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what is your stim?

Soup's (rather dumb) stim of the day: Taking my bottom lip between the thumb & index finger of my right hand (thumb on the right, index on the left) then squeezing my bottom lip into a funny little gathered bunch & letting it pop back into its regular shape over & over. This makes the lip get a funny slightly numb & tingly feeling.
 
Soup said:
Soup's (rather dumb) stim of the day: Taking my bottom lip between the thumb & index finger of my right hand (thumb on the right, index on the left) then squeezing my bottom lip into a funny little gathered bunch & letting it pop back into its regular shape over & over. This makes the lip get a funny slightly numb & tingly feeling.
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I do that a lot!

My stim: When I have a dog or a cat in my lap, I stroke it incessantly. I think this may be one of the reasons my friend's dog (whom I am sitting at the moment) seems to like me so much.
 
Whenever I'm writing/typing something I have to shake my hand really hard every few minutes.
 
*gathers a breath*
- talking/muttering to myself
- fussing incessantly with clothing/accessories (pulling up/adjusting pants, smoothing shirt, tugging at collar, twisting watch, poking at earrings). Oddly, I don't mess with my glasses!
- picking/scratching to bleeding or bruising point. I used to get so obsessive with this that I would pull out my cat's fur. :/
- petting (blankets, clothing, animals)
- "making biscuits" -- you know the thing cats do where they flex their paws and then retract them, kneading the air or an object? It calms me to do it. I noticed myself doing it at first about a month ago
- keeping my hands busy (stretching, petting, picking or scratching; holding a phone or laptop; knitting or sewing -- my brain quiets and I can actually focus on what I'm doing, listening to, or watching)
 
Nattzz said:
Hi, ummm I've literally just read about stimming and what it is and stuff. I know it sounds really, really stupid but...I like to pick the skin off my lips. My mum used to do it when I was little, so I always blamed her, haha. A lot of the time I pick them to the point that they bleed and sometimes I dont stop there. Is this 'stimming' or am I just being stupid? :sticky_razz: I literally do this ALL the time, and then I end up having 'hangy bits' (what I call them) so then I feel the need to pick them, and it happens all over again. Am I just weird?
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This reminds me that I do the exact same thing, except with my teeth. I draw blood at least once a day--more if it's dry and my lips are chapped. It's probably the most consistent stim of mine...so consistent that it had never even occurred to me that it *was* a stim!
 
Soup's stim of the day: SQUIRMING! I'm all wiggly & squirmy. I can't seem to stop squirming. Whether I'm standing, sitting or engaged in doing something, I'm squirming like a fidgety 4 year old. I get this stim often, but it never occurred to me to list it here.
 
I used to EAT my pens. I don't mean just chewing them. I would chew them until they were little bits of plastic, and then i start even biting the ink tube. Eventually quite a few pens exploded and put ink all other my lips, and nobody lets me near pens anymore:) I also roll and flex the muscles in my jaw, shoulders and wrists (my own special version of hand flapping). When it gets too noisy or crowded around me, i sometimes let out a little high pitched squeal/scream. People around me think its weird, but there used to it now (I think).
 
Today my stim seems to be rocking my head back and forth or holding it only to one side like I've got issues.
 
wyverary said:
Hi, ummm I've literally just read about stimming and what it is and stuff. I know it sounds really, really stupid but...I like to pick the skin off my lips. My mum used to do it when I was little, so I always blamed her, haha. A lot of the time I pick them to the point that they bleed and sometimes I dont stop there. Is this 'stimming' or am I just being stupid? I literally do this ALL the time, and then I end up having 'hangy bits' (what I call them) so then I feel the need to pick them, and it happens all over again. Am I just weird?

This reminds me that I do the exact same thing, except with my teeth. I draw blood at least once a day--more if it's dry and my lips are chapped. It's probably the most consistent stim of mine...so consistent that it had never even occurred to me that it *was* a stim!
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I do this every. day.
I tell myself every time that I'm going to stop, but I just can't help myself. I like my lips to be perfectly smooth so I pick off the rough parts. Of course if I'd just quit it I wouldn't have rough parts, but I can't seem to stop long enough for them to smooth over. I pick and pick until I bleed and then I cover the red patches with concealer, then put lip gloss over it. People used to ask me if I bit my lip all the time before I learned that little trick. It's really embarrassing.

I started out picking at my nails all the time when I was younger, but I got tired of having "man hands" so I somehow forced myself to knock it off. I still pick at my cuticles but at least I have long, pretty nails. Anyhow, after that I progressed to picking zits, then I'd scratch at patches on my scalp until they formed a scab and I'd pick those off too. I stopped that, and now it's just mainly my lips.
 
SallySlips said:
I started out picking at my nails all the time when I was younger
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I do that too T_T I cant help it! I also have noticed recently that I've started banging/grinding my teeth together doing a drum beat to a song that ends up in my head. Does that make sense? I don't know why I do it...its just fun?? :p I do it all the time, and my mouth never moves so nobody notices I do it, thank god, or I'd look very silly :p
 
I seem to like randomly slapping my chest and bouncing my head off the sofa cushions lately. I blame stress :)
@Nattzz I do that too! All the time without even noticing it half the time, it's often the same rhythm, like a syncopated rocky thing, it's really quiet and nobody ever notices it so it's one of those stims that's 'public friendly' so to speak lol
 
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Kingmatt333 said:
I used to EAT my pens. I don't mean just chewing them. I would chew them until they were little bits of plastic, and then i start even biting the ink tube. Eventually quite a few pens exploded and put ink all other my lips, and nobody lets me near pens anymore:) I also roll and flex the muscles in my jaw, shoulders and wrists (my own special version of hand flapping). When it gets too noisy or crowded around me, i sometimes let out a little high pitched squeal/scream. People around me think its weird, but there used to it now (I think).
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Yeah I like pens and have a large collection. I used to take them apart and eat them at school, all the parts are edible except for the ink tube that never tasted good and made a hell of a mess. (Note: There's no nutritional value in eating pens but that never stopped me)
 
@ Aspie & Aspie: Many items considered to be food have no nutritional value either but that never stopped people from consuming them either!

Some enterprising Aspie out there ought to write a compendium of stims. They could be categorized by optimal locations for usage. Some are great for at work or in public, some you need to have space & be moving, others can be done in bed, on a sofa or even in the tub. There would have to be a chapter on high risk stims that could include head banging (when it's against a hard object) & ways to mitigate the dangers. Feeling stressed by X type of event? There are a list of Aspie Approved stims known by experts to work well under those circumstances.

For many of us, these stims aren't just weird repetitive behaviours: they're coping strategies! They can distract one from problems, ease stress, soothe pain, pass the time, diminish anxiety, help you remember & concentrate & even prevent meltdowns or severe zone outs. NTs stim too but they don't call it that, are often unaware they're doing it & therefore do a somewhat amateurish job of it.
 
I have another one which I've been doing for as long as I can remember, but I don't always know when I'm doing it and my fiance points it out to me xD. When I'm sat down or laying down with no socks on, I cross my big toes together. I can't seem to NOT do it when I'm sat down, and it really doesn't feel right when I don't do it. Is this a stim?
 
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