The Importance of Stimming for LATE Diagnosed Autistic People

Comments · 858

• LA

  @laura.love-rage-yoga · 3 years ago

  I joined a really interesting discussion group last month about a non-western perspective on autism. The host was Jewish & explained how grateful he was for being born into a tradition that encourages rocking & swaying as part of their daily prayers/ rituals. Also, many cultures consider making direct eye contact to be rude!! Some cultures seem to be naturally less stressful for autistic people. It was a really fascinating discussion!

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• JO

  @joanelizabethhall9455 · 3 years ago

  My wonderful partner of 6 years was diagnosed several years ago (long before I met him) with "moderate to severe Aspergers."  His stimming takes the form of incessant leg-bouncing in situations (church, formal concerts, etc.) where it is important to sit quietly and sit still.  I am a church musician and a harpist, so we find ourselves in these situations often and Paul swears that he wants to come with me to enjoy my music.  He likes watching me perform.   I used to find his fidgeting embarrassing, but now if someone glares at him, I just glare back!  He's a wonderful man - how dare you give him a dirty look?!

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• MR

  @MrAndywills · 3 years ago

  The neurotypical majority conveniently forget that EVERYONE stims. They just have look at people's anxiety levels of when people stim.

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• DA

  @dagmarneves72 · 2 years ago

  In the movie “The sixth sense”, the psychologist reaches a point where he has to reevaluate the events in his life, knowing he was not the person he had believed himself to be. <br>As a 64 year old just diagnosed last year, I have looked back at scenarios from my past, seeing it from my new autistic viewpoint. I understand the misunderstandings now.

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• LI

  @lisapedley5427 · 3 years ago

  I have been a skin picker for as long as I can remember and it was classified as self harm before autism was recognised, Thanks for saying there&apos;s noting wrong with it!

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• LA

  @laiky4373 · 3 years ago

  Jesus. Scalp picking is something i&apos;ve been doing since I was a child and i&apos;ve never been able to stop. It&apos;s something i&apos;ve kept hidden out of shame for decades. I also chew my fingers to where they become raw. I&apos;ve only been looking into the potential for me being autistic over the past couple of months (thanks to you, and a couple of others). I&apos;ve been feeling immense relief at having a potential explanation for my &apos;bad habits&apos;, and some insight into why I was bullied so much growing up and why I was frequently ousted from friendship groups.

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• AN

  @AnnieFairfoul · 2 years ago

  My boyfriend really needs to wrap me in his arms, which sounds romantic but he does it so he can stim on me. I have to move his hands around so he won&apos;t rub the skin off because he gets stuck on one part of my arm or leg. It&apos;s confusing, we&apos;re at cross purposes. He really takes his hair apart and and yawns hugely in the middle of a conversation, it happens before he shuts down and has to take a nap. He&apos;s 65, has a grown autistic son and has not yet been diagnosed himself although he&apos;s willing to be. Thank you for helping me to understand these activities, I recognised that he was on the spectrum shortly after we met but without the diagnosis, I struggle with understanding and communicating clearly with him. Love at first sight. He&apos;s so kind that he&apos;s easily taken advantage of, so intelligent that he gets lost in his work and so innocent that it&apos;s like dating a fourteen-year-old boy. A boy who can&apos;t read the room. I&apos;m subscribing.

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• JA

  @janinemills6732 · 3 years ago

  I have had a &quot;blanket&quot; (silky piece of fabric) since I was a child, I am now 47 and still, always have to have something with me, especially if I am heading out, and I know it will be stressful. It really does help to regulate me. Thanks for this post ❤️🤗

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• IH

  @iHabika · 3 years ago

  I’m an autistic adult, and I already knew what stimming was, but I think you’ve given the best definition of stimming that made me go from mostly understanding what it is to understanding what it is.

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• BE

  @bellyanchor138 · 2 years ago

  I recently found out I&apos;m in the spectrum this week and I&apos;ve been reeling at how much of my own behaviors make sense now.<br><br>I&apos;ve been stiming the while time but I&apos;ve always tried to force my self not to because I thought I was resisting going insane!<br><br>I&apos;ve been paranoid, especially the last 5 years of my life, that I was just about to snap and lose my mind for ever.<br><br>Turns out there was never anything wrong with me! I&apos;m just Autistic! <br><br>I just turned 35

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• WH

  @whitneymason406 · 3 years ago

  My son stims very overtly he hand flaps, toe walks, head bangs, etc. I stim more subtly. Realizing a lot of my &quot;bad habits&quot; was me stimming made me feel less shame. I&apos;m trying to redirect it to less self destructive behaviors. I have a spinner ring that helps a bit with the nail biting/cuticle picking. Great topic, Orion!

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• SK

  @SK-is2ux · 3 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOeiw55xtFc&amp;t=1031">17:11</a> so I was literally dressing a wound I had made on my knuckle as you hit this part. Thank you 🙏🏻 for helping us know this is not a dirty little secret— it definitely can get ugly though. One thing I have found is that having all the tools (including tweezers, manicure scissors, skin cleansing spray, tissue, healing oil, and fabric Band-Aids that I don’t react to) close to hand helps me to be more focused on helping my skin than harming it. So another form of stimming I guess, trying to substitute the helpful one instead of getting too far into the harmful one

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