Both autistic and neurotypical people stim! Stimming is generally healthy and shouldn’t be stopped

"neurotypical" in other words, normal

As far as i know im nerotypical and boy do i piss people off with the pacing. I do the clicking, leg shaking and skin picking but when im very wound up i will pace, at pretty high speeds.
I will say my cats love it. They take turns getting rides lol

I’ve rocked (or head banged, as my friends call it) for over 30 years. I’ve worked hard to break the habit (because it destroyed my posture) but the moment I lose my focus, it just happens.

"Including you..." as tho im not part of the autism spectrum. Been stimming.

dunno if I'm autistic or not, but walking back and forth in the house is something I'd always do, espacially when I was a kid when I was anxious on tests and couldn't bring myself to study

Do we know why autistic people stim differently than others?

I press my hands together and rub them like I'm warming up as my stim

Would

How does one get tested? Cuz all I do Is pace

thank you for this!! i know a lot of neurotypical people who think that they must be autistic if they stim (e.g., bounce their legs when bored/anxious, wave their hands when excited). it’s important to note that the difference between many “autistic” traits and universal human behaviors is really a matter of intensity more-so than kind

I dont stim anymore. I used to twirl around... But i grew out of it... Wait a minute. I bounce my knee when i get anxious when waiting around and bored.

❤ I too.

This is why I will get up and pace when I get to a tense moment when I am reading.

Hey! I'm over here!

No, over here!

Ugh this is hopeless.

I disagree - the difference between autistic stimming and neurotypical stimming is social acceptance and appropriateness. Because self regulatory coping mechanisms are developed early in age neurotypical individuals learn new behaviors later in life that align with social expectations. Because people with autism have difficulty noticing social norms autistic self regulation tends to be seen as or is less socially acceptable.

Oh no ..I can see this generation identify as autistic now ..I know she's is however from reading the comments I get the impression some of them think they are autistic because of a habit....hi I'm trans-autistic...🤷

Yep I alway do this… I have adhd.

I’ve always been a leg or foot bouncer and I literally change my position so much when I’m sitting/laying down, always have for both of these, I’ve also always messed with the inside of my right thumb, constantly play xylophone fingers on both hands (where you touch each of your other fingers to your thumb either fast or slow or in a rhythm of some sort), I tend to like click pens more because I can mess with them to help me think, but also I didn’t connect this until right now that I pace when I’m bored or excited (in social settings such as school) or when I get supper excited I shake my hands like a bird flaps it’s wings 😂 I never would have considered those last two as stems but now…

Shaved beaver 🦫 or not is what we want to know !

So just a natural human?

Impersonator.

Honestly ALL of these stims can be autistic or ADHD stims. It’s just what you said about quantity and intensity!

I'll just continue to think your just crazy and walk on by...

I love how after tic toc came half the population is suddenly "neurodivergent" ... no social contagion working there... 😮

When I was about 3 years old, I hadn’t spoken my first words, my parents are two doctors, my mother suspected that I had autism, my father had a huge fight with her that she even suspected something like that of their child, this was followed by many years of abuse as a child because I wasn’t like other children, not to mention the bullying by both students and teachers, I always felt so isolated mentally from everyone else. When I saw you pace like that, that’s exactly what I do all day every day when I’m stressed, until my knees and leg hurt. I feel like I could truly be on the spectrum.

As a drummer, I can heavily attest to how effective consistent rhythmic patterns are for stress relief. Honestly, if you stim via motion getting into heavy drumming might be really fun for you.

omg you're awesome

Any one else lightly click/tap their molars together in different patterns and rhythms? Usually alternating between left and right molars. Or just in general using your teeth as percussion instruments that only you can hear

It's called fidgeting
...
Caused.....
By not getting slapped back into reality..
That's how most the reat of us are normal..
We got slapped back to reality as a child

My leg bouncing is at a frequency of 7 Hz

I shake my hands back and forth and sometimes squeeze my whole arm at the same time when I feel anxious. I only recently learned that this is a normal healthy behavior for non autistic people which is kind of sad

Lots of people experiencing Mania can/will pace a lot.

Never "stimmed" once in my life. Nice try.

one thing i often do now is that i developped some crazy single hand phone throw and flips

Everyone is autistic!! Yay

My autism causes me to have cravings of girls sitting on my face. I can't calm down until somebody smothers me with cheeks and lips. 😢

Good info and quick to the point, plus some humor 😂 i like it.

Is neurotypical just garbled for normal people?

Pacing is the best thing in the whole universe.

So it's self-soothing behaviour?

Yep.

Add chewing gum.

jus cuz u got a lazy eye dont make u autistic

Thanks for the explanation

This is true! Also, a lot of stimming behaviors are super cute!!

It should also be said though a correlation does exist between stimming and intense violent behaviors, and that is when its a major concern for both the person with this and all the people around them. It can be seen as throwing items or other physical acts of violence. Understanding the difference between this and the casual harmless stimming you do is an important distinction!

we all know that space marines from Starcraft and Starcraft 2 stim the most of anyone

stop

Is everything really related to the obvious undiagnosed autism I have?

Hmmm strange.. i rock and walk around pacing... i wonder...

Yup, and same thing with needing supports, everyone needs supports, some more than others and all in different ways whether you're neurodivergent or neurotypical. And the kind human thing to do is support each other, because we all fit together in society in some capacity if we'd just do that without question. I have strengths that you may not and you've got strengths that I may not. So we all balance each other out somehow.