Stimming

[laurabatty]

I'm looking for some info about stimming. Is stimming always a sign of ASD - can it be associated with any other development disorders or even just a personality quirk.

What stims does your DC have and how much time do they spend stimming each day? We are not receiving any help for DS at the moment and don't know how to deal with what we think is stimming. Any advice or information particularly in relation to toddlers/ 2years olds would be very much appreciated.

Ds (15, dx aspergers/ HFA with dyspraxia) used to run back and forth from one end of room to another a lot when he was about 2 ish. Particularly if he got over excited.
When he was dxd I remember the team said that they saw no evidence of stimming ... And then they did an observation at school at playtime at primary (lol- playtime and primary would both be enough to start him stimming now!) and they saw him pacing back and forth by the railings like a caged animal.
If he's stressed I still hear him pacing back and forth occasionally. It allows him to "relax and think " he says. He has put a little hop into the pacing ( maybe instead of the running, it gives him the same feeling).At 15 I estimate he does it about 6 times a month on average.

ds (9 dx dyspraxia and sensory processing disorder but as yet not dx asd) runs back and forth from one end of the room to the other and throws himself into the chair when he gets there every day for about 15mins at a time, especially after school. Is this stimming? Ot thinks it is a way for him to release his frustration?

i think stimming is any repetative behaviour that is used to comfort or calm the individual

DD has loads, mainly singing if it's really noisy/busy
she's also started to count to 10, over and over again

DD2 (5yr) rocks from one foot to the other whilst clapping and talking herself through a situation. She does this mostly when she's trying to cope with something eg a noisy environment. I must admit she does this less and less now, but unfortunately it does look a bit odd and have had a few strange looks when she does this.

Ds1 is 10 and now hums and paces round and round the room in a never ending circle. He also adds in a little hand flap, although just one hand and not flapping in the conventional sense, more of an upside down repeated wrist flipping movement (hard to describe).

When he was two he had a particular toy with a choice of noises and tunes and would play the same 'jingle' repeatedly and incessantly. Not stimming in the traditional sense, iyswim, but you could really see how much it relaxed him.

Unchartered, I do the counting over and over again, but for some reason it's up to 12. Oh - and I have learned to do it in my head now, but I still find it comforting and helpful for reducing stress. I found it particularly useful for getting through my MRI scan.

Scottishdancer the assessment team said ds's pacing and running was stimming.

Thank you troutpout I thought it was. He does it at night in his bedroom too, running and crashing into the wall. Very annoying for other ds in next room!, but calming for him.

Dd lies on (usually wooded) floors and kicks a wall/door. She uses to headbang against a door.

She does the running back and forth. Lines things up. - usually when non immediate family are about.

Says mum mum mum mum mum repeatedly. - this is only when really stressed. Like buses or crowded places.

she occasionally does the stroking carpets thing.

Standing on her head. She chews. She does these a lot during the day.

Ds 7 jumps and flaps when he is excited.

Fiddles with things when he is nervous...and I mean anything and everything he can get near!

Mutters under his breath (really fast but not loud enough to hear what he is saying) when he is stressed about something.

We recently recorded him (how awful does that sound?) when he went upstairs to get dressed because we wanted to capture on film what he actually does and he spent 45 mins just running around in circles stopping every so often stood stiff and frantically flapped......this one has us stumped not really sure why he did this??.

He is currently on the waiting list for ASD assessment.

oh forgot to mention when I googled does hand flapping ever not mean autism I did get sensory processing disorder come up.

I forgot to mention that ds has only just ( within the last year) recognised that he actually does it. When he was little , I used to say to him 'why are you running up and down?' and he used to almost come out of a trance and then swear blind that he hadn't been... If I pushed it he would get cross.. And I realised he had no clue he was doing it. More recently I would shout up " ds! You are pacing! My lights are swinging!( and make a joke of it) ... And he's slowly realised he does it and why he needs to do it.

many over the years. Singing songs on loop. Watching them again and again on youtube. Reading the same book again and again and reciting it. Lining things up. Squinting his eyes and looking at things sideways. Touching all the railings or lamp posts. Brushing his coat against hedges to hear the rustle. Walking in and out of every driveway. Learning the colour of every front door in the street. counting over and over. Silly voices. Grinding his teeth. Picking at the skin on his thumb until its raw. Scratching again and again and fiddling with his clothes. Jumping up and down and head banging (he does this on the bed now).
But at 2 he didn't have any. They came later.

Now I've read your post Agnes I realise DD2 does the eye squinting and looking sideways thing too, and grinding her teeth. I didn't realise this was stimming.

Can anyone explain why squinting and looking sideways out of the corner of your eye would be calming or comforting?

It's the ritual of doing it I think. Kind of like re-booting every now and again. Ds does a similar thing when he crosses a threshold... He always turns his head sideways to the left. He's been doing it about a year now. I never really counted it as stimming though... It's not repetitive ... Just glances once sideways ..More of a compulsion? ...( happy to be corrected though)
Other similar things he has done over the years include:
Touching the corner building of a street... Every street we turned.
Putting on and touching imaginary skin ( that was an odd one)
Refusing to use left hand one whole summer ( he's left handed )
Touching his left thigh when he got up from a chair/ floor.
To me, these are more OCD ish

ds paces around, flutters his fingers, plays with his hair.

hops from one foot to the other (looks like dd does when she needs the loo)