Autism ~ The Importance Of Stimming

"Stimming" is a term used to describe self stimulatory behaviors in people with Autism. Some examples are arm/hand flapping (a favorite of the professors), body spinning, rocking, lining up toys (a.k.a organizing to a 13 yr. old), smelling objects or hands and vocal stims. To me a vocal stim could be anything from letting out loud "squeals" when excited, to constantly repeating back phrases heard by either a television show or something a friend has said or asked of him (echolalia).

Everyone stims from time to time. Have you ever found yourself tapping your fingers, chewing on the end of a pen cap or twirling your hair? I'm willing to bet it helped you calm down or focus better on a task you were trying to complete! I have several friends who enjoy running, and I bet they too find their feet pounding the pavement to be self soothing. Perhaps a sense of calmness comes over them?

This is what stimming does for a person with Autism. It calms them down, helps them to refocus. It may counter act something overwhelming in their environment (such as sounds, lights or smells). It can simply relieve them of their high levels of anxiety typically felt in their every day lives.

Should stimming be encouraged or discouraged? The answer could be both. Since stimming is an involuntary reaction there is no way to completely avoid it and I wouldn't want him to anyway... As it helps him to focus and get back on track I encourage it, most of the time. But we are learning there is a time and place for it. When he is in the privacy of his own home, his sanctuary, all bets are off... Do what you need to do as long as it doesn't  interfere too much with your everyday responsibilities!

I tend to discourage it a bit when he is out in public. Try to refocus the stim on something else. Perhaps keep a ball to squeeze on in his pocket. He actually prefers to keep a Lego man, to rub, in his pocket instead. As my dear professor gets older it has become almost instinctive to hold back on the stims in public. I do notice him slipping them in from time to time, but he is aware of them and will restrain himself. What is the downside from holding them back? Well... I get a VERY wound up boy at the end of the day, especially the school day, ready to EXPLODE and in DESPERATE need to stim. I'm sure this has a lot to do with our homework struggles nightly (but that's a whole different future post)!

So what has me thinking about stimming this morning? For the first time I realized Josh was aware of them and why he does them. He UNDERSTANDS!!!

While watching a movie this morning, an action movie with zombies, I noticed he kept pausing the movie. After pausing the movie he would run laps up and down the hall while flapping his arms and stomping his foot. My husband asked him why he was doing this and his answer simply amazed me..."My body is having a spasm. I can think better about something when I am having a spasm."

After we heard that, I sat him down and explained to him that those "spasms" he was having were actually called stimming. I went into detail about it with him and he seemed to understand the significance of stimming as it related to him and Autism. However, I am most impressed that he is able to recognize when a stim is necessary. And I'm sure the need to pause and stim during the movie was his way to comprehend all the action taking place.

Now I'm more hopeful than ever that he will continue to learn, as he grows and matures, when it is necessary to allow himself to stim and when it may be an inappropriate time or place for it... But to always know that it is normal to have these behaviors, and it's his body's way of calming down to refocus once again.

~Ann~