I'm autistic and I stim a LOT. There's different reasons why I might stim. Sometimes, I don't know why I'm stimming. Other times, by stimming, I'm helping myself to control my sensory input. As an autistic person, I struggle with sensory input, I don't have a filter that neurotypicals have. That means that I can easily get overstimulated because of that missing filter. But, I can also easily get understimulated. I have to do my best to stay in the sweet spot with stimulation and stimming really helps me with that. It's also something that is comforting for me and, at school, it can help me to concentrate better and keep me longer in my classes. I've tried to not stim in public and in school before and that ended with me being really unhappy, unable to control my emotions, getting over or under stimulated non-stop and needing to step out of my classroom every 15 minutes for 15 to 30 minutes. It's not healthy for me to do that and it affects my studies. Now, I tell my teachers on my first class with them that I have accomodations and that I have autism so I might fidget a lot (easiest way for me to explain stimming quickly to someone who might not know what it is) and then I let myself stim in class as long as it's a quiet stim so that I don't disturb others. This has lead to me being able to sometimes stay in class for my full 3h class (I'm in college and I've also worked on many other things to reach that goal). It doesn't always happen, there good and bad days. Sometimes, I might only be in class for 5 minutes but, MOST of the time, I take a 5 to 10 minutes break every 30 to 45 minutes which is MUCH better then before. I'm also actively focused during those 30-45 minutes which never used to happened. I use other tricks as well (like wearing earphones so that I only hear the teacher and no one else/no other sounds) but stimming really helps me. In my opinion, stopping someone from stimming is like telling that person that can never go to the bathroom, no matter how much they need to go or how much relief they would get from emptying their bladder, you're telling them to never ever go. You can tell someone that it's not the right time because you should be socialising a little but in 15 minutes (for example) you can take a break and stim. You can also show a different stim that can allow for socialising at the same time to help that person. Like, I'm working on my social skills and, when I try to socialise, I'll have a fidget toy in my hands to let me stim but my attention will still be on whomever I'm trying to socialise with. I also explain to my friends that when I wear earphones, it might be to help me listen to them better and their way of confirming that is through a visual type of confirmation (could be them talking while I look at them at the beginning to let them know I'm listening, could be a 👋 or 🤚 for example)

I’m 62 years old, I stim, although I grew up undiagnosed, until aged 56, I have always stimmed in many different ways. I learned to moderate and hide my stims because neurotypical society didn’t accept them. For me when I’m concentrating on something stimming helps me focus, when I’m happy and excited stimming realises my joy. I have physical and verbal stims. When I’m engaged in something I love like sewing then I make certain noises, it’s not done on purpose it just happens, like we laugh at something which is quite natural I just happen to express that joy in a stim. Stimming doesn’t harm me at all, it doesn’t mean I am unhappy. It’s just that I express myself in non typical ways. Dr Spendlove is amazing, I love to hear him explaining things. He has such a depth of understanding. It’s makes me sad to think that out there there are Autistic children being bullied by their families just because they stim and the need to ‘make them look/behave normal’ is greater than the need to have a happy well adjusted child, who might stim or express themselves in a different way, that don’t quite fit the neurotypical normal. I’ve not worded that so well. I speak as an Autistic person who grew up in a world that didn’t accept my difference and that lead me to hiding and camouflaging my true self, which lead to more stress and mental health problems. Thank you for this video, it’s so helpful. And thank you for speaking up against these awful ideas that we have to make Autistic people look and behave like neurotypical people. Bless you.

I knew all of this but thank you anyway, it’s an important topic to address! The only thing I would like to remind everyone of is that even for harmful stims, the best is always to replace rather than erase (ex: biting -> chewy)

What an excellent video. I like your channel. Keep it up

Stimming is fun, sometimes it helps me feel better, but a lot of times it happens when I am very happy. You're right to see that in your sons. I can explore the world in my mind and feeling the way I move, it fits my ideas in activity. I actually use Stimming at work to improve my work. I think people try to say that stimming is at best something that doesn't matter or should be ignored, but you are right to embrace stimming.

I allow my kid to do stim as long as it is not harming her. We usually think of others perception of our kids rather than what do kids want. I absolutely love the idea of them stimming to regulate themselves. My daughter does verbal stimming where she repeats words what she hears. Parents want their kids to look as much neutotypical as possible and that's why they want them to stop stimming. It's okay to allow them stimming as long as it's not harmful.

Hey 👋 7 ahead family thanks for your videos are making me smile 😊 ❤

An other great video ❤. My son runs in circles or sings songs lately in English (not his native language) you got to love KZfaq kids 😂

I like your videos and remember that stiming is NOT like a cigaret 🦫

I totally agree with you about stomach I believe that my autistic son who is 3 years old right now stems when he's happy he doesn't stem when he's upset he only doesn't when he's excited and happy and he does the exact same thing Simon does he runs back and forth just laugh and laugh and laugh and then he'll go in and he'll help me go on my bed and he gets sensation out of getting thrown in the air he loves that too and I have a swing you too. So I encourage him to stem when he needs to or when he feels frustrated or when he feels super happy and he wants to stand I don't ever stop if anything I help him because I know that stem makes his nervous system calm down So tell to me something bad it's bad my son to be able to Regulate he's feeling

I agree that stimming is not like a cigarette. They are TOTALLY different. if you wanted to get technical, they are the same because they are both coping mechanisms, but that’s the only thing. I stim all the time just because this world is a lot louder for me than other people. It’s not harmful or addicting. I may have misunderstood from the video but I don’t think you should change stimming if you need them to communicate more. Stimming helps me think when I am trying to communicate. It sometimes takes me a while of coming up with what I want to say so it may look like I’m not communicating but in that moment I’m trying to figure out how to. In these moments, sometimes I walk away stimming and don’t say anything. But I will come back later and give a reply.

Thank you, if you view it as a regulatory component of ASD, I think that may help with the function.

I was nearly not diagnosed with autism as I was too sociable as a toddler, but I was only diagnosed as I had other things that made me get diagnosed with Autism, I was tried at two but I only got my diagnosis when I was 5, as the doctor told my parent's to wait.

I’m 25 and autistic, and my absolute favourite kind of stimming has always been vestibular, especially swinging. It’s been there my whole life and is unambiguously positive for me. As a baby/toddler, I really didn’t like being held but would happily spend all day every day in a baby swing, and I still love a good swingy chair or swingset as an adult. The doctor is totally right about the trust and bonding with people who engage with your interests, as well as how easily that trust can be broken, particularly when you’re a kid and are really vulnerable to other people’s opinions of you. Anyone who pushed me on the swing outside was cool as far as I was concerned, but for anyone except my parents, one bad experience was all it would take for me to hold a hell of a grudge. I had an especially close bond with my godfather growing up, because he’d visit us on weekends and would play the same game with me for hours, no matter how repetitive and weird it was - my favourite was effectively just me jumping into a big pile of blankets and couch cushions over and over again while he pretended to try and “catch” me. The poor guy. 😂 I was probably good practice, though, because both of his kids are autistic too!

When I was in school and I did hand stims (hand flapping, mostly) (as late as third or fourth grade (age nine or ten)) the teacher or teacher’s aide would hold my hands down on the table or cubicle. In my case this did nothing (even in the short term). Often the next day I would have difficulty moving my fingers (possibly due to inflammation of the tendon sheaths). This was back in the 1980s. Last year when I was experiencing trigger finger in my left thumb for an unknown reason this brought back many of those memories that I had tried not to think about for many years. When I tried to explain this to my parents in a phone conversation I was simply told to change the subject and that whatever I was going to talk about was “ancient history” and to “just forget about it”. If I could “just forget about it” I would. Also at the time my special education teacher and the teacher’s aide told me that they had my parents’ permission to do this. To this day I still don’t know whether or not they were telling the truth about this.

Stimming is actually a lifesaver, I do think that stimming is really cool things to do, I often walking back and forth and blink my eyes, stimming is not a cigarette at all

Hola hay cosas que hase mi hijo tepetitivas , ahora mismo en la escuela le ayuda mucho , y cortar su cabello es un reto, saludos familia 7ahead ❤❤❤

I am 29 and I have autism. My mom lets me stim. I agree with the doctor. The doctor is amazing.

6:33 stimming is good it helps me I like doing the spinning stim it keep me happy and calm

My son is 3 years old and the way hi steam is by chewing his shirt I got him this cute bandannas bibs and help him no ruin his shirts but I don’t care he does it is not hurting anyone, he had other ways to steam in the past and had gone away this might be one too.I believe is not hurting himself of other there’s no problem 😊

My son is very very energetic when he stims he runs back and forth, be really wild with his hands, and his head. I try my best to let him do it safe but sometimes I worry with how energetic he gets that he may hurt himself and I'm not sure what to do. But he's always so happy doing it.❤

I'm 56 and was just diagnosed with autism 2 years ago. I was masking a lot, even with my autism therapist to the point that I was distressed and she encouraged me to stim when I needed to and even told me that it was physically unhealthy for me to try and suppress my stimming as it is important to stim to regulate myself.

Speaking of the “Who are you?” question one day in about third or fourth grade (back in the 1980s) I didn’t recognize my teachers’ aide because she had a perm. In my case due to a combination of right hemisphere damage from a stroke around the time of birth and being on the spectrum I have almost no ability to recognize faces. The technical term for this is prosopagnosia.

The only potential downside of running back and forth that I can see is that when taken to an extreme it might potentially cause dizziness, nausea, and vomiting due to possible effects on the ear and one’s sense of equilibrium. Other than that it seems fairly safe.

I don't have autism but i suffer from depression & severe anxiety. I still struggle in crowded environments to the point where i feel like crying. I use my own methods to soothe myself so if stimming soothes individuals under the spectrum, whats wrong with it? Why are we trying to make people with autism like everyone else? We all have our ways of soothing ourselves. Its a new century, lets stop being ignorant.

❤❤❤

Stimming is NOT like a cigarette!!! That's like the worst kind of excuse I've ever heard! hearing that is like getting hit in the face with a frying pan!

Emmalina stimming is ok I allow her to stim whenever wherever. Funny you say cigarettes lolz i actually smoke. I can't quit that I've tried

Autism stimming doesn't mean they are unhappy. Typical stimming may mean we are unhappy, though. I was a unhappy child because my mother had to struggle a lot. That's why I would stim all the day. I still stim only it's that I can mask it kuz I know when I shouldn't do it.

7 Ahead - Is Stimming & Fidgiting ( Autism / ADHD ) term one in the same or different ?

Stimming is important

When i seeing and opened this video and watching until 0:06 ; I laughed mildly. ANYWAY!! This big heart for you: ___ ___ / \ / \ | \/ | \ / \ / \ / \ / This is my first try .Hopefuly it's not bad... Good News: Soon, i'll considering subscribe for supporting to you

I think cigarette is more of an addiction once you try it you find comfort from it or it’s just so addictive and hard to stop. It’s not healthy stimmimg is not Harmful it really depends on the kind of stimmimg I think I have hand stimmimg gets embarrassing for me I don’t always notice I’m doing it

Some people I know (including some family members) falsely equate autism with being antisocial and/or “mentally ill”. They have literally told me this. I think they may be confusing autism with antisocial personality disorder, reactive attachment disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, or childhood schizophrenia.

I think these negative comments you get they people are rude. They just want control. They apparently can't grasp these kids are all different and stimming is their coping or helping them process or calm down. Why make an autistic child feel insecure, they need to feel safe. I never yell or hit emmalina. I try to just take her cues and say no and move her from whatever she shouldn't be doing . Every day is a new day. There's no reason for that crazy mean scare your kid tactic

Alright, I’d like no false advertising comments about anything that cures autism, anyway me and my siblings all stim in a different way! I like to rock back and forth, pace, blink eyes, script tv shows, click tongue, and spin objects, along with cover and uncover ears some things I do are seen as harmful, such as teeth grinding, and playing with my own hair. I play with my hair when I’m anxious and I grind my teeth because I like the way my top and bottom teeth feels when they’re connected and moving together. My sister likes to chew on things, pace, listen to things on repeat, and others that I can’t think of, my brother paces, and picks his skin,

Maybe the commenter was implying the stimming is like a cigarette meaning that it is a compulsion that one cannot help but to satisfy.

I don’t stim, I just twitch.

I stime a while

Do you thinks kids can do alot of stimming & not have autism??

I stim all the time

Este de foc....uimitor ca poti sa il vezi acum

Are si domnul z stimm,noua denumire,ambalaj pentru ceva vechi,gesturi de transfer,ia uite cum.face,domnule,uite cum.face cu mainile, Este o diferenta totusi

Te-am prins.....

My younger brother stimmed so much as a kid so the doctors thought it was hyperacticity 😅 In my case I have just started to stim again after have avoid it for many years because of comments on it as a kid. Both me and my psycologist thinks its only good that I have started to stim again now as an adult :)

Nothing dangerous about steaming

Conteaza iderul???nu mai badbineeste seceta Ce am scris??? Era mai misto colaborare cu oogle translate si cu microfon Am scris ca nu vad bine de la seceta

Happy stimming is an autistic smile. It's definitely done when I am excited and enjoying myself. His hands flapping means he's happy. I do it and work professionally he doesn't need to stop in order to live a life just as anyone else. Self harm is done because their frustration is that painful.

A significant portion of my stimming is completely subconscious. In terms of motivation and emotional state, it's not far off from breathing (it is, of course, not as biologically necessary as breathing, but both are movements of consciously controllable muscles under automatic control). The emotional states most associated with conscious stimming, as I perceive it internally and in no particular order, are curiosity, boredom, and goofiness. A fair number of autistic KZfaqrs report that they do sometimes stim to relieve distress, or that they experience intense distress when suppressing subconscious stims. I really haven't noticed if my subconscious stimming patterns change according to emotional state, and I'm not sure I've ever managed to suppress my stims well enough to have a handle on what happens when I do.

De foc si acum il vezi....cine il vede?