This will be a living document.
Stimming is anything that is repetitive & regulating. It’s short for “self-stimulation“, and is something that everyone does in many different ways.
Repetitive can be anything that happens in a kind of pattern or reoccurrence.
Regulating can be emotional or cognitive.
Of the many kind of stims, they can be
• Tactile (touch),
• Visual (sight),
• Auditory (hearing/speaking),
• Gustatory (taste),
• Olfactory (smell),
• Vestibular (sense of balance), or
• Proprioception/ Kinesthetic (awareness of movement)
Stimming can be involuntary, semi-voluntary, or even voluntary. Being that involuntary stims are more likely to show up under high distress. Sometimes involuntary stims are due to the supression of other stims & shame.
Stimming & Stress
Stims are stress responses & natural coping mechanisms. Everyone stims, autistic folk just typically have more to cope with &/ process
Stress can be distress or eustress. That is that stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Even more, not only can stimming help
Beyond The Surface
Stimming is more than just the things we do, stimming can also happen in the way we think. Ruminating and other repetitive thoughts can be a kind of stimming.
Harmful & Involuntary Stims Should Not Be Taboo
Related Links
• Stimming 101, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Stim – Kirsten Lind Smith
• The Dark Side of the Stim: Self-Injury and Destructive Habits – Kirsten Lind Smith
• The Stimming Checklist – What-Is-Stimming.org (Web Archive)
I just found you on Twitter. I like the site and just want to say thank you for writing about stimming. I am an NT mom of an autistic daughter. She has started to learn what stims and masking are and no offence to “the professionals” I am trying to find people who can speak on the subject from an authentic place.