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Stimming question

S

Sean

Active Member
I'm new here. I haven't been diagnosed with aspergers but I feel I likely have a mild case of it.

My question is about stimming, and if you guys think this is the case.

I am 24 years old and have my stuffed toys that I had as a kid which I am still very attached to even though I'd rather not be.... Like seriously I should have grown out of that.

Anyways I usually take comfort in running them through the middle of my fingers especially before bed.

I can sleep without them but I definitely don't sleep as well.

I have other indicators too but I just came about the term stimming and feel like this is something I might be doing

Anyways I'd love to hear some thoughts.
 
It might be. To me, stimming is any sort of somewhat involuntary, sort of subconcious, compulsion type of behavior that comforts or relaxes us. Like my habit that i recently noticed of drumming on the register at work as a cashier when i'm talking to a customer at work. Not the whole time but when i get nervous or stuck trying to script a conversation to them i'll do it. Before i lost it i had a ring i would twirl repetitively over and over all the time whenever they made me 'redline' when i didn't have customers. Redlining is when a cashier stands in front of their line when they don't have customers waiting for customers and asking anyone who looks ready to check out if they'd like to check out. I hate redlining though because i feel like everyone stares at me even if they don't so i try to just look busy instead. Its nerve wracking. Hence the repetitive stimming whenever i'm forced to redline...that or standing next to and partially against something. I consider it a stim cause i feel like i have to and its comforting somehow and i'll usually end up holding onto something like a corner or part of a shelf display.

Like you i can't sleep without this small stuffed animal sized stuffed heart shaped pillow i have. I hold it like a stuffed animal and i can't sleep without it, well i have a really hard time sleeping without it at least.
 
I've really noticed recently how much I fidget with my hands.Twiddle my thumbs when im bored and what not, and the horrible habit of picking at my cuticles. But just recently noticed when im in the car and falling asleep I rub my fingers together, now that im aware of it im sure I do it in place of the stuff animals.
 
Whether it is a stim or not is hard to say. But what I do know is that we often have routines that can be hard to break out of. Part of the reason they are hard to break is that, at least for me, I feel uncomfortable or kind of incomplete if I don't finish it, or the routines change. I then can't sleep due to that unfinished feel. It sounds to me that this might be what you are experiencing.
I never really thought I was that tied to routines, but I'm beginning to see some in me now - and its this feeling that helps me identify them.
 
My stims are all involuntary. I tend to be amused when I discover I'm doing it. Usually standing in front of my television swaying back and forth....as if listening to music that isn't there. Or getting lost in thought finding myself doing "laps" pacing around the sofa. They don't bother me...not like OCD rituals that I occasionally try to fight.

Sean, do you feel compelled to do that, or do you just find yourself doing it involuntarily after the fact? A compulsion to do it might mean something else than stimming.

Stimming is something I involuntarily start, but can voluntarily terminate. OCD is something very different...where I may have little control if any.
 
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I have to have some part of my body moving at all times and usually have at least my big toe tapping inside my shoe when in public
 
I've kind of always been aware that I do it, but I definitely dont feel a compulsion to do so. ill jsut be laying there and then notice I do it.
 
I know that I shall be corrected lol but hey, for once, don't mind, but as far as I know, stimming is an involuntary movement. I stim with my legs and have this urge to run my hands through my hair and take loose hairs out, but really have to focus on not, because it winds my husband up and he will then, pick up a pen and chew on it, which drives me insane and so, I do all I can to not do that in front of him.

I tend to shake my leg or legs, when agitated or incredibly content. Like last night, I am sitting down with hubby, watching Anne of Green gables and I ADORE this series so much and tend to be an avid participator but my husband hates this and tells me to be quiet or he will switch off and so, I started stimming with my legs; lol just started to now!

I sucked my thumb up til I was about 43 I think! I had an old pillow case that I could not do without and just loved the feel of it. It took courage to get rid of it, because it was literally falling apart lol and I felt I mourned it!

I am not a huge stimmer because I am too aware of my surroundings and feel embarrassed to be noticed, so when I feel myself stimming, I force myself to stop!

Oh and I am an unofficially, official aspie :p
 
I do something similar with my childhood stuffed animal (run the tag between my finger repeatedly) and I do consider that a stim because, if I'm holding the animal, it just happens without thinking about it and it make me feel really relaxed and calm.
 
The worst part about it for me is the fact that I feel the need to "put away" the stuffed dolls before anyone comes over.... I don't care that I sleep with them but I definitely do not want others to know.
 
Sean said:
The worst part about it for me is the fact that I feel the need to "put away" the stuffed dolls before anyone comes over.... I don't care that I sleep with them but I definitely do not want others to know.
Click to expand...
Then I guess this 55 year old will have to hide all my childhood toys when you come over too ;)
I have more toys now than when I was a kid and they are all proudly on display.

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Write your own rules and stick to them...you are you and should not alter yourself by trying to please others
 
This just occurred to me last night but i think even my habit of twirling around objects in my hand counts as a stim too. Mostly at work. I was putting my returns away at work last night before i left for the day and i noticed i automatically twirl any lone hangers that i end up holding. Sometimes i'll compulsively pick up a pen and twirl it if work is going really slow and there's nothing left to clean, and i'll get agitated if i try to resist it. It doesn't embarrass me though, unless i get caught doing it. I've only got caught compulsively fiddling with something at work twice and both times neither person said anything, and they were my supervisor and an aspie coworker respectively.
 
I did a lot of repetitive high production machinework when I was younger and always looked for more ways to speed my motions up to increase production.
I suppose that could well have been a stim too
 
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