Category: Stimming

Reader Q&A: Is stimming helpful or hurtful?

4/19/2015

I recently checked the comments on our blog, and found a question on one of our previous posts, "Stimming Has a Function".

Basically, the mother was asking about the differing opinions she hears about stimming. Some professionals will say it's a bad thing and will keep her child from learning. Other people (like me in the article) say you should let your child stim. She felt stuck in the middle. She wanted to let her child stim, but she was scared that some day she'd look back and worry that stimming interfered with his learning process. I replied to her, but I thought this was something many of you may benefit from as well. So here's my response:

"Sorry it took me so long to get back to you - I don't get alerts for comments on the website, only on Facebook. I've heard it both ways, too, and it's hard. So what I did was I went on WrongPlanet.net, an online forum for autistic adults and I asked them what they thought about these claims that stimming was bad for them. I'd REALLY recommend you read through their answers:
http://www.wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=254039

If you don't have time to read, here's the brief summary. They're pretty overwhelmingly in favor of allowing stimming. I particularly liked what Vicky Gleitz, who gave me permission to use her quote, said. "When I stim, happy becomes happier. When I stim, creatively, entire worlds in vivid detail pop into my mind. When I stim, scary goes away [or at least gets smaller] as does confussion. When I stim, I'm fairly sure that my IQ rises significantly. Just thinking about how so many want to inhibit our autisticness I get so angry, Thankfuly, I am able to stim when this happens. And that helps."

I hope this helps!!!!!!! Let me know if you have any more questions!"

What do you guys think? Do you have any concerns or questions about stimming?

-Creigh

1 Comment

Stimming's Many Forms

11/18/2014

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[In response to Diary of a Mom's post about Brooke shredding fabric as a stim]

Growing up Caley had some fuzzy blankets made out of yarn and she'd 'pick' at them and then rub the fuzz she'd pulled off on her lips. She was so attached to that blanket that when we were in a terrible car accident when I was about ten, despite the fact that I was crawling out of an upside down car in the dark, I made sure to pull her blanket out with me. It was a comfort to her being able to pick at it, and at that moment she really needed the comfort, even though it had some blood on it. From that, you can tell that all of us realized that having the blanket to pick at was very important to her, but we had NO idea that was stimming. Peeling paint is another stim that we missed - we just thought it was an odd fidget when she peeled paint off the doors. It never occurred to us that stimming was more than just hand flapping.

The point is that stimming comes in many different forms and having a non-harmful stim to turn to, like Caley's blanket or Brooke's cloth, can help be an alternative to and potentially reduce harmful stims, like pulling at hair or self injury. And, if you, too, know someone who likes to peel off the paint on the walls, Caley has an alternative non-harmful suggestion to offer. Peeling glue or wax off of things can produce the same sensation...so if your hands or a glass/plate/what have you has dried glue on it, that will provide an opportunity to stim without damaging the house.

-Creigh

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On Stimming and Authorities

5/24/2014

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Originally published 5/20/2014

So today I witnessed someone chastise a child for stimming and grab his hands multiple times to stop him mid-stim. (Which is a GIANT no-no in the Autistic community, and the sight of which would make Caley incredibly angry. I limited myself to covering my mouth in horror.)

Me, broaching the subject carefully: "Have you ever heard the argument that you shouldn't stop a child from stimming?"
Person: "Yes, if the child is just doing it to entertain themselves, but if the child is stimming due to anxiety or stress, that's non-functional."
Me: "...but, dealing with anxiety and stress IS a function."

*face palms*

If I thought there was even the tiniest chance of them listening to me, though, I would totally have some long conversations with people about stimming, using a child's special interests, squishes, and the power of positive reinforcement. (And yes, that child can tell if your reaction is genuine or not.) But I'm just blown off every time.

-Creigh

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Don't Stop The Stim

5/24/2014

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Originally published 5/17/2014

This is, in a nutshell, why I don't believe in stopping people on the spectrum from stimming. Now, if oncoming sensory overload is at the base or some form of distress (as opposed to something positive), of course I believe in helping the person on the spectrum minimize that distress, which generally has the side effect of minimizing stimming.

I will also often use the stims I see as an indicator of the person's internal state when they're not talking. After all, behavior is communication, and if I see a bunch of stimming that seems to 'stem' from something negative, I will get concerned and try to help minimize the negative problem. But it is not the stimming that concerns me, but rather the internal state it can sometimes be a communicator of. And if I see happy stims, like the joyous flapping of hands after defeating a video game level or when reading a particularly great fanfiction, that fills me with joy, not concern.

In short, stimming is not a negative thing.

-Creigh

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Stimming Has a Function

4/6/2014

11 Comments

"Stimming," or self stimulation, is a repetitive motion or sound that autistic people make. Common examples involve hand flapping, rocking, spinning, making repetitive noises, etc. Autistic people aren't the only ones who stim - if you've ever tapped your foot, doodled, or played with your pen, you've stimmed, too.

Stimming is not a meaningless behavior. Talking to autistic people, over and over they've told me that being able to stim helps them focus and navigate their environment, and feel better overall. If a person is stimming, it's to serve an internal need - a need for sensory stimulation, a need for emotional self regulation, a need to express anything from frustration to joy. And by fulfilling that need, stimming helps autistic people to navigate our neurotypical constructed world.

Because stimming is not generally physically harmful (the pro-stimming argument is only intended to apply to non-harmful stims), many autistic people see inhibiting stimming as an effort to force a person to hide their autism and, therefore, hide and be ashamed of what many consider to be an inherent part of themselves.

I have heard many reasons as to why stimming should be eliminated or controlled (again, back to the "quiet hands"). But in the end, that's all they are. Excuses. Justifications for forcing a person to stop stimming towards the goal of making them seem "normal" even if it's by repressing something that they, adults and children alike, so clearly say they need.

Caley stims. Flapping, vocalizing, picking at a blanket, she's done it all for as long as I can remember. If a stim was hurtful, we worked to find another outlet, but other than that if Caley's stimming, I don't try to stop her or even redirect her. She's using a behavior to serve a function to help her and that's more than okay, that's great! I might offer a great big bear hug (the best I can do in that regard, at least, unfortunately my "little" sister is now bigger than me) to provide sensory stimulation and help support her if she wants it, but I wouldn't dream of telling her "quiet hands." Luckily Caley and I grew up in a household where the idea of quiet hands didn't even exist, but not every autistic person is in that situation, to their detriment. Below is an article from an autistic woman describing her experiences with "Quiet Hands" and how negative it was for her.
http://juststimming.wordpress.com/2011/10/05/quiet-hands/

Hopefully after reading this post you understand. Autistic people stim, and that's not just okay, that's a good thing because stimming is a behavior that can help autistic people self-regulate and just plain feel good. Efforts to try to eliminate stimming are misplaced and, in fact, many autistics say that such attempts are hurtful.

Instead, I propose that we use our energy to eliminate the stigma of autism and therefore the stigma associated with stimming. Because unlike stimming, stigma actively harms autistics, whether at home, in the workplace, or at school. Share this picture to teach others the important function that stimming serves to help autistic people and comment with your loved one's favorite stim. Together we can make the world a better place for autistics and in this case that means a world where they can stim to their heart's content without worrying about how "loud" their hands are.

-Creigh

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Reader Q&A: Is stimming helpful or hurtful?

Stimming's Many Forms

On Stimming and Authorities

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Stimming Has a Function

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