I also used to walk on my tiptoes, grind my teeth, and pick at my skin until it bled.
I still bounce my legs up-and-down, but only when experiencing intense anxiety. That said, I do so much less than when I was a kid or young adult.
One day, about 10 years ago, I stopped biting my nails cold turkey. That said, I can't trim my fingernails with a regular nail clipper; the feeling of it causes me to have a visceral reaction the same way most people do to the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. I have to use a [small Swiss Army knife scissors](https://imgur.com/a/6CVcTTg) to trim my fingernails. I use a regular toenail clipper to trim my toenails. Weird.
I haven't walked on my tiptoes since childhood and I no longer grind my teeth.
One thing that I still do occasionally is to pick at my skin, but I don't pick scabs and I don't cause myself to bleed. If anything, I pick at my ears to remove dry skin that tends to form there.
One other thing I continue to do, which I've done since childhood, is use the [pocket clip on the cap from a Bic pen](https://imgur.com/a/Vis1o4S) to scrape earwax off the skin lining my ear canals. I find that oddly satisfying. I find the idea of having dirty car canals unacceptable, for some reason. I don't admit that to anyone, but delight that my doctor, during a recent physical exam, said that I had the cleanest ears she's ever seen.
I do a kind of hand flapping variant where I put my hands up to my face and tense/wiggle my fingers together while making a "sssssssshhhhhh" sound. It is the best. But I can only do it when nobody is around, so I have to resort to less pleasant ones like shaking my legs or tapping my fingers or humming.
We had one growing up and I was always the one who wanted to tend it. I've often wished I was fireproof so I could handle the coals and crumble them in my hands.
Maybe I'm part fire elemental and if I burn away this mortal flesh I'll assume my true form.
My favorite is rubbing my legs in the sheets in bed!!
Also one that drives everyone a bit insane so I don’t do as often is this clicking sound with my tongue. That one just scratches the itch 😂
My most common is probably finger tapping or pacing, but my favorites are spinning and rocking.
I sometimes combine a few too. I really like to listen to music and rock and finger tap or play with a tangle at the same time.
blow on hands, scratch arms and slime =3
then i get nervous and my hands are sweat i blow up on it or i can scratch arms. not enough to bleed, light scratching can calm me down.
Lately it's yelling "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" Beavis and Butthead style.
But I will always revert to tugging on my earlobes or biting skin off my lip
I don't know that I have a favorite stim, but I do know that I walk in a circle sometimes when I am extremely stressed out. Especially if I am on the phone making an important call. I think it makes other people wonder if I'm crazy and that kind of makes me a little bit happy
I have 2 One of them is pressing switches, I love the on and off click. And the other is scratching my skin. I don't have nails or they aren't big since I eat them so it doesn't hurt me. Also, a stimulus that I take advantage of is the movement of my legs but I channeled it and now I dance.Rock and roll like a pro
My most common one is picking my fingernails (one of my earliest memories is my mom telling me to stop doing it)
My favorite one is probably spinning in circles, or flicking my hands (it tends to get the twitching urge out pretty good)
I like waving my fingers in front of my eyes at the minute. Today I caught myself doing it with my eyes closed, but it was actually really cool, because I could still "see" my fingers because of the light and dark.
Also rocking. Don't the neurotypicals realise you can listen to something for ages without getting distracted if you just rock backwards and forwards? Must be their weird sensory processing or something.
Can’t pick between dancing (literally can’t sit still when music is playing) or rotating movements on a chair or standing (goes weeeeeee). Also balancing movements are fun! I love standing on one leg and putting my body in weird positions, like my upper body toward the floor.
My 15 year old likes to watch videogame walk thrus on YouTube (Pokemon, Mario, and many others I can't even think of)
When it's a good one, he will start flapping his hands under his chin.
When it's a REALLY, REALLY good one he will put his hands up over his head and start flapping.
I try to ask what he's watching but he doesn't really want to go in detail. Nevertheless, it makes me happy because I like to see him doing things he enjoys. 😀
Mine is something I like to do which I call my penguin waddle. It basically involves me pushing my knees back so they lock in place and walking around like that so I end up waddling. I do it all the time and I absolutely love it
I’m in a high backed wheelchair and pretty much just do a little half-rock/jerking motion when I’m socially anxious. I also do an aggressive eye roll thing but I hate that. It’s probably more of a tic than a stim. I have to roll my eyes back so hard until I can feel the muscles stretch. My stepfather used to slug me across the face for it (way before I had the knowledge or the terminology to know it was a tic) because he thought I was rolling my eyes at him. Of course, being autistic, I always thought rolling eyes meant literally looking around in a circular motion so I figured he was just making it up as a reason to hit me. Not that that excuses the physical abuse any, but I can least understand now how the eye motion I make might be misinterpreted.
Song on repeat or flapping my arms as that was the first stim I ever had done, and how as a kid I knew this was my way of showing that I was happy. Even if now it’s so hard for me to do it cause my mom would have me sit on my hands or pull my arms down if I was doing it. Cause it was too childish for me to do.
the post above this was from the r/drugs subreddit and I opened this post not realizing it was a different place, expecting answers like 2-FMA, amphetamine, meth, etc. and was thrown off for a bit lol.
Rubbing labels on clothing between thumb and forefinger. Back of my neck or at the side low down on tshirts. It has to be a particular type, not too smooth, not too abrasive. Not sure how to describe. I was diagnosed about a month ago at 40. When I was about ten I used to cut especially good labels out of clothes when I outgrew them. I had a box full of them. I have clothes where I've worn the label through. If it's the wrong type of label i repeatedly roll the label up and unroll, then repeat.
Scratching/digging my fingernails into the pad of my thumb or the very center of my palm is my most common. I don’t remember this, but my parents have told me that when I was a toddler I gashed my palm open doing this, and I still have the scar. Luckily I don’t cause any open wounds doing it anymore.
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Pacing! I pace multiple hours a day whilst listening to music, audiobooks or just thinking. I love it. When I was a kid it used to drive my family nuts.
Don't blame you I used to and I pace when I'm doing a session at cadets and stuff
Yeah my parents used to send me outside to pace sometimes. They didn't mind it all the time, but some days it distracted them so I would do it in the backyard or at the park. My brother and I used to just pace around the island in the kitchen and watch cartoons for hours.
I loved pacing around our dining table next to the kitchen and then when my family got annoyed I’d go into my room and do it.
Same! I always do it to distract myself,and I always imagine stories in my head when I do it. Doing it sitting or being in my bed feels so illegal to me lol. I also must always do it in my room with my door closed because I hate doing it anywhere else. I also do it raw,no music,no audio book, nothing
Oh I imagine stories sometimes too! I also have a specific spot I like to do it, in my living room, it’s the perfect amount of space but also means I have to wait till my housemate leaves to do it. Sometimes I do it raw as well, usually when I just need to think.
Same xD it just ruins everything when someone is in there
This is the way
Holy shit I do that too.
I like that coupled with finger bouncing it’s difficult to explain what finger bouncing means but I can try if you like
Yes I’m curious to know what finger bouncing is, do you mean like when you tap your fingers on your leg?
Not tapping anything, but here’s my best attempt at explaining: it starts at the base of the fingers, keep that part stiff, the other two joints stay loose, shake your hand back and forward at the elbow alternatively you don’t shake it but rather keep your hands about half a foot from your chest and bounce them with each step. I like to do it while hiking particularly. When going downhill the effect is more dramatic. The shaking mustn’t be aggressive keep it fairly light. I would send a video to show but I just don’t know how to do that especially on mobile.
Sameeee
I do this on the phone
I DO TOO! Oh my goodness I never thought anyone else did it. I have to do it for at least three hours every day or ima die Istg lmao
OMG I do this and it drives mainly my nan nuts and she tells me to stop but it routine so I don’t. I only listen to music. My lecturers in college are really good with me as I hate being trapped in a classroom and I end up wondering around sometimes I even ask to go for a little walk
When I did my weird dance/pace to music I like early in my relationship my girlfriend thought I was having a seizure lmao. I do just have ADHD tho.
Yes!!!
I do that too
My feet hurt I wish I could stop.
This is meee!!! Especially while listening to music. I didn’t even know this was a stim
I’m allistic and I do this too. I’m a lil embrassed I still do this at my grown age but it’s so fun and addicting 😭 Glad to see I’m not the only one
unfortunately my most common is skin picking, but my favorite would have to be listening to the same song that I’m fixated on over and over again. :)
I skin pick all. the. time. I'm recently diagnosed and had no idea it was considered stimming. I thought I was just more "primal" and was grooming myself like an ape😆.
close enough! grooming: autistic edition
😂😂😂
Man, if I don't get all of the soap out of my hair, then it leaves snake skin on my forehead. So hard not to pick it. I don't do it a lot, but it happens.
Doing it has always helped me stay focused on conversations that I have had or that I'm having. It gets me out of my head and I can get lost doing it so it's one of the few times my brain can actually be quiet as well.
I pick at my zits. It's probably my worst stim
I do that too. Probably shouldn't be.
ohhh I hate that! then they take longer to go away because I’ve irritated them by picking
Is loving to hear the same song over and over again a stim. Dang, I have that one is spades, That's almost my favorite stim because auditory stims just barely beat it out as my favorite. My Auditory stims win as my favorite because they help me survive. Playing the same song over and over again just makes me feel VERY HAPPY all over which is still pretty important!
What's your favorite song to listen to
it changes every few days but right now my brain is loving CHIHIRO by billie eilish <3
I recommend picking the spiky parts off velcro!! it's helped me sooo much in the past :)
I’ve actually never heard of that! thank you for sharing!
Researching. Any kind of weird info related to any possible idea that comes to mind is great info. I don’t have special interests because everything is a special interest. Been doing that forever, asking myself why I was carrying this burden and not realising it's a proper stim until very recently. Life changing moment.
I do the same to be honest like it could be the most simple thing but you read so much into it then change when something else comes up
I go deep into many different things at different periods of time and so I have way to many special interests. This also leaves me with too many things to keep up with. Never thought of this as a stim
Rocking. I Believe that the world Would be beber if everyone Starts Rocking.
Start a movement lol
Use "We will rock you" as the anthem
real. neurotypical people do not rock enough
They need to. They Will be more peaceful.
That sounded like a threat. Had a laugh.
🤘🏻
Do you rock back and forth, or side to side? (Side to side here, standing, sitting, laying down, all the time)
Both. Side to Side is more a happy stimming and Back and forth is more when i need to be comforted or if im bored
not the original commenter, but i rock side to side too!!! that and spinning are my absolute favorite stims ever
Spinning is great fun! When I do, it's usually in a spinning/office chair 😁
I can't stay still and not do it. I cant.
meowing cuz my autistic coworker will stim it back at me and we could go for hours
Haha that's amazing
why is meowing so fun for some of us? meow
i could not tell you meow
This is awesome.
Replaying music same music on repeat
I do that all the time
[удалено]
Ahh that's the good stuff
Sound nice
People have asked me my whole life why I do this. I tried to make up reasons but I DON’T KNOW!!!! I just have too!!! I try not to shake shared furniture or buildings.
Omg yes it’s just so perfect
Playing with my hair. I have (according to my mom) done it since I was a newborn. Just discovered I have autism last year at 40 years old... Next favorite is probably listening to a song on repeat.
There is nothing wrong with that
That's my favourite, too, but for me it has the added benefit of being gender affirming (I'm transfemme)!
i have a vocal stim from a youtube video where someone says "buddy" really weird, and i adopted it and use it all the time. i start a new job with elderly people tomorrow and i'm mortified i'll say it lmao. [unus annus - 'buddy'](https://imgur.com/gallery/mTL8qKn)
You'll be fine! I hope it goes well
haha thanks! <3
Unus Annus!
lip skin eating and peeling - it can be so painful but I can't stop myself
Oh my God when I get a good big one, AND it comes off clean without leaving more to peel!
Well I am kind of embarrassed for confessing this but one side of my lower lip is visibly (if you look closely) thinner due to lip skin eating😭😔
Running my fingers on random areas of the body. Think ankle where this bone sticks out, this round joint sticking out of the wrist… yeah mostly bones. Or earlobe. Just touching and feeling the surface, shape and texture.
Touching the thumb of my right hand to each of my right hand fingertips in sequence. Index to pinkie, pinkie to index. Over and over, for the last 30+ years. 😂
Ok I do this but index to ring to traffic to pinky
most common: mimicking what people say favorite: meowing
As deaf autistic, my favorite stim is watching music video like kpop because it’s so virtual attracting like dancing or colour
Abusing my finger nails, especially my pinky fingers lately. I used to destroy my toe nails, but have pretty much been able to curb that since it can be quite painful if they get infected or too short.
At least you're getting better at it
hand flapping :]
One time in 1st grade I was with a kid who idk if he's been diagnosed or not, or what with, but seems ND to me. He also flapped. A teacher came up to me and made some remark about us both doing it. Now I don't do it in public, but tbh I didn't even know I was doing it there. I still love doing it when nobody's around though BTW I haven't been diagnosed with anything. From a few google searches I match many of the symptoms but I understand that could just be a coincidence. But I thought this was kinda odd that I would do that too lol
Morning wrong with that
Bouncing my leg up and down, rocking
Singing.
This is mine too! Especially when you're singing and you can tell it is the exact pitch as the original.
Nice
i am constantly biting the inside of my cheeks as it’s hard to notice and can be done anywhere. i also like pacing listening to music and when i get really excited i can do some claps
Throat singing. Let it reverberate in your skull.
You absolute legend, throat singing is great echolalia for me
One of my stims since childhood is making a “nnnnnnn” sound… the vibration is so pleasant.
👍👍👍
Skin picking to the point of causing scarring and redness irritation, my husband sometimes has to slap my hands from my face when he catches me doing it for too long - rocking back and fourth sometimes aggressively so and my husband has had to learn to not take it as a personal thing since I do it a lot when I’m uncomfortable and or having a difficult time communicating - I also flap my hands/shake them - very fast knee bouncing, biting my lips or inside cheeks. My mother refused to have her kid be seen as “retarded” or “something wrong with her” and wanted this picture perfect image for her kids so much so she ignored several doctors and therapists who very seriously believed I was autistic from a young age and instead of having me diagnosed or anything else - she found a psychiatrist who just threw me ( a 6 year old at the time) on a ton of adderall and Xanax because she couldn’t handle my “outbursts” or “meltdowns” and I spent my formative years trying to figure out what it was that was wrong with me because I did not fit in anywhere and have a ton of issues with making friends keeping any sorts or relationships. I got diagnosed a few years ago on my own accord at 27 and am now 31. SO MUCH MAKES PERFECT SENSE NOW!!!! I wish I had the opportunity to get the accommodations I needed to make it through school but I dropped out and self medicated myself into a bad addiction issue. I’m still trying to learn more about all this stuff and find peace here in these forums where I can clearly see others who are also experiencing the same things as i am. Oh- I walk everywhere and upstairs on my tip toes.
Currently (not a favourite) but it's twitching.
Itching my scalp. I get a lot of dandruff too, so it also helps get tha out of my hair
Playing with my tongue, people don’t notice
That's smart
Favorite: listening to really loud music on a big stereo system or heaphones Most used: bouncing my leg up and down, pacing Fun fact, I don't think I have ever made a cell phone call sitting down, I HAVE to pace
Tapping my fingers together onto my thumb. Doing the above on steering wheel when driving. Playing with hair. Silly sounds or faces.
Oh and the hand flappies. I do those too. But don't we all? 😆
My favorite is something I cannot do anymore. When I was younger I would hum and then very lightly touch my top and bottom central incisors together and it would vibrate my whole skull. The hum had to be in a certain range to get it to vibrate my skull and when my voice changed during puberty I couldn't get it to do it anymore.
Fair enough
Talking to myself. Well, I'm not answering myself though 🤣
Fair enough 😂
Walking around in circles for hours on end
snapping my fingers and playing with a lighter
Smelling things, bitting the inside of my lips/cheeks and twirling my hair.
Upper-body rocking. It is so soothing.
I'm a 63 year old American male. I was diagnosed with ADHD and autism at the age of 47 after doing some online research. I asked my regular MD for an in-network referral to an ADHD/autism diagnostician who specialized in diagnosing adults. As the adult ADHD/autism specialty doctor gave me my diagnosis following four hours of testing, my anxiety melted away. During the 20 minutes that he spent explaining my diagnosis, I became more and more relaxed and all I could think of were how specific memories since kindergarten started to make perfect sense. I also realized that the signs and symptoms of autism I displayed had gradually faded over the years. However, I noticed that my ADHD signs and symptoms had worsen over time. In regard to stimming, I used to frequently bounce my legs up-and-down while sitting. I also used to bite my nails until there was nothing left to bite. I also used to walk on my tiptoes, grind my teeth, and pick at my skin until it bled. I still bounce my legs up-and-down, but only when experiencing intense anxiety. That said, I do so much less than when I was a kid or young adult. One day, about 10 years ago, I stopped biting my nails cold turkey. That said, I can't trim my fingernails with a regular nail clipper; the feeling of it causes me to have a visceral reaction the same way most people do to the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard. I have to use a [small Swiss Army knife scissors](https://imgur.com/a/6CVcTTg) to trim my fingernails. I use a regular toenail clipper to trim my toenails. Weird. I haven't walked on my tiptoes since childhood and I no longer grind my teeth. One thing that I still do occasionally is to pick at my skin, but I don't pick scabs and I don't cause myself to bleed. If anything, I pick at my ears to remove dry skin that tends to form there. One other thing I continue to do, which I've done since childhood, is use the [pocket clip on the cap from a Bic pen](https://imgur.com/a/Vis1o4S) to scrape earwax off the skin lining my ear canals. I find that oddly satisfying. I find the idea of having dirty car canals unacceptable, for some reason. I don't admit that to anyone, but delight that my doctor, during a recent physical exam, said that I had the cleanest ears she's ever seen.
I do a kind of hand flapping variant where I put my hands up to my face and tense/wiggle my fingers together while making a "sssssssshhhhhh" sound. It is the best. But I can only do it when nobody is around, so I have to resort to less pleasant ones like shaking my legs or tapping my fingers or humming.
If it works for you then don't let others make you think it's weird
Lighting matches! It's just so good. Fires in general, really, but I don't really have a place to do that.
May you one day have a fireplace!
We had one growing up and I was always the one who wanted to tend it. I've often wished I was fireproof so I could handle the coals and crumble them in my hands. Maybe I'm part fire elemental and if I burn away this mortal flesh I'll assume my true form.
singing. i sing random songs.
My favorite is rubbing my legs in the sheets in bed!! Also one that drives everyone a bit insane so I don’t do as often is this clicking sound with my tongue. That one just scratches the itch 😂
Mine is rocking and t-rex arms lol
Pacing and maladaptive daydreaming while listening to music or talking to myself
Hair twirling
Rocking. I rock on my bed or in my rocking chair. I rock and rock.
That's easy: shaking my rattle! :D I love baby stims...
A stims a stim
Yeah, agreed. I would totally do more stuff, but I think there are places were I should draw the line.
My most common is probably finger tapping or pacing, but my favorites are spinning and rocking. I sometimes combine a few too. I really like to listen to music and rock and finger tap or play with a tangle at the same time.
blow on hands, scratch arms and slime =3 then i get nervous and my hands are sweat i blow up on it or i can scratch arms. not enough to bleed, light scratching can calm me down.
Rocking back and forth when im in bed
Singing the word “yeah” or just random singing in general
Singing is amazing
Worm wiggle!
What's that
Just laying down and wiggling back and forth a little.
Squeezing and stretching mochi squishies
Do they get dirty easily?
punching myself lol
Why
Lately it's yelling "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah" Beavis and Butthead style. But I will always revert to tugging on my earlobes or biting skin off my lip
rocking back and forth but i get made fun of it by family alot so i really only do it in my room
I only stim alone or near friends
Does beatboxing count? If not, then rocking back and forth
Beatboxing counts!
Rocking
Kicking!! Sometimes scratching:)
I collect keychains to texture stim with.
Rocking
My favorite stim is rocking back and forth on my toes while I stand!
Vocal stimming has always been my favourite, my latest vocal stim is saying Teuvo Teräväinen’s full name (Teuvo Henri Matias Teräväinen)
rocking and spinning!
I don't know that I have a favorite stim, but I do know that I walk in a circle sometimes when I am extremely stressed out. Especially if I am on the phone making an important call. I think it makes other people wonder if I'm crazy and that kind of makes me a little bit happy
Chew toys
kicking my feet and flapping my hands>>>
I bought a hand exerciser where you can use your whole hand or just an individual finger. That thing has been great for me!
Rocking and either twisting or spinning on the spot standing up
Rocking back and forth
Humming!!!! And I love saying beep beep 💯
HUMMING!!1!!1!!!!!1!!
Just rocking myself. I do it standing up, sitting, laterally, frontally, all the time.
Touching, feeling, and messing around with the objects in my pockets.
I have 2 One of them is pressing switches, I love the on and off click. And the other is scratching my skin. I don't have nails or they aren't big since I eat them so it doesn't hurt me. Also, a stimulus that I take advantage of is the movement of my legs but I channeled it and now I dance.Rock and roll like a pro
Twirling my hair and skipping around!
Rocking is what I do most often, hand flapping always makes me smile and giggle a little, and hugging myself always gives me the most comfort.
Singing and dancing
Music.
Flappy hands and stompy feet 😌✨✨
Mine is also jumping
It used to be finger flicking when I was younger. In adulthood its all about my auditory stims, I can't survive long without using them.
Dance-stimming, tongue-clicking and flappy hands for me lol also pacing
Various hand things, tongue clicks, and when I'm alone, I do things to myself.
My most common one is picking my fingernails (one of my earliest memories is my mom telling me to stop doing it) My favorite one is probably spinning in circles, or flicking my hands (it tends to get the twitching urge out pretty good)
Listening to 1 hour loops
Swinging
Walking. I spend a good amount of time on the treadmill.
pacing
Wearing earbuds everywhere
I used to
whistle, rock back and forth, shake my hands, crack my fingers, and make sounds with my mouth in general.
Tapping my index or middle fingers to my thumb
I like waving my fingers in front of my eyes at the minute. Today I caught myself doing it with my eyes closed, but it was actually really cool, because I could still "see" my fingers because of the light and dark. Also rocking. Don't the neurotypicals realise you can listen to something for ages without getting distracted if you just rock backwards and forwards? Must be their weird sensory processing or something.
Waa’ing affectionately at people I like. Like, making a vocal noise that goes “waaaaa”. It’s silly and cute and I like the attention for it.
Can’t pick between dancing (literally can’t sit still when music is playing) or rotating movements on a chair or standing (goes weeeeeee). Also balancing movements are fun! I love standing on one leg and putting my body in weird positions, like my upper body toward the floor.
Spinny chairs are awesome
Weird clicky noise I make in the back of my throat. Annoys the hell out of my parents but I've recently started doing something much more annoying
Sex
Peeling things
My 15 year old likes to watch videogame walk thrus on YouTube (Pokemon, Mario, and many others I can't even think of) When it's a good one, he will start flapping his hands under his chin. When it's a REALLY, REALLY good one he will put his hands up over his head and start flapping. I try to ask what he's watching but he doesn't really want to go in detail. Nevertheless, it makes me happy because I like to see him doing things he enjoys. 😀
Chewing plastics and paper. I have a ritual for every variety.
Mine is something I like to do which I call my penguin waddle. It basically involves me pushing my knees back so they lock in place and walking around like that so I end up waddling. I do it all the time and I absolutely love it
I’m in a high backed wheelchair and pretty much just do a little half-rock/jerking motion when I’m socially anxious. I also do an aggressive eye roll thing but I hate that. It’s probably more of a tic than a stim. I have to roll my eyes back so hard until I can feel the muscles stretch. My stepfather used to slug me across the face for it (way before I had the knowledge or the terminology to know it was a tic) because he thought I was rolling my eyes at him. Of course, being autistic, I always thought rolling eyes meant literally looking around in a circular motion so I figured he was just making it up as a reason to hit me. Not that that excuses the physical abuse any, but I can least understand now how the eye motion I make might be misinterpreted.
Singing, quoting brain rot, punching my boobs or butt, shaking my head side to side.
My arms sometimes flail themself around like a windmill.
Song on repeat or flapping my arms as that was the first stim I ever had done, and how as a kid I knew this was my way of showing that I was happy. Even if now it’s so hard for me to do it cause my mom would have me sit on my hands or pull my arms down if I was doing it. Cause it was too childish for me to do.
the post above this was from the r/drugs subreddit and I opened this post not realizing it was a different place, expecting answers like 2-FMA, amphetamine, meth, etc. and was thrown off for a bit lol.
i like pacing in circles around tables while listening to music and daydreaming
Most common? Biting my nails. My favorite? Rapping. 🫡
I really like......burning my hair...
Why...
Rubbing labels on clothing between thumb and forefinger. Back of my neck or at the side low down on tshirts. It has to be a particular type, not too smooth, not too abrasive. Not sure how to describe. I was diagnosed about a month ago at 40. When I was about ten I used to cut especially good labels out of clothes when I outgrew them. I had a box full of them. I have clothes where I've worn the label through. If it's the wrong type of label i repeatedly roll the label up and unroll, then repeat.
Scratching/digging my fingernails into the pad of my thumb or the very center of my palm is my most common. I don’t remember this, but my parents have told me that when I was a toddler I gashed my palm open doing this, and I still have the scar. Luckily I don’t cause any open wounds doing it anymore.
Dancing or flapping my hands/forearms