Can NT kids stim?

[Crazygolfer123]

My son is 6.5 and since he was probably about 3, he has demonstrated a stimming type behaviour that consists of running back and forth, sometimes accompanied by hands that flap loosely at his sides. He is NT as far as we know and he does not appear to have any other signs of neurodiversity. He is a happy, clever, sociable little boy who enjoys life. When asked why he does this, he says it’s because he’s excited. I think this is true as he does only seem to do it when he’s particularly excited, overstimulated by something he finds interesting or when he’s anticipating something exciting. Never through frustration, anger, anxiety etc. He is in full control and can easily be distracted away from the behaviour, and will often stop to come and join in with something that someone else is doing. It only lasts a few seconds to perhaps a few minutes at most. I think it just feels good to him to do it. He doesn’t do it at school, or at least he says he doesn’t, and it has never been flagged by anyone at school. He also only really does it when he’s somewhere open with lots of space to run about. My concern is that everything I read about stimming points to autism. Is it possible for a child to have these behaviors and not be ND?

Anyone?

Yes NT people stim. Lots of kids and adults twirl hair, flap hands with excitement, chew their lip, bounce their leg etc.
You have no other concerns so don’t stress.

It just seems more of an ‘obvious’ stim than some of those you’ve listed. The repetitive running back and forth. Looks a bit odd to onlookers. But like you point out, I don’t have other concerns about his behavior. I just wondered if this was something fairly common or unusual?

does anyone else have any experience of this, or advice? Thanks

Yep, my son, who is 9 does this. He also has lots of fabulous, amazing quirks which make me laugh out loud. I don't worry, he is who he is. Why would you want to label something when that's the only 'concern' you have?

Thanks for your message. Has your son always done this and did it abate at all as he got older? I genuinely don’t want to label him, I’m just concerned as I’ve read lots of posts about people whose children’s behaviors worsened as they got older. I love him more than life itself, whatever label can or cannot be applied

I definitely noticed university students stimming by leg bouncing when seated and nervous. The were NT students.

You see it a lot in schools, children will tap their feet against their chair legs, or put their feet inside the legs, outside, inside, keeping contact with their foot against the leg gently tapping, play with rubber bands, erasers, slide pencils through their fingers and basically fidget because they struggle to stay still. They get some sort of positive feedback from it which is why they do it.

It isn't something only ND children do. I was in a school for years, I saw a lot of it. Ds will jiggle his leg when he plays guitar, he is 22.

Everyone stims, as said.

I think NT people are more likely to feel self conscious about their stims and suppress them, but young children are less so. I don't think it's a sign of anything at all. Children do weird things

It would also be extremely unusual for a child to be 6 with no other signs of ND and then get worse out of nowhere later in life. If you are thinking of regressions, that tends to happen around 12-18 months. Autistic burnout can happen later but you'd have usually had some other inkling when they are younger like sensitivities, social difficulties, problems at school etc.

That’s really interesting to know, and reassuring. Thank you. My son is full of energy and exciteable, but this can be harnessed when necessary so adhd doesn’t really come to mind. I think the stimming is a way to manage / harness his energy levels and is an enjoyable way to do it. This doesn’t necessarily equate to autism though does it?

Stimming is actually really normal, and most people do it. Its a reassurance/comforting type thing, usually subconscious. Anyone who twirls their hair around a finger (most young girls have done this), bounces a leg, twirls a ring, doodles or fiddles with their pen....etc etc

Yes I see what you mean but I suppose because his ‘stim’ is more obvious than those you’ve listed, I’m a bit concerned. As I said in my original post, he does seem able to control it and it only seems to happen when he’s very excited (but that can be daily as he’s very high energy)

School classroom settings are completely different to being at home, they are surrounded by bright covered walls of work, words, pictures.There are other children to watch and engage with.

Ds1 found them overwhelming noise wise, Ds2 vibrated off the energy, I have an introvert and an extrovert. Ds2 never stopped moving, we called him the tornado. Even in swimming lessons whilst waiting his turn to swim he was just turning around in the water like a leaf stuck on a vortex. He was either off or on. He is 19 in his first year at uni and has a squeezy "stress" ball, he isn't stressed, he just likes the feel of this thing, we bought it in 3 hardnesses and he chose this one to squeeze.

Stimming is just normal. Lots of people do it. Your son is still very little and lower primary. I describe KS1 as a frenetic classroom, if you stand to the side you can see the ripples of movement all the time. It calms down a lot by year 4. His hand movements might lessen as he gets a bit older. I know it is easy for me to say don't worry so much but we teach children that everyone is different because in truth, they are.

Yes, I’ve done this all my life, exactly as you describe flapping my hands and dancing round. It’s just when I’m excited! I don’t think I’m autistic.

All three of my children hand flapped (DD has adhd, but others are NT), I did too as a child. Grew out of it my 11ish.

My 7 year old daughter has started stimming in the last six months, hers is a very obvious hand flapping when excited, sometimes combined with jumping up and down. She does it when excited mostly but also when nervous or anxious. Sometimes it is very brief and sometimes it goes on for longer. My full time job is assessing individuals for autism and ADHD so I am very aware of the traits and I don’t feel she would meet the full diagnostic criteria of either condition, so by that reasoning she is neurotypical. At the moment I am hoping she will grow out of it as it does stand out, and I worry she will be teased or get negative comments, however with my neuro affirmative hat on I leave her to get on with it. I am also aware that autism can present quite subtly in some individuals and she may demonstrate more traits when older and I will access an assessment for her then if required. I think as parents we are constantly worried for our children, and I want my daughter to have the best life so when I start worrying too much about atypical behaviours I force myself to take a step back at ask “what is the impact?”. At the moment no one is bothered by her flappy hands, she is doing well at school, and is included socially. She is not anxious or depressed. If any of that changes I will act (swiftly) but until then I try to embrace my happy flappy bird! Hopefully your son is similar.

Thanks for writing such a comprehensive message and for sharing your experience and expertise. With your diagnostic hat on, would a child of his age with that particular behavior, be enough to concern you or warrant an assessment? I agree with your observation about your daughter that at the moment he is happy, also doing well at school and has lots of friends, so ‘what is the impact’? But I also worry that as he gets older, if this behaviour continues, he will be socially isolated.

Is this something you can control or is it a compulsion? My son is aware he’s doing it but also that he doesn’t want other people to
notice or stare but he still does it in public sometimes

DS2 (12) is more stimmy than DS1 (autistic). He has an excited quiver and facial expression that he's had since being a few months old. He supresses it at school because he started getting comments in the junior school years.

I'm not sure if he's "NT" or not. He is diagnosed dyslexic. I'm not sure if that fully explains his executive function issues or if there is more to it. He winds his autistic brother up by being loud and physically erratic but can be sensitive to external sensory input. My mind is open but I'm not sure that other people see the traits he has or if there's enough of a level that would meet a diagnosable threshold.

I don't sit still unless I'm really ill, but it's the normal range of twitching and fidgeting.
I know I'm getting better when my feet start going off on one again 😂

Stimming is normal. We get better at containing it or making it more socially acceptable.
Think about that classic, American cheerleader excitement- jumping and clapping/flapping!
Doodling
Rocking
Thumbsucking…

We redirect the impulse into more context acceptable behaviours- pen tapping, toe wriggling, key shaking etc.

Yes that’s what I’m hoping happens, that his more obvious stim becomes something that is seen as more socially acceptable. Not because I’m embarrassed but because I don’t want him to be ostracized or to struggle socially because of it.

It runs in my family, and those who had the pacing and hand flapping stimming behaviours are now either diagnosed with ADHD, autism or both. I did as a child and have late diagnosed ADHD

I can control it-but couldn’t aged up to about 9.