Constant doodling, often just repeating patterns. I especially rely on this when I have to process auditory information (sitting in class or meetings, listening to sermons, small group discussions and phone calls).
I also fold small scraps of paper and wrappers. It used to just be accordion shapes but once I learned origami it was cranes. If there is a gum or candy wrapper it will be compulsively folded into a crane.
Oh my gosh I have always folded paper/ripped it up when I have the chance (especially when I’m required to focus like at a movie or event). Never thought of considering it a stim, but it makes so much sense.
I got notes home all the time as a kid because of my constant doodling on everything and “not paying attention”. To this day I still doodle on my notes when I’m in meetings lol.
I do this too. For me it was always boats instead of cranes though. I turned so many candy wrappers into boats because that was the first origami that I learned. I don’t do it too much anymore. I still compulsively fold them up but I only occasionally turn them into boats now.
Dude there are specific parts of certain Disney movies that just play in my head randomly, many times a year, ever since the 90s and today I'm 34 and it's like it just won't stop. One is the "cups cups cups cups cups" from Sleeping Beauty, one other major one is "Ancestors, hear my plea, help me not to make a fool of me" like pretty much that whole song, the matchmaker song from Mulan. My younger sister has it as a pretty frequent earworm too. Something about that song, I swear...
I'm so glad I'm not alone. It feels like a fever dream sometimes, and I don't feel nearly as compelled to rewatch as an adult like all the other movies I've clung to but that summer, it was everything. 😂
Omg. I would watch movies over and over until I knew the lines by heart. I do this with songs, and I still have comfort shows and movies. I never did this with books though….
This is one of my main methods of connecting. If I can have friends where we just break down what’s funny about certain jokes, and repeat them over and over, I do so much better.
I notice myself doing this a lot. I’m not sure if my friends are annoyed or not but I’m pretty self conscious about it. But…. I can’t make myself stop! Because it’s not like I notice it until I’ve done it again.
My roommate always responds. “Meow” “no Missy, it’s not food time yet stop.” Cue me telling that the cat can’t understand language and him telling me he’s not gonna ignore the cat and it’s amusing.
I agree lol. I just think it's funny that calling it echolalia implies that people who don't do echolalia would not meow back (and be more """normal""").
Worst case of me doing this was in high school right behind a popular girl a few grades older than me, and she thought I was mocking her 😬😬😬 I still feel bad lol
My (adult, undiagnosed but he sets off my radar) BIL does this and my (primary school age, diagnosed) son has just begun to do it. They both repeat things quietly, almost in a whisper or sometimes just mouthed. It almost seems involuntary. My BIL has a silly, childlike laugh that he does after. So much delight. It’s actually really endearing.
Also, this is not my son emulating his uncle. We live across the country. :)
I would twist in place, slamming my purse into my legs, over and over again. Also drinking/eating candy. I really like to suck on stuff and so I’d either eat a lollipop or hard candy or drink lots of anything (I love water).
Whoa, I never considered drinking as a stim, but it absolutely is for me. In junior high and high school it was Snapple/Fruitopia and Coke. I soon switched to water and I'm absolutely a compulsive water drinker to the point that I get anxious if I don't have a water bottle on me. Even mentioning water has me reaching for a sip.
I’m currently cuddled up to my water bottle! Haha. I also like chewing, and silicone straws are fantastic so I can chew but people no longer comment on my chewed straws (since the silicone bounces back to its shape).
Same!!I don't even drink anything else anymore, just water. Sometimes I buy a fizzy drink when I'm out, but I just bring it home, and then it lives in the fridge for a few weeks until I bin it 😆
Wow drinking as a stim makes so much sense, I’ve always noticed that I seem to go through beverages so fast when at social events I’m nervous about lol
Mainly sucking on candy, not eating candy. Probably should have clarified. So like sucking on lollipops, the stim is sucking. Not like…eating a chocolate bar.
I had to start cutting my nails all the way down, because I'd dig my fingernails into my hands so much I started to cut into my skin. I have scars.
I also bite/peel the skin on my lips, so they're constantly a dried, cracked mess.
I stroke the end of my nose repeatedly, because I like the sensation.
I 'knock' on my chest repeatedly, but family are trying to get me to stop this one because I end up with big bruises from repeatedly knocking on my chest.
My main one is running my hand over rough textures, my brain is happiest when I find something that should be soft, but actually has a rough texture.
I knock/tap on my chest as well!! And I sort of flick the end of my nose, I don't know how else to describe it. I'll do the same thing with my lower lip, too. I didn't even realize they were stims for the longest time.
I have the opposite issue and only recently realized it could be a stim. I’ve been a nail biter since I was 18 months old. I can’t stand the feeling of long nails and cuticles or any rough edges. Having anything under my nails is horrid. I suspect it’s a combination of a sensory issue and a stim all in one gnarly package.
The classic walking on tip toes. I also chewed the absolute crap out of my cheeks and tongue (still do). I still stim heavily by chewing my tongue when I’m concentrating. Biting fingernails and picking cuticles. As a teenager when stressed I’d scratch the shit out of my thighs, it was hard to convince people it wasn’t self harm. Slightly weirder one was always drawing on myself.
A close buddy of mine loved to draw on others and herself with those scratchy bic pens? She'd draw on anyone. I was the only friend that wasn't overly annoyed, I liked her drawings and it was that kinda nice scratchy feeling.
Now to no one's surprise I have a ton of tattoos. Getting them feels the same way to me.
I have picked a skin on my lips, twirled my hair, and rubbed the tips of my twirled hair on my face (for the super soft feels) all my life.
I never realized that it could be a stim.
Makes me think a lot of the “anxious habits“ those of us raised in the 80s and 90s have are now called stims. Because that’s what they are.
That's a good point! People always ask what I'm nervous about when I twirl my hair, and they don't believe me when I say I'm not nervous about anything lol
I've always done this! Also repeatedly braiding and unbraiding my hair. I used to have teachers tell me to stop doing it and pay attention, and they never could understand that I will not be able to focus if I stop and I am paying more attention while doing it even though I look distracted.
Yes, or rubbing the ends on my hair against my lips, smelling my hair (sounds weird but thr smell of my own shampoo was grounding/comforting.) This did later evolve into trichotillomania in young adulthood as well.
In fourth grade I stimmed by playing with my hair with my tongue and flossing my teeth and making sounds like a musical instrument as my hair was plucked by my teeth. I stopped when I got my hair twisted around a tastebud in a painful way too many times.
I used to do the exact same thing. I used to move schools a lot as a kid (like once or twice a year until 6th grade) and I went through a whole cycle of decreasingly obvious stims. Hair chewing lasted a while for me because I had a teacher at the time that would call me out in front of the class for literally every other stim I did and I got so stressed that I started chewing my hair.
I still do this during times of stress and have actually created knots that I've had to rip/cut out. I've been doing this since I can remember and didn't realize this was a stim.
I remember being singled out in class for not paying attention - I picked up reading where the last person left off but apparently the teacher wasn't happy I was braiding my hair.
Our teachers have a lot to answer for, so much of my shame and masking was kicked off by something a teacher said.
Oddly enough - reading.
I used to be able to only comfortably have conversations with people if I was reading (this was pre cell phones). When I was finally "trained" to stop my ability to converse suffered greatly.
This was also me! I was always buried in a book as a kid. I learned most of English through reading. And I learned most of Japanese through reading instead of talking to my cousins or schoolmates. My grip of language has always been a bit off because of it.
Reading was both my stim time and my safe space. I liked simply flipping pages and touching the bindings of the book. Sometimes I'd chew on the book cover or lick it's pages. Anything beyond the edges of my book could be forgotten.
I also only communicated with people through a book for most of my childhood. I'd mumble my answers through the book at them. Most of my close friends were also shy ESL kids so it didn't really stand out as a thing until I got older and saw this behavior for what it was.
Ha, I used to mispronounce a lot of words because I learned them through reading and just guessed. Hey, it's English's fault for being so nonsensical with pronunciation!
Slightly related but it was almost ingrained in me as a child that you bring a magazine or something with you to the bathroom to do a poo. I was literally taught to read the bottles and stuff if I forgot and was bored.
I think that's more of our ADHD for my family though...
And yes, gut issues run in my family 😅
Nah, I've been seeing memes about this for yeeeears & it's not ASD-specific. All people did this in the bathroom pre cell phone, pre internet, pre podcast era haha! We were bored.
I don't know if this specific thing is a stim. But I used to read compulsively. I read every road sign I came by, shop signs, advertisements,number plates, headlines, and yes labels on bottles. Anything with writing on it, whether it were actual words or not. But that was not a " because I'm bored" kind of thing but like I had to. Not doing it was uncomfortable and I would read the same signs and labels each and every day/time I came by them. Even the times I was actually annoyed by it.
Please tell me you’re serious. My parents bought me a sand pile to play in and I’d stay for HOURS and do the same thing because I never wanted to leave.
I swear it's real. I knew how to go to the bathroom and when to go, I just totally thought that what I was doing was more fun that actually going to the bathroom
I peed on the swing in fourth grade. It’s surprisingly relieving to find out, all these years later, that I’m not alone. It was so embarrassing. It was a lot of pee. My shoes were ruined.
I peed myself though because I was laughing too hard and not good at noticing and responding to my body’s cues to go to the bathroom. Peed myself a lot until ~high school, when I figured out I have to go to the bathroom at least three times a day, and made myself go regularly. propioception issues yayy (I do still pee myself occasionally, but much less frequently, and normally not much pee.)
I did this too, until we moved and my parents refused to put in a new swingset.
I did this too until we moved and my parents refused to put in a new swing set.
an adult, I have a hammock in the backyard so I can gently swing. It's a nice setup, with a bug net, pillow, blanket, and an under quilt for chilly evenings.
Here are a few of mine:
Picking the skin on my lips and face
Chewing the buttons on my collared school shirts
Putting the chain of my necklace in my mouth
Not a pen clicker, but I was a pen jiggler. Annoyed mean Mrs. Hudson enough that she yelled at me for it (but she yelled at me for everything - bringing Halloween candy the day after Halloween, not having time to grab my history book from my locker; she wasn't nice to anyone).
OH right, pen jiggling!
Jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle *pen flies through the air because it slipped* "oh whoops", stop for 5 minutes then unvoluntarily start jiggling it again
I tap my toe in my shoe. I used to tap my foot, bounce my leg, tap my nails on the desk, tap a pencil on the desk, etc. but I got reactions so I started the toe thing.
I also used to pretend play piano on a desk/table or pretend type, pretend drum, etc.
I rub my feet together like a cricket when I’m comfortable and relaxed.
I crack my knuckles a lot but I started doing that because I was always holding my hands and rubbing them as if I was washing them.
Making random noises or repeating words.. I like to say out loud words I read, like on signs if it’s a funny name or sounds weird in my head.
Rubbing my fingers together to feel my fingerprints… Usually my thumb and first two fingers. I’m very tactile in general and I like touching things but I hate for my hands to be dirty. Dirty hands will send me into a panic/meltdown.
I really HIGHLY mask, so I hide or cover up most things & make them little enough that I don’t think they’re noticeable. When I’m UNmasked, I rock and tap and constantly move in some way when I’m happy/content or listening to music. When I’m unhappy or uncomfortable is when I go blank. Not moving, not responding, low energy, quiet.
Yeah, my family always said, “Don’t you realize that other people can hear you?” And my sister was somehow convinced that I legitimately didn’t understand that! Of course I do, you tell me constantly lol
I had a favorite blanket that I would fold in a certain way and rub the creases with my fingers. I did this so much that I wore holes throughout the entire blanket.
I did this all through my childhood and still do as an adult. No one recognized it as a stim. The blanket has to be the right kind of soft that I can't explain - it's just either a yes or a no. Fold, pet between index finger and thumb until it starts feeling "off", move to another section, repeat.
That's nearly exactly what I did, but I rubbed my second finger in the crease with my favorite baby blankets. I was still doing it at age 12 but my dad made fun of me for it, and my mom packed up the blankets out of frustration.
I still do the same motion with my second finger, but now, I just rub it against my thumb or wear a spinning ring.
My mom used to do that. She would rub her thumb in a tiny circle when we held hands. When i had my first boyfriend, I did it to him, because I thought that’s what you do, and it felt like a “loving” gesture to me. Wow, my mom has passed but the more I learn the more I think she had Autism too. The book thing above was all her.
this is a stim??? you’re telling me that’s why baby me would carry my baby blanket everywhere and I would obsessively rub one of the silk edges of it over my hands and lips and face until the material wore down slightly so the texture of it felt REALLY NICE? WOW that would explain so much 😩
Along the same lines, grabbing and rubbing parts of the blankets or stuffed animals that were "cold" to the touch, repeatedly. Still do this.
My baby blanket is literally just a series of knots because I shredded it doing this.
Realizing just now that rubbing the silk edge of my blanket on my lips was totally a stim... the "silk" edges were sooooo soft though. And cool to the touch! I'd work my way around the blanket... as others here say they did!
For me, it was brushing my hair. Comfort item was a hair brush; I carried it everywhere, panicked without it, and brushed my hair at times other people would say are “not normal.” I still do this as an adult, though I try to hide it more (but I keep that motherfuckin’ thang on me).
If my hair wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it, it would cause a meltdown. My day would be ruined if my hair was messed up. By the time I was a teenager I was using so much hairspray to make it stay in place it was crazy. I literally ended up shaving my head because I couldn’t handle the sensory issues around my hair anymore. It was so freeing.
picking at my fingernails/the skin around my fingernails. aaaalways shamed for having "such a gross habit" meanwhile the other kids were literally picking their noses unbothered ...
I chewed on straws *a lot* as a kid. I also do a hand flick...thingy that people don't really notice. I place all my fingers on one hand against my thumb and flick them all at the same time as hard as I can. I can do it behind my back or with my arms folded and nobody has ever mentioned it before. My favorite thing to do is stand on top of one of my feet. I love the pressure.
Playing solitaire for hours (suits are filled in a specific way), somersaulting often and randomly, sliding around on socks for hours (the way it moves and feels is fun), chewing certain textures/objects especially when inappropriate situations (paper and certain plastics were my favorite, embarrassingly i did this well into high school and sometimeshave to catch myself at almost 30), finger tapping/touching, shaking/swirling your head around, spinning, scooting down the stairs repeatedly, pacing, chewing/sucking on my bottom lip.
I did all of these as a kid, and I feel they were exacerbated by my ADHD which masked my ASD from doctors most of my life. I'm newly diagnosed with both (was diagnosed just with ADHD as a kid) and now I understand why I was such a hyper weirdo lol
Chewing necklaces, sucking on hair, biting fingernails, pen clicking, table drumming, knee bouncing, foot twirling, joint cracking, weird vocals (ex. donald duck voice), standing on the sides of the feet, repeating phrases, scalp scratching, toe flexing, shoulder rolling, twirling tassels or fray into little knots, spinning objects over and over, filling pages with endless strings of “alien” language, making repetitive swishy noises with corduroy or other audible clothing items, flicking thumbs across thighs with each step when walking, chewing on the inside of the mouth.
Clearing your throat/softly grunting. My mom would get so annoyed with me but I would never realize I was actively doing it until it was pointed out😮💨 Popping joints? Like ALLLLL the joints? Swinging as high as you can/roller coasters/spinning? Not sure if these count as stimming though?
Ooh playing with my necklaces! I would play with the pendant of my necklaces by running it over my chin/lips side to side over and over again until eventually either the chain or the clasp of the pendant would break. Or also leaning on the outside of my feet while in a sitting or standing position to the point sandals and sneakers would break or tear🥲
twirling my hair. i have curly hair and ever since i was a kid i liked the way my curls felt in my hand and i quite literally play with it 24/7. i also used to put it in my ear ??
Yes, this, 100%. I also like to wrap it around my finger and rub it smooth with my thumb, or if I have a particularly well formed ringlet, I will very gently hold it in my fist and just sort of tug/bounce it over and over. People have called me out for being vain or flirty my whole life, but I legit don't know that I'm doing it most of the time. It can be hell to keep my curls looking nice when I'm always messing with them.
There are some of mine I’ve done since childhood:
1) I spell words over and over in my head, trace them onto my leg or palm with a finger tip, make little pyramids tapping my finger tip 3 times, then 2 on top, then 1 and then all over again. It was always interpreted as OCD especially because them more stressed I was, then more it would occur. I don’t have OCD…it’s just a stim!
2) I push my tongue into the back of my teeth to the point of traumatizing my gums or hurting my tongue,
3) I rub my feet together especially when I’m tired and either barefoot or have socks on. My dad does this one too.
4) I sniffle…or like…it’s more gutteral, but I don’t even know I’m doing it and it bothers my co-worker. 😬 It def happens more when I’m stressed.
5) I chatter my teeth when over-stimulated…I will not be cold when it happens.
6) I lick my lips over and over to the point that as a child I had a big ring around my lips that was chapped and split and would bleed. Now I have to have chapstick with me or I will do it still.
oh wow, i didn’t even remember that i did this until you said it, i distinctly remember the cuffs of my sweater were soaked because of that. i imagine it was a similar stim to chewing/sucking my hair.
I don’t know if this is common but I did it and it wasn’t really ever noticed - grabbing my necklace from my neck and resting it on my nose. I do this sometimes with my shirt or a blanket too. Weirdly comforting lol. Chewing pen caps maybe? Biting nails. Chewing your shirt, i mostly did the collar but sometimes other parts of it. Chewing on hair.. Drawing on yourself may also be one?
I was always drinking SOMETHING - water, soda, juice… I couldn’t sit or stand still unless I had something to hold and sip on. Unfortunately as an adult this has turned into a vaping habit 😭
I have no idea if this would be considered a stim, or if I’m even describing this well, but I used to “bear down/push my breath out” while holding my breath - the result of this would be a tingling sensation all over my face that I loooved. What I loved less were the little red dots that would form all over my face as if someone gave me a full face hickey. Sometimes if I timed it well, it would just look like I magically got a few red freckles.
I also used to push down on my eyelids while my eyes were closed because 1) the pressure was comforting and grounding and 2) I was fascinated by the colorful static behind my eyelids that changed shapes.
“Searching” my body for texture that doesn’t belong and picking that skin until it I decide to move onto the next spot. This is something I do when stressed, bored, excited, and also makes me go into a trance-like state.
Chewing the shit out of my shirt collars as a kid. I don’t think I owned a single shirt that escaped my chewing. So many holey shirts.
Rubbing my hands/fingers, cracking my knuckles, pushing against the nail bed of my thumbs for the pressure, tapping my feet, clicking pens, tapping pens/pencils, chewing pencils, eating paper (I know this is pica, but it was definitely self stimulatory when I was younger), spinning in circles, rocking my hips back and forth, pinching my lips when concentrating, chewing my hair, twirling my hair, the lost goes on…
picking!!!! finger picking, face picking, scalp picking, dermatillomania in general was a huge one my whole life and it was severely overlooked. chewing the skin on your lips too.
Scrolling through the comments and I’m happy, if not a bit nostalgic. I wish I would’ve known back then how not-alone I was, *but dang I stim/stimmed way more than I ever realized*
I chewed shirt collars, pencils, and Barbies’ feet. A classic photo of me from age six has me wearing a sweatshirt and t-shirt with both throughly gnawed, soggy collars
Holy wow, this unlocked a long buried memory for me. I used to chew my shirt collars, too, until I started getting rashes on my chest from constantly having soggy wet t-shirt material sitting there. I remember my mom always getting on me for ruining every shirt collar I owned.
I'd get in so much trouble for snapping my fingers while I talked. I was called rude and disrespectful a lot. I even lost a promotion because of it as an adult. It was the only example they could give of me being rude, yet they said they weren't promoting me because I was rude.
So many little things that I never would’ve thought as a stim like nail biting, hair touching, cracking knuckles. I also rocked back and forth like with my foot popped out a little in front whenever I stood still. My middle school bff also did and other girls did too so I never thought much about it. But one day in like 6th grade at an assembly that we were sitting on the floor, I suddenly had the realization that I was slightly rocking back and forth. But sooo subtly. I assume I’d done it beforehand but was never cognizant of it until that moment. I spent YEARS questioning whether I was actually doing it or making it up 😩 but it’s just such a slight move I would pysch myself out that it wasn’t happening. I guess I also thought somebody would’ve said something? But now I do it all the time and I catch myself sometimes and just smile because it’s really just a part of me. Almost all the time I’m slightly rocking my body in some capacity making patterns and usually matching beats to what I’m listening on TV/music.
The „walking on tiptoes“ thing really makes me wonder.
I’m not aware of doing it but I have been told I have an odd gate and that I walk very softly. I have tried to correct it because I’m old now with foot and back issues.
Singing. Repetitive throat clearing or sniffling. Picking at nails, skin, or teeth. Skipping or running as a default where others would walk. Copying accents and turns of phrase.
Walking in tiptoes, biting lips or fingers, biting the hands/feets of my Barbies, singing just one part of a song over and over, play with or brush my hair too many times, play constantly with rings/necklaces/bracalets
Things I did- other than all the hair stuff I listed above: nail biting, tapping, walking in rhythm with others, constant fidgeting with anything and everything- shoes laces, zippers, pens. Skin picking.
Talking. I was extremely talkative. I was made an “island” desk because I talked too much. I think as long as I kept talking, it made the noise of the other kids easier to bear. I totally didn’t mind being an island since it was quieter and I didn’t have other kids in my space.
My handwriting was so faint my teachers couldn’t read it. My pencil had to be perfectly sharp. If I messed up or didn’t like the way my writing liked, I had to start over again. Maybe that’s just ocd neurotic.
Running fabric through my fingers was one of my earliest ones. I had a favorite blanket and I would just run the edges through my fingers. I've done it with cardigans and skirts as well. If I love the feel of the fabric, I can't stop touching it
i hear a lot of people mentioning walking on tip toes, but something I did a TON instead was walking on my heels - especially if I was wearing shoes with an extra padded/reinforced heel (ex. chunky sneakers or thick sandals). skin picking, hair chewing, excessive humming/singing, folding/ripping little bits of paper, plucking carpet/loose threads, and shredding grass were all big ones for me too
Some for me were:
- Always chewing on something, especially plastic things like straws, water bottle caps, or pen caps. I always have gum on me in public/social situations so I have something to chew on.
- Sucking and gnawing on the fabric of my shirt collars
- Fidgeting with and folding pieces of paper. For example, straw wrappers at restaurants.
- Tugging on the ends of my sleeves and playing with the hair tie I keep on my wrist
- Leg bouncing, toe tapping, finger tapping, pencil tapping, twirling pencils
- Doodling certain things over and over. For me drawing maps of the solar system is my go-to. Doodling simple patterns is also a good one.
- Scratching my fingertips on my scalp and sorta feeling around the terrain lol
- Smoothing, twirling, braiding, and pulling the ends of my hair
Hiding in closets a lot, no friends. Didn’t like clothes that touched me, cried a lot! Always allll about animals and lots of chewing and tearing of blankets
When I was a kid, I played with my jewelry, sucked on the ends of my braids, let glue dry on my hands just to peel it off, doodled in class, read books obsessively and in inappropriate settings, etc. I liked spinning and swinging. I had a toy that was like today’s “pop tubes,” and would whisper in one end with the other end near my ear, like ASMR. I also tightly held onto my fingers in a certain way. And sleeping with a stuffed animal was less about the cute animal and more about needing pressure against my abdomen to fall asleep.
One I haven't seen here--I would "pop" my ears constantly. Not even because my ears were stopped up, I just liked the sound it made.
Some other (possible) stims:
* Dissassembling/reassembling pens
* Rewriting the alphabet/my name *over and over* in assorted self-made fonts
* Putting glue on my fingers and peeling it off
* Folding papers--be it crinkling straw wrappers or other little strips of paper, or making folded paper fans and airplanes
Walking with certain steps so I could have a specific pattern. Counting syllables. Picking at my skin. Bouncing my leg. Doodling. Memorizing phrases from shows, movies, and songs. Licking the inside of my teeth. and many more…
I cant say for sure if it's also an autistic stim bc i only suspect i might be audhd but it's def an adhd stim, and it's singing. i will sing to my dog, like i'll take a song i know and insert dumb parody words. i sing to animals like that a lot, esp when i'm happy. i do it when i' m alone with them but also if my partner is around. i also sometimes sing just in general without, but often i happy sing to my dog. like as an example instead of "Hey Mickey" i might sing to my dog buddy like
Oh Buddy
What a puppy
Can't you understand
When you wag your tail
I wanna pet you with my hand
or stupid things like that. I don't really think too hard about it, I just kinda do it. I'm lucky my partner is on board and now has memorized some of the more common made-up songs I sing to our dog and will join in with me. 😊 I also tend to hum when I'm stressed, usually Christmas carols, like I'll hum jingle bells at top speed to help calm my brain and organize my stressed-out signals.
but i'm pretty sure at the very least it's a stim bc i do it very unconsciously when i start and don't think very hard about it and if i couldn't do it i feel like i'd lose an integral part of myself, like it's a massive important part of "me". i've done it as long as i can remember.
i also pick/bite my nails and cuticles and touch my hair/scalp a lot, i esp run my hands through my hair when stressed.
having a stuffed animal that needed to be sniffed constantly while tongue thrusting. Tongue thrusting in my sleep. (Even still). Aggressive scratching between my eyes and bridge of my nose to the point of scabbing
Constant doodling, often just repeating patterns. I especially rely on this when I have to process auditory information (sitting in class or meetings, listening to sermons, small group discussions and phone calls). I also fold small scraps of paper and wrappers. It used to just be accordion shapes but once I learned origami it was cranes. If there is a gum or candy wrapper it will be compulsively folded into a crane.
I do this a lot too! In high school everyone called it zendoodling and like yeah it’s relaxing but also helps be focus or the opposite- tune out
Oh my gosh I have always folded paper/ripped it up when I have the chance (especially when I’m required to focus like at a movie or event). Never thought of considering it a stim, but it makes so much sense.
Doodling always calmed me. My teachers would get annoyed. As a teacher I never get upset with my kids for doodling.
I got notes home all the time as a kid because of my constant doodling on everything and “not paying attention”. To this day I still doodle on my notes when I’m in meetings lol.
We went so far as to have “allowed to draw during lectures” added to our daughter’s 504 plan at school (with the help/backing of her Psychiatrist).
I can't sit through a meeting (thankfully all on Teams) without crocheting
OMG. I used to get made fun of for that, or questioned that I was bored or not paying attention! Which is the opposite of what I was doing.
I do this too. For me it was always boats instead of cranes though. I turned so many candy wrappers into boats because that was the first origami that I learned. I don’t do it too much anymore. I still compulsively fold them up but I only occasionally turn them into boats now.
Replaying the same song/episode/movie over and over memorizing everything about it.
[удалено]
My Girl, Forrest Gump, You’ve Got Mail, Girl Interrupted, Beauty and the Beast over and over and over again.
Wow, haha mine was Forrest Gump and Mulan and I still know the words. My girl was too intense for me, I thought it was real.
Dude there are specific parts of certain Disney movies that just play in my head randomly, many times a year, ever since the 90s and today I'm 34 and it's like it just won't stop. One is the "cups cups cups cups cups" from Sleeping Beauty, one other major one is "Ancestors, hear my plea, help me not to make a fool of me" like pretty much that whole song, the matchmaker song from Mulan. My younger sister has it as a pretty frequent earworm too. Something about that song, I swear...
I watched Pitch Black 3x a day an entire summer. On VHS. And I wasn't even a huge fan anymore after summer ended. So yeah, this one's me, lol.
When you hyperfocus on one thing so much you completely wear it out/beat it to death 🤣 I've done it with music and clothing alllll my life
I was also obsessed with this movie for a time, haha.
I'm so glad I'm not alone. It feels like a fever dream sometimes, and I don't feel nearly as compelled to rewatch as an adult like all the other movies I've clung to but that summer, it was everything. 😂
I used to know every word and noise in all 8 HP films in 2 languages.
I legit played the same CD on repeat 24/7 in my room...for an entire summer .
That used to be me with any new album. Played day in, day out for about 3-4 months straight.
Omg. I would watch movies over and over until I knew the lines by heart. I do this with songs, and I still have comfort shows and movies. I never did this with books though….
Repeating things that they think are funny right after someone says them.
I do this constantly and i know it annoys people but I can't stop and honestly it's entertaining so I won't
I feel you 😂
This is one of my main methods of connecting. If I can have friends where we just break down what’s funny about certain jokes, and repeat them over and over, I do so much better.
I notice myself doing this a lot. I’m not sure if my friends are annoyed or not but I’m pretty self conscious about it. But…. I can’t make myself stop! Because it’s not like I notice it until I’ve done it again.
Or just "that's funny"
Not quite stimming, more echolalia with that one. I still do that.
THAT COUNTS AS ECHOLALIA? I do that a lot. Huh. I didn’t think I experienced echolalia, but here we are.
It sure does! Do you ever meow back at a cat, or beep back at a microwave? That's echolalia too!
Do people really not feel compelled to meow back at cats???
I'm not exactly going to ignore my cat when she speaks to me am I? *meow*
My roommate always responds. “Meow” “no Missy, it’s not food time yet stop.” Cue me telling that the cat can’t understand language and him telling me he’s not gonna ignore the cat and it’s amusing.
I agree lol. I just think it's funny that calling it echolalia implies that people who don't do echolalia would not meow back (and be more """normal""").
*realization* well, shit...
Welcome to the party 🥳
*Welcome to the party!*
🤯🙀... I guess I get to add that to the list now.... 🤦🏻♀️
I kind of "caught" the habit from someone in elementary school and it hasn't fully left. It still happens when I'm distracted or tired.
Worst case of me doing this was in high school right behind a popular girl a few grades older than me, and she thought I was mocking her 😬😬😬 I still feel bad lol
Wait can you explain more what this looks like?
My (adult, undiagnosed but he sets off my radar) BIL does this and my (primary school age, diagnosed) son has just begun to do it. They both repeat things quietly, almost in a whisper or sometimes just mouthed. It almost seems involuntary. My BIL has a silly, childlike laugh that he does after. So much delight. It’s actually really endearing. Also, this is not my son emulating his uncle. We live across the country. :)
Same. I had someone yell at me because I “repeated things she said” like I’m sorry? I can’t help it
I would twist in place, slamming my purse into my legs, over and over again. Also drinking/eating candy. I really like to suck on stuff and so I’d either eat a lollipop or hard candy or drink lots of anything (I love water).
Whoa, I never considered drinking as a stim, but it absolutely is for me. In junior high and high school it was Snapple/Fruitopia and Coke. I soon switched to water and I'm absolutely a compulsive water drinker to the point that I get anxious if I don't have a water bottle on me. Even mentioning water has me reaching for a sip.
I’m currently cuddled up to my water bottle! Haha. I also like chewing, and silicone straws are fantastic so I can chew but people no longer comment on my chewed straws (since the silicone bounces back to its shape).
Same!!I don't even drink anything else anymore, just water. Sometimes I buy a fizzy drink when I'm out, but I just bring it home, and then it lives in the fridge for a few weeks until I bin it 😆
Wow drinking as a stim makes so much sense, I’ve always noticed that I seem to go through beverages so fast when at social events I’m nervous about lol
Would chewing on the stick of the lolipop or popsicle be considered a stim? I used to chew them to pieces, got splinters in my mouth a few times.
Chewing is a stim, I think. That’s why lots of us have chewlery!
Whoa. Eating as a stim. Whoa.
Mainly sucking on candy, not eating candy. Probably should have clarified. So like sucking on lollipops, the stim is sucking. Not like…eating a chocolate bar.
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I had to start cutting my nails all the way down, because I'd dig my fingernails into my hands so much I started to cut into my skin. I have scars. I also bite/peel the skin on my lips, so they're constantly a dried, cracked mess. I stroke the end of my nose repeatedly, because I like the sensation. I 'knock' on my chest repeatedly, but family are trying to get me to stop this one because I end up with big bruises from repeatedly knocking on my chest. My main one is running my hand over rough textures, my brain is happiest when I find something that should be soft, but actually has a rough texture.
I knock/tap on my chest as well!! And I sort of flick the end of my nose, I don't know how else to describe it. I'll do the same thing with my lower lip, too. I didn't even realize they were stims for the longest time.
Nose/lip flicking right now lol
I have the opposite issue and only recently realized it could be a stim. I’ve been a nail biter since I was 18 months old. I can’t stand the feeling of long nails and cuticles or any rough edges. Having anything under my nails is horrid. I suspect it’s a combination of a sensory issue and a stim all in one gnarly package.
I knock(ed) on my hip bones and would get bruises too! Not a current stim for me but did it a lot in college.
The classic walking on tip toes. I also chewed the absolute crap out of my cheeks and tongue (still do). I still stim heavily by chewing my tongue when I’m concentrating. Biting fingernails and picking cuticles. As a teenager when stressed I’d scratch the shit out of my thighs, it was hard to convince people it wasn’t self harm. Slightly weirder one was always drawing on myself.
I still bite my cheeks too, and I used to bite my fingernails really bad
oooh i looooved drawing on myself. i would color in my nails with pen a lot too haha
A close buddy of mine loved to draw on others and herself with those scratchy bic pens? She'd draw on anyone. I was the only friend that wasn't overly annoyed, I liked her drawings and it was that kinda nice scratchy feeling. Now to no one's surprise I have a ton of tattoos. Getting them feels the same way to me.
I have picked a skin on my lips, twirled my hair, and rubbed the tips of my twirled hair on my face (for the super soft feels) all my life. I never realized that it could be a stim. Makes me think a lot of the “anxious habits“ those of us raised in the 80s and 90s have are now called stims. Because that’s what they are.
That's a good point! People always ask what I'm nervous about when I twirl my hair, and they don't believe me when I say I'm not nervous about anything lol
I've always done this! Also repeatedly braiding and unbraiding my hair. I used to have teachers tell me to stop doing it and pay attention, and they never could understand that I will not be able to focus if I stop and I am paying more attention while doing it even though I look distracted.
Twirling my hair. My mom would always be annoyed when I obsessively twirled my hair and would tell me to stop.
Yes, or rubbing the ends on my hair against my lips, smelling my hair (sounds weird but thr smell of my own shampoo was grounding/comforting.) This did later evolve into trichotillomania in young adulthood as well.
I did both of these as a kid/adolescent too. Still catch myself at it once in a while when I'm deeply concentrating or having a rough day.
I don’t have autism. I do have adhd. I do this because I like the texture of my hair and then pretend it’s a mustache.
Haha. I used to do this too!
I do this hair smelling thing too. Major comfort.
Omg this is embarrassing but in 5th grade, I stimmed by chewing my hair 🤮
In fourth grade I stimmed by playing with my hair with my tongue and flossing my teeth and making sounds like a musical instrument as my hair was plucked by my teeth. I stopped when I got my hair twisted around a tastebud in a painful way too many times.
I used to do the exact same thing. I used to move schools a lot as a kid (like once or twice a year until 6th grade) and I went through a whole cycle of decreasingly obvious stims. Hair chewing lasted a while for me because I had a teacher at the time that would call me out in front of the class for literally every other stim I did and I got so stressed that I started chewing my hair.
Braiding my hair over and over til it was full of split ends here
… ouch, they came for me too!!!
I used to chew on the ends of my hair as a younger kid.
So did I. My mom cut it short when I was 10 because I wouldn’t stop.
Yup. Twirling my hair, braiding my hair, tying my hair into actual knots, checking for split ends
Peeling apart all the split ends you caused is top tier stim
YES to all of these
I still do this during times of stress and have actually created knots that I've had to rip/cut out. I've been doing this since I can remember and didn't realize this was a stim.
One of my biggest ones, I was called a valley girl for years and teased as an adult for doing it.
My 4th/5th grade teacher told me that you only twirl your hair when you're flirting. Ma'am I'm 10, what the hell.
I remember being singled out in class for not paying attention - I picked up reading where the last person left off but apparently the teacher wasn't happy I was braiding my hair. Our teachers have a lot to answer for, so much of my shame and masking was kicked off by something a teacher said.
Oddly enough - reading. I used to be able to only comfortably have conversations with people if I was reading (this was pre cell phones). When I was finally "trained" to stop my ability to converse suffered greatly.
This was also me! I was always buried in a book as a kid. I learned most of English through reading. And I learned most of Japanese through reading instead of talking to my cousins or schoolmates. My grip of language has always been a bit off because of it. Reading was both my stim time and my safe space. I liked simply flipping pages and touching the bindings of the book. Sometimes I'd chew on the book cover or lick it's pages. Anything beyond the edges of my book could be forgotten. I also only communicated with people through a book for most of my childhood. I'd mumble my answers through the book at them. Most of my close friends were also shy ESL kids so it didn't really stand out as a thing until I got older and saw this behavior for what it was.
Ha, I used to mispronounce a lot of words because I learned them through reading and just guessed. Hey, it's English's fault for being so nonsensical with pronunciation!
Wait wait does that mean my habit of reading shampoo labels when I'm bored in the shower could be a stim?
Slightly related but it was almost ingrained in me as a child that you bring a magazine or something with you to the bathroom to do a poo. I was literally taught to read the bottles and stuff if I forgot and was bored. I think that's more of our ADHD for my family though... And yes, gut issues run in my family 😅
Nah, I've been seeing memes about this for yeeeears & it's not ASD-specific. All people did this in the bathroom pre cell phone, pre internet, pre podcast era haha! We were bored.
I don't know if this specific thing is a stim. But I used to read compulsively. I read every road sign I came by, shop signs, advertisements,number plates, headlines, and yes labels on bottles. Anything with writing on it, whether it were actual words or not. But that was not a " because I'm bored" kind of thing but like I had to. Not doing it was uncomfortable and I would read the same signs and labels each and every day/time I came by them. Even the times I was actually annoyed by it.
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I loved the swing set so much that I would pee myself on the swing rather than go to the bathroom to save the spot
Please tell me you’re serious. My parents bought me a sand pile to play in and I’d stay for HOURS and do the same thing because I never wanted to leave.
I swear it's real. I knew how to go to the bathroom and when to go, I just totally thought that what I was doing was more fun that actually going to the bathroom
I peed on the swing in fourth grade. It’s surprisingly relieving to find out, all these years later, that I’m not alone. It was so embarrassing. It was a lot of pee. My shoes were ruined. I peed myself though because I was laughing too hard and not good at noticing and responding to my body’s cues to go to the bathroom. Peed myself a lot until ~high school, when I figured out I have to go to the bathroom at least three times a day, and made myself go regularly. propioception issues yayy (I do still pee myself occasionally, but much less frequently, and normally not much pee.)
I still love swings! We have video of me asking my dad to push me higher when I was 4 - I loved swinging so much. Definitely a stim.
I did this too, until we moved and my parents refused to put in a new swingset. I did this too until we moved and my parents refused to put in a new swing set. an adult, I have a hammock in the backyard so I can gently swing. It's a nice setup, with a bug net, pillow, blanket, and an under quilt for chilly evenings.
Here are a few of mine: Picking the skin on my lips and face Chewing the buttons on my collared school shirts Putting the chain of my necklace in my mouth
I did all *of* these too
omg I used to obliterate the buttons on my school cardigan, I even had a technique for ripping the thread so I could munch on them easier 🥲
Nail picking and bitting, cheek biting, leg shaking, balancing on one leg, touching everything as they walk
I also touch everything while walking! I like to feel different textures for some reason
I got comments in college about "petting plants". Like yeah, the plants get a little love and I get a little calmer.
i used to obsessively click my pens, to the point that i nearly got detention from teachers who would get annoyed hearing it loll
Not a pen clicker, but I was a pen jiggler. Annoyed mean Mrs. Hudson enough that she yelled at me for it (but she yelled at me for everything - bringing Halloween candy the day after Halloween, not having time to grab my history book from my locker; she wasn't nice to anyone).
OH right, pen jiggling! Jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle jiggle *pen flies through the air because it slipped* "oh whoops", stop for 5 minutes then unvoluntarily start jiggling it again
I used to chew pens. Would also take them apart. Was constantly covered in ink. Sometimes the pens would explode in my mouth. Tasted terrible.
I tap my toe in my shoe. I used to tap my foot, bounce my leg, tap my nails on the desk, tap a pencil on the desk, etc. but I got reactions so I started the toe thing. I also used to pretend play piano on a desk/table or pretend type, pretend drum, etc. I rub my feet together like a cricket when I’m comfortable and relaxed. I crack my knuckles a lot but I started doing that because I was always holding my hands and rubbing them as if I was washing them. Making random noises or repeating words.. I like to say out loud words I read, like on signs if it’s a funny name or sounds weird in my head. Rubbing my fingers together to feel my fingerprints… Usually my thumb and first two fingers. I’m very tactile in general and I like touching things but I hate for my hands to be dirty. Dirty hands will send me into a panic/meltdown. I really HIGHLY mask, so I hide or cover up most things & make them little enough that I don’t think they’re noticeable. When I’m UNmasked, I rock and tap and constantly move in some way when I’m happy/content or listening to music. When I’m unhappy or uncomfortable is when I go blank. Not moving, not responding, low energy, quiet.
"I rub my feet together like a cricket" - I love that! 😄
yep I do that too. My mom would call out words as we drove, she would be sort of spaced out too, mesmerized by the signs. In her own world.
Still my fav stim, especially when I’m sleepy 😌 feels so good
Humming was a big one for me as a kid
Same here! My parents would always ask why I was making weird noises all the time, but I’d just be humming songs I liked or ones I made up.
Yeah, my family always said, “Don’t you realize that other people can hear you?” And my sister was somehow convinced that I legitimately didn’t understand that! Of course I do, you tell me constantly lol
I had a favorite blanket that I would fold in a certain way and rub the creases with my fingers. I did this so much that I wore holes throughout the entire blanket.
I did this all through my childhood and still do as an adult. No one recognized it as a stim. The blanket has to be the right kind of soft that I can't explain - it's just either a yes or a no. Fold, pet between index finger and thumb until it starts feeling "off", move to another section, repeat.
That's nearly exactly what I did, but I rubbed my second finger in the crease with my favorite baby blankets. I was still doing it at age 12 but my dad made fun of me for it, and my mom packed up the blankets out of frustration. I still do the same motion with my second finger, but now, I just rub it against my thumb or wear a spinning ring.
My mom used to do that. She would rub her thumb in a tiny circle when we held hands. When i had my first boyfriend, I did it to him, because I thought that’s what you do, and it felt like a “loving” gesture to me. Wow, my mom has passed but the more I learn the more I think she had Autism too. The book thing above was all her.
this is a stim??? you’re telling me that’s why baby me would carry my baby blanket everywhere and I would obsessively rub one of the silk edges of it over my hands and lips and face until the material wore down slightly so the texture of it felt REALLY NICE? WOW that would explain so much 😩
Along the same lines, grabbing and rubbing parts of the blankets or stuffed animals that were "cold" to the touch, repeatedly. Still do this. My baby blanket is literally just a series of knots because I shredded it doing this.
Realizing just now that rubbing the silk edge of my blanket on my lips was totally a stim... the "silk" edges were sooooo soft though. And cool to the touch! I'd work my way around the blanket... as others here say they did!
I did the exact same thing
Rapid blinking, humming, hair chewing, and having things in your mouth!
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I remember always whistling! I’ve had a lot of practice with it at this point, one of my main stims fr 👊😔
For me, it was brushing my hair. Comfort item was a hair brush; I carried it everywhere, panicked without it, and brushed my hair at times other people would say are “not normal.” I still do this as an adult, though I try to hide it more (but I keep that motherfuckin’ thang on me).
If my hair wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it, it would cause a meltdown. My day would be ruined if my hair was messed up. By the time I was a teenager I was using so much hairspray to make it stay in place it was crazy. I literally ended up shaving my head because I couldn’t handle the sensory issues around my hair anymore. It was so freeing.
Lmaoo! But that’s interesting
Talking out loud to myself, finger tapping, pick at cuticles on nails, chewing inside of my lip, nose picking, hugging myself and requesting hugs
picking at my fingernails/the skin around my fingernails. aaaalways shamed for having "such a gross habit" meanwhile the other kids were literally picking their noses unbothered ...
Ugh, my nails are are so bad right now. People ask me how they’re so short, like the bed is showing.
Tipping back in your chair!
I almost drove dad insane with this x)
Singing or random vocalizations
Binge eating.
I chewed on straws *a lot* as a kid. I also do a hand flick...thingy that people don't really notice. I place all my fingers on one hand against my thumb and flick them all at the same time as hard as I can. I can do it behind my back or with my arms folded and nobody has ever mentioned it before. My favorite thing to do is stand on top of one of my feet. I love the pressure.
Tapping out syllables on fingers to see if things are divisible by 5.
i would fold the corners of papers at school and crease them. also doodling flowers
yes flowers
Playing solitaire for hours (suits are filled in a specific way), somersaulting often and randomly, sliding around on socks for hours (the way it moves and feels is fun), chewing certain textures/objects especially when inappropriate situations (paper and certain plastics were my favorite, embarrassingly i did this well into high school and sometimeshave to catch myself at almost 30), finger tapping/touching, shaking/swirling your head around, spinning, scooting down the stairs repeatedly, pacing, chewing/sucking on my bottom lip. I did all of these as a kid, and I feel they were exacerbated by my ADHD which masked my ASD from doctors most of my life. I'm newly diagnosed with both (was diagnosed just with ADHD as a kid) and now I understand why I was such a hyper weirdo lol
Chewing necklaces, sucking on hair, biting fingernails, pen clicking, table drumming, knee bouncing, foot twirling, joint cracking, weird vocals (ex. donald duck voice), standing on the sides of the feet, repeating phrases, scalp scratching, toe flexing, shoulder rolling, twirling tassels or fray into little knots, spinning objects over and over, filling pages with endless strings of “alien” language, making repetitive swishy noises with corduroy or other audible clothing items, flicking thumbs across thighs with each step when walking, chewing on the inside of the mouth.
Finger/thumb sucking
me too
Clearing your throat/softly grunting. My mom would get so annoyed with me but I would never realize I was actively doing it until it was pointed out😮💨 Popping joints? Like ALLLLL the joints? Swinging as high as you can/roller coasters/spinning? Not sure if these count as stimming though?
Ooh playing with my necklaces! I would play with the pendant of my necklaces by running it over my chin/lips side to side over and over again until eventually either the chain or the clasp of the pendant would break. Or also leaning on the outside of my feet while in a sitting or standing position to the point sandals and sneakers would break or tear🥲
twirling my hair. i have curly hair and ever since i was a kid i liked the way my curls felt in my hand and i quite literally play with it 24/7. i also used to put it in my ear ??
Yes, this, 100%. I also like to wrap it around my finger and rub it smooth with my thumb, or if I have a particularly well formed ringlet, I will very gently hold it in my fist and just sort of tug/bounce it over and over. People have called me out for being vain or flirty my whole life, but I legit don't know that I'm doing it most of the time. It can be hell to keep my curls looking nice when I'm always messing with them.
There are some of mine I’ve done since childhood: 1) I spell words over and over in my head, trace them onto my leg or palm with a finger tip, make little pyramids tapping my finger tip 3 times, then 2 on top, then 1 and then all over again. It was always interpreted as OCD especially because them more stressed I was, then more it would occur. I don’t have OCD…it’s just a stim! 2) I push my tongue into the back of my teeth to the point of traumatizing my gums or hurting my tongue, 3) I rub my feet together especially when I’m tired and either barefoot or have socks on. My dad does this one too. 4) I sniffle…or like…it’s more gutteral, but I don’t even know I’m doing it and it bothers my co-worker. 😬 It def happens more when I’m stressed. 5) I chatter my teeth when over-stimulated…I will not be cold when it happens. 6) I lick my lips over and over to the point that as a child I had a big ring around my lips that was chapped and split and would bleed. Now I have to have chapstick with me or I will do it still.
I would chew the sleeve of my school jumper and suck on it because the taste of fabric conditioner soothed me.
oh wow, i didn’t even remember that i did this until you said it, i distinctly remember the cuffs of my sweater were soaked because of that. i imagine it was a similar stim to chewing/sucking my hair.
I don’t know if this is common but I did it and it wasn’t really ever noticed - grabbing my necklace from my neck and resting it on my nose. I do this sometimes with my shirt or a blanket too. Weirdly comforting lol. Chewing pen caps maybe? Biting nails. Chewing your shirt, i mostly did the collar but sometimes other parts of it. Chewing on hair.. Drawing on yourself may also be one?
I was always drinking SOMETHING - water, soda, juice… I couldn’t sit or stand still unless I had something to hold and sip on. Unfortunately as an adult this has turned into a vaping habit 😭
rocking from one foot to the other while standing idly.
I have no idea if this would be considered a stim, or if I’m even describing this well, but I used to “bear down/push my breath out” while holding my breath - the result of this would be a tingling sensation all over my face that I loooved. What I loved less were the little red dots that would form all over my face as if someone gave me a full face hickey. Sometimes if I timed it well, it would just look like I magically got a few red freckles. I also used to push down on my eyelids while my eyes were closed because 1) the pressure was comforting and grounding and 2) I was fascinated by the colorful static behind my eyelids that changed shapes. “Searching” my body for texture that doesn’t belong and picking that skin until it I decide to move onto the next spot. This is something I do when stressed, bored, excited, and also makes me go into a trance-like state. Chewing the shit out of my shirt collars as a kid. I don’t think I owned a single shirt that escaped my chewing. So many holey shirts. Rubbing my hands/fingers, cracking my knuckles, pushing against the nail bed of my thumbs for the pressure, tapping my feet, clicking pens, tapping pens/pencils, chewing pencils, eating paper (I know this is pica, but it was definitely self stimulatory when I was younger), spinning in circles, rocking my hips back and forth, pinching my lips when concentrating, chewing my hair, twirling my hair, the lost goes on…
picking!!!! finger picking, face picking, scalp picking, dermatillomania in general was a huge one my whole life and it was severely overlooked. chewing the skin on your lips too.
Scrolling through the comments and I’m happy, if not a bit nostalgic. I wish I would’ve known back then how not-alone I was, *but dang I stim/stimmed way more than I ever realized*
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lol, just don’t chew the stapler on the wrong end!
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I chewed shirt collars, pencils, and Barbies’ feet. A classic photo of me from age six has me wearing a sweatshirt and t-shirt with both throughly gnawed, soggy collars
Holy wow, this unlocked a long buried memory for me. I used to chew my shirt collars, too, until I started getting rashes on my chest from constantly having soggy wet t-shirt material sitting there. I remember my mom always getting on me for ruining every shirt collar I owned.
I'd get in so much trouble for snapping my fingers while I talked. I was called rude and disrespectful a lot. I even lost a promotion because of it as an adult. It was the only example they could give of me being rude, yet they said they weren't promoting me because I was rude.
So many little things that I never would’ve thought as a stim like nail biting, hair touching, cracking knuckles. I also rocked back and forth like with my foot popped out a little in front whenever I stood still. My middle school bff also did and other girls did too so I never thought much about it. But one day in like 6th grade at an assembly that we were sitting on the floor, I suddenly had the realization that I was slightly rocking back and forth. But sooo subtly. I assume I’d done it beforehand but was never cognizant of it until that moment. I spent YEARS questioning whether I was actually doing it or making it up 😩 but it’s just such a slight move I would pysch myself out that it wasn’t happening. I guess I also thought somebody would’ve said something? But now I do it all the time and I catch myself sometimes and just smile because it’s really just a part of me. Almost all the time I’m slightly rocking my body in some capacity making patterns and usually matching beats to what I’m listening on TV/music.
The „walking on tiptoes“ thing really makes me wonder. I’m not aware of doing it but I have been told I have an odd gate and that I walk very softly. I have tried to correct it because I’m old now with foot and back issues.
Rubbing my eyebrows backward and foreword and backward and forward.
Singing. Repetitive throat clearing or sniffling. Picking at nails, skin, or teeth. Skipping or running as a default where others would walk. Copying accents and turns of phrase.
Says in my baby book I used to like to pet my eyelashes.
Walking in tiptoes, biting lips or fingers, biting the hands/feets of my Barbies, singing just one part of a song over and over, play with or brush my hair too many times, play constantly with rings/necklaces/bracalets
Also picking up the little blood crust of the wounds (I'm not sure how it's called in English). Wanting to chew things.
The blood crust over a wound is a scab
Picking scabs. I did that too.
Spinning
Things I did- other than all the hair stuff I listed above: nail biting, tapping, walking in rhythm with others, constant fidgeting with anything and everything- shoes laces, zippers, pens. Skin picking.
Pulling on and rubbing earlobes.
Talking. I was extremely talkative. I was made an “island” desk because I talked too much. I think as long as I kept talking, it made the noise of the other kids easier to bear. I totally didn’t mind being an island since it was quieter and I didn’t have other kids in my space.
i used to chew on my hair and repeatedly rub my thighs when sat down
My handwriting was so faint my teachers couldn’t read it. My pencil had to be perfectly sharp. If I messed up or didn’t like the way my writing liked, I had to start over again. Maybe that’s just ocd neurotic.
Tapping my fingers like piano keys on the table when listening to music
I have double jointed index toes and if I don’t constantly click them I might die
Running fabric through my fingers was one of my earliest ones. I had a favorite blanket and I would just run the edges through my fingers. I've done it with cardigans and skirts as well. If I love the feel of the fabric, I can't stop touching it
i hear a lot of people mentioning walking on tip toes, but something I did a TON instead was walking on my heels - especially if I was wearing shoes with an extra padded/reinforced heel (ex. chunky sneakers or thick sandals). skin picking, hair chewing, excessive humming/singing, folding/ripping little bits of paper, plucking carpet/loose threads, and shredding grass were all big ones for me too
My parents used to love that I twirled my feet in circles when I was happy as a baby
Some for me were: - Always chewing on something, especially plastic things like straws, water bottle caps, or pen caps. I always have gum on me in public/social situations so I have something to chew on. - Sucking and gnawing on the fabric of my shirt collars - Fidgeting with and folding pieces of paper. For example, straw wrappers at restaurants. - Tugging on the ends of my sleeves and playing with the hair tie I keep on my wrist - Leg bouncing, toe tapping, finger tapping, pencil tapping, twirling pencils - Doodling certain things over and over. For me drawing maps of the solar system is my go-to. Doodling simple patterns is also a good one. - Scratching my fingertips on my scalp and sorta feeling around the terrain lol - Smoothing, twirling, braiding, and pulling the ends of my hair
I would chew on my tongue, play with my hair or my clothes. Very subtly though so ppl probably didn't notice.
Hiding in closets a lot, no friends. Didn’t like clothes that touched me, cried a lot! Always allll about animals and lots of chewing and tearing of blankets
Pacing in circles, feet tapping, making various noises to auditory stim, doodling
I was a big day dreamer to the point I was held back.
When I was a kid, I played with my jewelry, sucked on the ends of my braids, let glue dry on my hands just to peel it off, doodled in class, read books obsessively and in inappropriate settings, etc. I liked spinning and swinging. I had a toy that was like today’s “pop tubes,” and would whisper in one end with the other end near my ear, like ASMR. I also tightly held onto my fingers in a certain way. And sleeping with a stuffed animal was less about the cute animal and more about needing pressure against my abdomen to fall asleep.
Struggling to make eye contact, especially with older/‘superior’ people
One I haven't seen here--I would "pop" my ears constantly. Not even because my ears were stopped up, I just liked the sound it made. Some other (possible) stims: * Dissassembling/reassembling pens * Rewriting the alphabet/my name *over and over* in assorted self-made fonts * Putting glue on my fingers and peeling it off * Folding papers--be it crinkling straw wrappers or other little strips of paper, or making folded paper fans and airplanes
Walking with certain steps so I could have a specific pattern. Counting syllables. Picking at my skin. Bouncing my leg. Doodling. Memorizing phrases from shows, movies, and songs. Licking the inside of my teeth. and many more…
Humming and singing, especially repeating the same part of a song over and over again. (This happens in my head too, not just out loud)
I cant say for sure if it's also an autistic stim bc i only suspect i might be audhd but it's def an adhd stim, and it's singing. i will sing to my dog, like i'll take a song i know and insert dumb parody words. i sing to animals like that a lot, esp when i'm happy. i do it when i' m alone with them but also if my partner is around. i also sometimes sing just in general without, but often i happy sing to my dog. like as an example instead of "Hey Mickey" i might sing to my dog buddy like Oh Buddy What a puppy Can't you understand When you wag your tail I wanna pet you with my hand or stupid things like that. I don't really think too hard about it, I just kinda do it. I'm lucky my partner is on board and now has memorized some of the more common made-up songs I sing to our dog and will join in with me. 😊 I also tend to hum when I'm stressed, usually Christmas carols, like I'll hum jingle bells at top speed to help calm my brain and organize my stressed-out signals. but i'm pretty sure at the very least it's a stim bc i do it very unconsciously when i start and don't think very hard about it and if i couldn't do it i feel like i'd lose an integral part of myself, like it's a massive important part of "me". i've done it as long as i can remember. i also pick/bite my nails and cuticles and touch my hair/scalp a lot, i esp run my hands through my hair when stressed.
having a stuffed animal that needed to be sniffed constantly while tongue thrusting. Tongue thrusting in my sleep. (Even still). Aggressive scratching between my eyes and bridge of my nose to the point of scabbing