So first of all, hi love your vids. Secondly you should look into bilateral stimulation. It's almost guaranteed to calm your nervous system by engaging both sides of your brain in rhythm. Bilateral soundscapes are amazing for sleep and incorporating it into my stims has been 🤌. And thirdly and kind of random but you should do a video of Covert stims. Like the kind us late diagnosed peeps fall into over years of masking. And probably more common with women. Hair twirling. Playing with jewelry or clothing. Twisting things up in your hands etc. Also smoking, I've seen commonly is brought up as a stim. Repeative movement, usually outside and away from people and an excuse to do so with a chemical kick. So many of my autistic friends do or have smoked. Anyways thx for reading the ramble if you do. Keep doing your thing 🫶
"staring at a fixed point and repetitively drawing a circle" quiets the brain, reduces brain activity, clears the mind, (from the book : Neuroscience of Personality, by Dario Nardi) It's fun that repetitively drawing a circle, a zero, restarts/resets our mind. Need a reset ? draw a zero ! - Maybe if : Want a start ? draw a 1 !
@@Elodie_N_INTJ_Analyzes I’m guessing it has to do with starting the zero and then there’s a definite completion of it when you get all the way around so it’s likely ke you’ve completed the cycle then can start all over again. Drawing a one sounds good for starting something but it potentially can keep going into a giant line with no ending point
I use my fingernails rather than my fingers. A hang-nail, nail with an irregularity, partly broken, is played with for days. I rock standing up or in a rocking chair; I've broken several from over rocking. I usually play music as I rock. I also like to pick at my nails, sometimes causing small sores.
When I talk on the phone I usually write on paper to keep my hands busy. Does anyone else do this? I either write my name in cursive, draw hearts 🩵 and jot down the date over and over. Didn’t know this could be a stim!
If I have to have a pen handy when I'm on the phone, I end up drawing blocks and completely filling them in so much the paper gets damp and starts to rip. I don't try to rip the paper, but it happens. Writing itself - with a pen on paper - is actually very soothing for me.
RLS #8 goes beyond stimming and autism. It is often more severe problem causing health or sleep problems and is quite the opposite of self regulating. Everything else is spot on :)
I don’t flap my hands much but every once in awhile I can feel built up energy so I’ll quickly shake my hands for a few seconds and that helps. I never noticed that I rock back and forth sometimes until my fiance pointed it out,I think I do it fairly subtly. I have done the finger tap/count sometimes but never realized that’s what I was doing, i tend to tap each finger to word syllables or song lyrics. Oh wow I never realized that basically stretching/rolling out my wrists was a stim. Glad I bought an Ono roller, it definitely helps
Does seeing four legged animals before you notice people count as a stim? Even in the dark, I see four legged movements before people. Also manage to get super excited with no filter (you would think I have never seen a dog before) and say something like Hi Woofers! Or some other overly excited phrase out loud, but its genuine happiness for me. It just comes out before I can stop it and I am overwhelmed with cuteness. I also make the animal hands and say hi to them out loud.
My ex wife used to make fun of me for hand stemming. I didn’t get my diagnosis until after our divorce. I discovered that I was forced to mask for YEARS. Thank you for putting this content out there for us.
I mainly rub my thumbs and index fingers together. Or like scratch underneath the corners of said fingers' nails. Restless legs too, although that decreased massively ever since I started taking methylphenidate. Just got diagnosed at 35 with adhd half a year ago and autism 3 months ago. Love your content, very insightful, informative ánd entertaining.
Yes. I flap my hands. Mainly when I’m excited, or experiencing really big emotions. I also rock back-and-forth, and side to side. I also shake my head as well. All of these things are because I’m completely blind, and autistic. I also rock and shake my head, so that way I can get a glimpse of everything that’s around me. Because being that, I can’t see anything, I rely so much on hearing, body movement, and other things. I also touch and explore everything. I bounce my leg. I will rub my skin as well. Because it’s so relaxing to me. I think this is why I love using sensory brushes, and rubbing Kush balls on my skin as well. I voc stim also. I do many things when it comes to this. Saying my most favorite words, repeating the names of my favorite songs, repeating the names of my favorite artists, singing, the list goes on. I also play with fidget toys. I also cry as well. I’m not sure if that’s really considered a stim though. I love doing these things.
That could be a list of ten stims, used to convince others that one is autistic. For many, stims are things like hair twirling, biting the inside of your mouth, damaging the scalp by scratching/picking, picking wounds so they never heal, biting fingernails and the skin around them, leg bouncing. Things like that, which aren’t cute. If your parents scolded, and threatened you for doing it, then it was probably a stim. We learn to hide them, because they’re embarrassing, once we become self aware. Personally, (may/may not be a stim) t-Rex hands, in public, are the most embarrassing for me, when I realize I’m doing it.
i'm a singer and i'm autistic. my stimming i use to create songs: the thumb indicates the bass, the wrist indicates the drums, the wrist indicates the synthesizer, and all the other fingers indicate the guitars or the piano or the melody. to create a song so i slam my hands against each other and i can get into hyperfocus and hear the song i'm creating. it's very useful for creating songs, but also for venting
My daughter's stimming thing is spinning in her office chair. A simple, low-back, no-armrest chair that spins, and she just flies in that thing. She spins so fast she is like a fan. Her chair is in the living room, and in winter when I'm at my computer in the living room, I get very cold when she spins. It calms her, helps her focus, I guess centers her in a way. She doesn't get sick from it either, somehow. She had a period where she made sounds for awhile and it was something she did when she was more uncomfortable or nervous. But then she discovered spinning in the chair. My stimming thing is shaking my hands or rubbing my nose with both hands, and my head shakes with my neck muscles tense. Ever since I was a little girl, I remember doing it. It's not like flapping like I've seen of other people with severe autism, though, it's more like a flap you'd do if there is a spiderweb or something on my hands, and it's really fast. It's mostly when I'm really excited. If I rub my nose, it happens so hard and so fast that it agitates my sinuses and I end up sneezing really bad for quite a few hours.
I don't know if it counts, but I use to sing almost all the time. I also have the leg syndrome and sometimes I "play air bass", moving my right fingers fast as if I were playing a bass guitar. I tend to make a lot of noises with my mouth too.
Bouncing legs, that's me. Foot bouncing, whole-leg jiggling, etc. Happens less when there's a cat or dog in my lap so I don't upset them but then I have to shift positions more often.
I get like that as well, waving my hands around when I get random excited or when I do art… can’t maintain a steady job because i’m born with Asperger syndrome. company at work, associates and managers, discriminate, abused and judge because I don’t stand out and accuse me for everything that is not true.
My son is an aspi and I'm learning I am as well. My stimming is putting my lips together and wetting my lips and then making them vibrate by pushing air through them.
If you have anything around like a computer monitor (even in the background) and a light (stirp light) they may be at different "refresh" rates so the light could be at 50Hz and the computer at say 60Hz (I think the UK has a 50 Hz cycle) . This causes the flicker at least in man made lighting situations. I can't stand this myself along with brightness...ouch. Moving your hands in front of you sets things to YOUR refresh rate and possibly make things tolerable ( I guess).
So when I get anxious, I noticed that I will either pick a phrase or just a word with multiple syllables, and start counting down the syllables on my fingers. I do this until I have no more fingers left to count and usually by then my anxiety is gone. I also do this randomly throughout the day especially when I'm out in public and just doing errands. I didn't know this was a form of stimming until I got older and I'm not even sure if other people do this as well.
My stims can vary greatly. I do the hand thing in front of my eyes in private and pacing in public. I also mimic and like to scream or do something random like howl like a werewolf. I get really amused when someone howls back at me.
Hi in Virginia 🇺🇸. I am adhd and currently being assessed for autism I pace the floor constantly like when I don't know what else to do, I sway back and forth or in a circular motion with my arms folded behind my back. I always cross my feet when standing in line. I bite my lip sometimes until it bleeds, I also tend to bite the side of the skin of my fingers right along the sides. I used to flicker my finger in front of my face in a back and forth motion while watching TV when I was younger and stopped when my dad asked my mom what's wrong with her. These a few I can think of.
Hello everyone I'm a 22 year old autistic man and i have a problem. For some reason when I go against my habits And exercise self-control it causes a pain in my head that gets worse the more I do it. Does anyone hear know what's going on and more importantly how I can fix it or at least cope with it?
Biting fingernails and plucking facial hair. 😭 I wish my stims were fun, quirky, or helpful like these ones. Instead they are terrible for me. Any advice, anyone?
Same. I pick my nails so short they bleed, it's painful and doesn't look cute. Also, I take a single unfolded paperclip and detangle my hair with it so I unintentionally end up pulling my hair out. Ugh.
@@heatherwilliams3748 sounds about right. It is the reality of stimming I wish people addressed more in videos. It is a hard subject, so I get it. Thanks for validating!
I used to rock back and forth while sitting on the chair, but I stopped when I fell over badly and damaged the chair. I still have restless leg syndrome and cannot fix it. It looks very bad on me (especially as an Asian female), but I cannot stop 😢
My 8yo son (AuDHD) stims by moving his hands over his private parts. He has always done it and I know he is not the only one... yet no one talks about it. I have heard that you should let someone with ASD stim in whatever way is comfortable to them and not try to deter or counteract it but this particular stimming motion causes social isolation, ridicule, and presumptions of constant self stimulation in public. Any advice would be greatly appreciated...or maybe even a video on it! Thanks!
I'm an undiagnosed Autistic person & pretty much every time I get excited I let out a very loud high pitched "eek" sound along with jumping up & down 😶
Can you drop the words flashing on the bottom of the screen? Are there people who can't use the closed captioning option that already comes with TH-cam? That constant flashing is way too much. I either have to scroll up so I can't see the video and just listen or I just don't bother with the video. Otherwise, my anxiety goes up 1000% in the first 30 seconds. I understand you are trying to make the video more accessible but for me you are making it impossible to watch. 😞 Is there a better way?
OMG! TY. Glad I'm not the only one. I understood it in the early days but there is no reason for forced subtitles these days. I can't do it. It's painful & I miss 99% of video & usually leave it.
Autistic & ADHD. Although 20s b4 ADHD diagnosis & sev decades later for autism. Bouncing legs & finger tapping always attributed to ADHD. But these issues I've literally been told I'm jyst wierd by therapists! When I get emotional I yawn with the arm stretch & hands. I tap my teeth in patterns & I trace with my eyes ppls 'collars' over & over while they speak. NOT ONE professional realized I am stimming! I also rub my middle finger & thumb in circles.
Lol. I'm glad you got Dan's attention with this one. It was driving me crazy too, especially on the longer interviews. I've been using a CSS clip-path to trim the bottom of the video off so I can't see them, but then of course I can't see the bottom of the video either.
1:01 This isn't helping my ADHD for sure Edit: 1:28 E ( out ) Movere ( to move ), meaning agitation, not energy in motions, it's borrowed from french btw. Et je sais de quoi je parle, j'ai fait un peu de latin il y a de ça des années 😂
Mate please do more of these top 10 videos it's fun to see what's relatable
So first of all, hi love your vids. Secondly you should look into bilateral stimulation. It's almost guaranteed to calm your nervous system by engaging both sides of your brain in rhythm. Bilateral soundscapes are amazing for sleep and incorporating it into my stims has been 🤌. And thirdly and kind of random but you should do a video of Covert stims. Like the kind us late diagnosed peeps fall into over years of masking. And probably more common with women. Hair twirling. Playing with jewelry or clothing. Twisting things up in your hands etc. Also smoking, I've seen commonly is brought up as a stim. Repeative movement, usually outside and away from people and an excuse to do so with a chemical kick. So many of my autistic friends do or have smoked.
Anyways thx for reading the ramble if you do. Keep doing your thing 🫶
"staring at a fixed point and repetitively drawing a circle" quiets the brain, reduces brain activity, clears the mind, (from the book : Neuroscience of Personality, by Dario Nardi)
It's fun that repetitively drawing a circle, a zero, restarts/resets our mind.
Need a reset ? draw a zero ! - Maybe if : Want a start ? draw a 1 !
@@Elodie_N_INTJ_Analyzes I’m guessing it has to do with starting the zero and then there’s a definite completion of it when you get all the way around so it’s likely ke you’ve completed the cycle then can start all over again. Drawing a one sounds good for starting something but it potentially can keep going into a giant line with no ending point
I use my fingernails rather than my fingers. A hang-nail, nail with an irregularity, partly broken, is played with for days. I rock standing up or in a rocking chair; I've broken several from over rocking. I usually play music as I rock. I also like to pick at my nails, sometimes causing small sores.
Yesss with the hangnails or rough ridges of the nail tip. I'm always searching for these things.
When I talk on the phone I usually write on paper to keep my hands busy. Does anyone else do this?
I either write my name in cursive, draw hearts 🩵 and jot down the date over and over. Didn’t know this could be a stim!
Yes😊
If I have to have a pen handy when I'm on the phone, I end up drawing blocks and completely filling them in so much the paper gets damp and starts to rip. I don't try to rip the paper, but it happens. Writing itself - with a pen on paper - is actually very soothing for me.
RLS #8 goes beyond stimming and autism. It is often more severe problem causing health or sleep problems and is quite the opposite of self regulating. Everything else is spot on :)
I don’t flap my hands much but every once in awhile I can feel built up energy so I’ll quickly shake my hands for a few seconds and that helps.
I never noticed that I rock back and forth sometimes until my fiance pointed it out,I think I do it fairly subtly. I have done the finger tap/count sometimes but never realized that’s what I was doing, i tend to tap each finger to word syllables or song lyrics. Oh wow I never realized that basically stretching/rolling out my wrists was a stim. Glad I bought an Ono roller, it definitely helps
Thank you so much for the comment! InterstignB
one of my favorites is number 3 I didn't know anyone else who did this...I also like it when listening to music
Great job on this video! The chosen words you used are excellant! 😎
Does seeing four legged animals before you notice people count as a stim? Even in the dark, I see four legged movements before people. Also manage to get super excited with no filter (you would think I have never seen a dog before) and say something like Hi Woofers! Or some other overly excited phrase out loud, but its genuine happiness for me. It just comes out before I can stop it and I am overwhelmed with cuteness. I also make the animal hands and say hi to them out loud.
My ex wife used to make fun of me for hand stemming. I didn’t get my diagnosis until after our divorce. I discovered that I was forced to mask for YEARS. Thank you for putting this content out there for us.
I've noticed that I constantly move my jaw a little bit so my teeth rub against each other. Does anyone else do this?
Yes I do this! Like so gently it feels fluffy between the teeth
I did this most of my childhood pre-puberty. I remember it annoyed my mom a lot.
I enjoy learning about autism.
Great hi there I am a 16 year old autistic
I mainly rub my thumbs and index fingers together. Or like scratch underneath the corners of said fingers' nails. Restless legs too, although that decreased massively ever since I started taking methylphenidate. Just got diagnosed at 35 with adhd half a year ago and autism 3 months ago. Love your content, very insightful, informative ánd entertaining.
Yes. I flap my hands. Mainly when I’m excited, or experiencing really big emotions. I also rock back-and-forth, and side to side. I also shake my head as well. All of these things are because I’m completely blind, and autistic. I also rock and shake my head, so that way I can get a glimpse of everything that’s around me. Because being that, I can’t see anything, I rely so much on hearing, body movement, and other things. I also touch and explore everything. I bounce my leg. I will rub my skin as well. Because it’s so relaxing to me. I think this is why I love using sensory brushes, and rubbing Kush balls on my skin as well. I voc stim also. I do many things when it comes to this. Saying my most favorite words, repeating the names of my favorite songs, repeating the names of my favorite artists, singing, the list goes on. I also play with fidget toys. I also cry as well. I’m not sure if that’s really considered a stim though. I love doing these things.
That could be a list of ten stims, used to convince others that one is autistic. For many, stims are things like hair twirling, biting the inside of your mouth, damaging the scalp by scratching/picking, picking wounds so they never heal, biting fingernails and the skin around them, leg bouncing. Things like that, which aren’t cute. If your parents scolded, and threatened you for doing it, then it was probably a stim. We learn to hide them, because they’re embarrassing, once we become self aware. Personally, (may/may not be a stim) t-Rex hands, in public, are the most embarrassing for me, when I realize I’m doing it.
Picking scabs has always been a sort of stim for me. Pus and the like are really interesting to me, too. That's probably a correlation.
And yes, there were many things I was scolded for as a child that I forced myself to find alternatives for. They are all embarrassing now.
I'm A Proud 🦚 Member of The SAN DIEGO COUNTY CALIFORNIA UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AUTISM SOCIETY SINCE DECEMBER 4 OF 2019!!!!!!
I'm in TJ and would love to talk about this group - where can I go to look for contact info?
i'm a singer and i'm autistic. my stimming i use to create songs: the thumb indicates the bass, the wrist indicates the drums, the wrist indicates the synthesizer, and all the other fingers indicate the guitars or the piano or the melody. to create a song so i slam my hands against each other and i can get into hyperfocus and hear the song i'm creating. it's very useful for creating songs, but also for venting
Im low on the Asperger's or autistic spectrum, but a do a little bit of four of these. Great video.
My daughter's stimming thing is spinning in her office chair. A simple, low-back, no-armrest chair that spins, and she just flies in that thing. She spins so fast she is like a fan. Her chair is in the living room, and in winter when I'm at my computer in the living room, I get very cold when she spins. It calms her, helps her focus, I guess centers her in a way. She doesn't get sick from it either, somehow. She had a period where she made sounds for awhile and it was something she did when she was more uncomfortable or nervous. But then she discovered spinning in the chair.
My stimming thing is shaking my hands or rubbing my nose with both hands, and my head shakes with my neck muscles tense. Ever since I was a little girl, I remember doing it. It's not like flapping like I've seen of other people with severe autism, though, it's more like a flap you'd do if there is a spiderweb or something on my hands, and it's really fast. It's mostly when I'm really excited. If I rub my nose, it happens so hard and so fast that it agitates my sinuses and I end up sneezing really bad for quite a few hours.
I love doing that wrist one! I thought all my stims were unhealthy (objectively), I didn’t even consider this one. I love how it feels
I don't know if it counts, but I use to sing almost all the time. I also have the leg syndrome and sometimes I "play air bass", moving my right fingers fast as if I were playing a bass guitar. I tend to make a lot of noises with my mouth too.
Voice stims could tune out other stimuli
Is rocking side to side also considered stimming? My son rocks side to side when he's talking to me. I also get about 50% eye contact.
Also repetitive blinking mimics the result of fingers waving in front of eyes due to light, plus I do it more when stressed or tired in a situation.
Can running back and forth be a stim ? I have an autistic grandson . Thats the only thing i see him do that i can think of as him stimming
Pacing is a good one.
Yes indeed Thank you so much for the comment!
Yes🎉
@@SmallSpoonBrigadeindeed
@@turtleanton6539 It's just unfortunate that it doesn't necessarily always count when they're looking at RRB during evaluation.
Bouncing legs, that's me. Foot bouncing, whole-leg jiggling, etc. Happens less when there's a cat or dog in my lap so I don't upset them but then I have to shift positions more often.
I get like that as well, waving my hands around when I get random excited or when I do art… can’t maintain a steady job because i’m born with Asperger syndrome. company at work, associates and managers, discriminate, abused and judge because I don’t stand out and accuse me for everything that is not true.
My son is an aspi and I'm learning I am as well. My stimming is putting my lips together and wetting my lips and then making them vibrate by pushing air through them.
If you have anything around like a computer monitor (even in the background) and a light (stirp light) they may be at different "refresh" rates so the light could be at 50Hz and the computer at say 60Hz (I think the UK has a 50 Hz cycle) . This causes the flicker at least in man made lighting situations. I can't stand this myself along with brightness...ouch. Moving your hands in front of you sets things to YOUR refresh rate and possibly make things tolerable ( I guess).
So when I get anxious, I noticed that I will either pick a phrase or just a word with multiple syllables, and start counting down the syllables on my fingers. I do this until I have no more fingers left to count and usually by then my anxiety is gone. I also do this randomly throughout the day especially when I'm out in public and just doing errands. I didn't know this was a form of stimming until I got older and I'm not even sure if other people do this as well.
Chewing gum is my stem. One of them at least
My stims can vary greatly. I do the hand thing in front of my eyes in private and pacing in public. I also mimic and like to scream or do something random like howl like a werewolf. I get really amused when someone howls back at me.
I have a bunch of stims, basically always stimming.
Hi in Virginia 🇺🇸. I am adhd and currently being assessed for autism I pace the floor constantly like when I don't know what else to do, I sway back and forth or in a circular motion with my arms folded behind my back. I always cross my feet when standing in line. I bite my lip sometimes until it bleeds, I also tend to bite the side of the skin of my fingers right along the sides. I used to flicker my finger in front of my face in a back and forth motion while watching TV when I was younger and stopped when my dad asked my mom what's wrong with her. These a few I can think of.
Hello everyone I'm a 22 year old autistic man and i have a problem. For some reason when I go against my habits And exercise self-control it causes a pain in my head that gets worse the more I do it. Does anyone hear know what's going on and more importantly how I can fix it or at least cope with it?
Hey!!! Thank you so much for the comment!
@@TheAspieWorld you're welcome. so what do you think could be going on with me?
How do you tell if youre fidgeting from anxiety or stimming?
I'm waiting for my diagnose but I think that one of my brothers are autistic too. He do that movement close to the Eyes.
Biting fingernails and plucking facial hair. 😭 I wish my stims were fun, quirky, or helpful like these ones. Instead they are terrible for me. Any advice, anyone?
Same. I pick my nails so short they bleed, it's painful and doesn't look cute. Also, I take a single unfolded paperclip and detangle my hair with it so I unintentionally end up pulling my hair out. Ugh.
@@heatherwilliams3748 sounds about right. It is the reality of stimming I wish people addressed more in videos. It is a hard subject, so I get it. Thanks for validating!
my 11 month old is folding her hand from wrist and moving. Also lock her fingers from the top fold. is this could be a sign?
I used to rock back and forth while sitting on the chair, but I stopped when I fell over badly and damaged the chair.
I still have restless leg syndrome and cannot fix it. It looks very bad on me (especially as an Asian female), but I cannot stop 😢
My is clicking 😊
My 8yo son (AuDHD) stims by moving his hands over his private parts. He has always done it and I know he is not the only one... yet no one talks about it. I have heard that you should let someone with ASD stim in whatever way is comfortable to them and not try to deter or counteract it but this particular stimming motion causes social isolation, ridicule, and presumptions of constant self stimulation in public. Any advice would be greatly appreciated...or maybe even a video on it! Thanks!
OOo.. I do the hands I circles... Not sure I push my shoulders back..
I'm always moving my toes, and I don't like anything touching my fingertips or palms when at rest.
100% this...
I rock or sway from side to side... Especially under the shower
I'm an undiagnosed Autistic person & pretty much every time I get excited I let out a very loud high pitched "eek" sound along with jumping up & down 😶
Can you drop the words flashing on the bottom of the screen? Are there people who can't use the closed captioning option that already comes with TH-cam? That constant flashing is way too much. I either have to scroll up so I can't see the video and just listen or I just don't bother with the video. Otherwise, my anxiety goes up 1000% in the first 30 seconds. I understand you are trying to make the video more accessible but for me you are making it impossible to watch. 😞 Is there a better way?
OMG! TY. Glad I'm not the only one. I understood it in the early days but there is no reason for forced subtitles these days. I can't do it. It's painful & I miss 99% of video & usually leave it.
Autistic & ADHD. Although 20s b4 ADHD diagnosis & sev decades later for autism. Bouncing legs & finger tapping always attributed to ADHD. But these issues I've literally been told I'm jyst wierd by therapists! When I get emotional I yawn with the arm stretch & hands. I tap my teeth in patterns & I trace with my eyes ppls 'collars' over & over while they speak. NOT ONE professional realized I am stimming! I also rub my middle finger & thumb in circles.
A temporary fix - If you’re watching on an iPad, you can zoom by pinching out and realign with the text off the screen 👍🏽
Oooh good point sorry!
Lol. I'm glad you got Dan's attention with this one. It was driving me crazy too, especially on the longer interviews. I've been using a CSS clip-path to trim the bottom of the video off so I can't see them, but then of course I can't see the bottom of the video either.
Some DON'T stim!
1:01 This isn't helping my ADHD for sure
Edit: 1:28 E ( out ) Movere ( to move ), meaning agitation, not energy in motions, it's borrowed from french btw.
Et je sais de quoi je parle, j'ai fait un peu de latin il y a de ça des années 😂
Thank you so much for the comment!
@@TheAspieWorld No problem, thanks for your videos ;)
Pen clicking