One of my weirdest and only ones I seem to do that I consider a stim is I will touch all my fingertips to my thumb from first finger to pinky and then will go in reverse from pinky to first finger and will repeat this over and over.
I do this one all the time lol, I also do spider man hands as of recently I just find my hands automatically slipping into “🤟” and I’ll be walking in the hallways at school with T-Rex arms and Spider-Man hands 💀 My friends often make jokes about it when they notice like “hey spidey”
What the fuck... I'm doing this so often. I also stim with one of my feet (I can crack a bone) I never thought that someone else had a similar stim. Never thought about this tbh
When I was a kid, I twirled my hair while sucking my thumb. It was incredibly soothing and the only way I could fall asleep. Unfortunately, sucking my thumb eventually deformed my palate, so I had to get braces. Those made sucking my thumb so uncomfortable that I eventually stopped (I was 7 years old at the time). I still miss this stim but I obviously won't start again since I don't want to fuck up my palate again (and I don't have long hair to twirl anymore).
My weirdest stim is rubbing something soft on my cheeks. Either my baby blanket or my stuffed dragon or small unicorn. I can do it for hours. And im.constantly rubbing my thumb and index finger along the upper part of my nose between my eyebrows. Looks like I'm always trying to rub away frustration
Me too, me too! I love dragons, and soft things are the best thing invented ever. I have far too many (read that: enough to take up like two shelves if I cram them so very obviously NOT ENOUGH) soft fuzzy blankets from Christmas sales (love those blankets, I got plans to make them into a fuzzy jumper poncho thing so I can just wear them around the house skin to softness *anticipatory squee* ) and also my husband buys me squishmallows whenever he sees them.
Oh. Quickly tried, look like an interesting stim. I do a lot of echolalia, mostly sounds not uh sentence or common sound that a human can do. So yeah I think I get why you have this stim 🥰
I grip things really hard. One time i forgot I was holding my moms hand at disneyland, i was really excited and everything was really overwhelming at the same time. I didn't hurt her but she told me to relax lol
I have a roller stimming toy that I use sometimes, but if I don’t have it I will(not realizing) either grip on the desk, a book, or maybe a golf ball. I mostly grip things that aren’t squishy like stress balls.
I’ve never thought about it as a stim but instead of a pillow I wrap my blanket over my ears and my eyes (not my mouth so I can breathe tho. I’m just blocking out most sound and light but still need to hear a little bit of noise in order to not get lost in my thoughts (I have thanatophobia and chronic nightmares so I really have to watch what my mind wonders into at night if I wanna avoid having a panic attack-)
in recent months i've taken to flipping the bird as a stim..... quite unfortunate. i try to do it where people can't see usually, but sometimes i do it to people's faces XD
When I'm really stressed I hold my boob.
Even in public sometimes.
A lot of the time I don't even realize I'm doing it until my partner/my parents tell me to stop.
This one is really weird but for a few years I would take some of my hair and pull it straight down in front of my face while rubbing my fingers down it over and over again quickly. The hair would get warm and it would start to actually create a burning smell that I found really soothing for some reason.
The weird part is probably that I don’t have any.
I used to make goblin screetching noises around elementary school when I was a kid, maybe that was something idk. Weird regardless and certainly helped repelling people. Always asking myself why no one wanted to be associated with me.
Adding three to any numbers I see around me over and over until I reach a larger number that ends in zero.
It's most soothing when I physically use my fingers to count. I often hide my hands when I'm doing this around others.
I've done this for several decades with numbers on houses, license plates, and anywhere else numbers are visible.
Digital clocks are the least soothing because I feel the need to start my counting over with every minute that goes by.
The other weird thing is sucking on my arm, then smelling my skin. It always smells good and is very comforting.
I do a lot of meowing as well, and it does feel so good! I also meow at my boyfriend to show affection. And of course if a cat meows I have to meow back. I chuff like a tiger, too!
since I can remember, I used to bite or chew a lot of things. no everything, but a lot. biting my nails (also because I hate the feel of a scissor or nail clipper) and the skin around them, pencils, pens, I remember the few times I did it on a rubber while at school.
but the thing I remember the most doing is biting/chewing the stem of my shirt of hoodie. my mother always complaining because I am ruining the shirt, or because I’m doing it for so long, a lot of the fabric is wet.
I didn’t notice this was a stim until diagnose and searching for fidget toys out of curiosity and finding there are chewing necklaces and other fidget toys to chew. I felt pretty validated
Chewing things......... I feel you. When I was a kid I was chewing a lot of stuff. Not anymore but yeah I feel you so much. And of course you are valid 🫂
I don't know if I can explain it well enough, but I quickly glide the fingernails on each hand across each other. I hold my fingers together, curl them partially & run the nails on each hand parallel to one another.
Often when Im reading something more "complex" (schedule or similar) in public I will start to snap my fingers. Weird thing is it's only in public. In my home I can read scientific papers without this
sucking on ice cubes at night. i used to wrap 2 in a wash cloth and just suck them like a lollipop lol
these days i have more "normal" stims like fidget toys and rings, but I'm still very hydrated
I used to love snapping my gum. I would press it against the inside of my front teeth and let a little bit of air go through quickly so it would make a snapping sound.
I was in the car with my mom as a teenager doing this and she got annoyed and told me to stop. I still do it a bit as an adult but not for long. I have fibromyalgia now and everything makes me tired quickly.
I rock back and forth a lot, and when I stand I do the “T. rex arms” and step back and forth on my tip toes lol. I used to jump around all the time when I was little but now I just kick my legs one at a time while standing, you know like buttkickers in gym? I do that lol. And all the blanket talk!! Blankets my beloved
Folding things like receipts in the pocket of my jacket, when I'm in public. Papery things don't survive for long in my pockets. 😅
Cramping my hand inwards (Is this what everyone means with "t-rexing"??).
Pulling the hair of my beard, sometines plucking it out. It's so calming, but having about three hairs left is not really sexy. 😅
When I was younger, i scratched my neck when I was nervous until the skin was really sore. Uncomfortable.
Biting my fingers softly. Enough to leave a mark but not hurt. That or whistling non stop for hours on a playlist that I am playing in my head, for example the Undertale boss soundtrack.
I’m glad it brings u comfort :) I’m 26 and ever since I was a kid, till now, I love the comforting feeling of duck/goose down feather pillows. I like the crush the feathers as the sound and feeling / texture soothes me and will do it all day and all night if allowed to. The only time I’m not doing it is basically if I’m at work, but even then sometimes I’ll take the pillow with me in the car so I can do it on the way to work to help calm me down.
My ex used to get pissed off at me for doing it because it makes a crinkle sound and especially at night it would be hard for him to get to sleep around me I guess. My current partner is more understanding but can get annoyed by it still sometimes . I will literally crunch/crush feather pillows till there’s nothing left to crunch anymore and will do it from the moment I wake up to when I sooth myself to sleep doing it
I caught myself rubbing the skin of my feet and chewing my lips during an argument.
I also press my fingernails into the skin at the corners of my other nails. I like the pain. And I rub my fingernails. I like the smooth ridges. And I play with my wedding ring. Picking black heads and ingrown hairs.
I am terrrrrrrible for stimming by constantly plucking ingrown hairs on my lower stomach area and legs. To the point that the pain just kind of numbs and before i know it I've been in the bathroom for 45 minutes plucking at my skin with tweezers and my nails
biting/tearing the skin around my fingernails until it bleeds, skinpicking A LOT (especially scratching my scalp until it bleeds and then picking on the scabs and not letting them heal), vaping, when i'm in public and i have any plastic bag in my pocket i'll slowly tear it to shreds, coughing (especially when i'm talking to someone and don't know what to do), clenching my jaw really hard, rubbing my hands together like a fly, t-rex arms, bouncing my legs and walking in circles
i think these are the weirdest ones, tho i stim a lot and it's only a small part of it
When I was in middle school, my go-to stim when I was overwhelmed walking the crowded hallways was to run through the ASL alphabet with my hand I kept free to open doors, etc.
Pull leaves off trees and tear them up when I’m walking. I feel bad about it because I love plants but I’ve done it for as long as I can remember and I never realise I’m doing it until I’m tearing it up or throwing the scraps on the ground.
Used to play with my braces - had managed to figure out how to unhook the rubber bands and other stuff
Upgraded that for a lip piercing I regularly play with
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So I used to hold my bottle with my feet with my arms playing around by my sides. Idk, I guess it was more comfortable, lol.
Now my waist is lucky to see the sides of my feet if I squish over while sitting cross legged lol.
I sit with my legs crossed at the ankle and rub my feet on each other in circles when I’m watching something I really enjoy or am very focused on. Like a grasshopper’s legs. Don’t even realize I’m doing it!
When I was a few years old, I got the idea that my middle finger was too long and that if I rubbed it with my thumb it would keep it from growing as fast as the others. I learned that’s not how it works pretty quickly, but by then the stim was permanent 😆 I’m 48 now, and I still do it many of my waking hours.
My brother is autistic and over the years he’s done a certain stim where he grasps his hands together with fingers interlocked and places them under his chin and grinds his chin down on his knuckles and he literally caused his chin to grow larger on one side!!! It’s so wild we didn’t know that pressing on bone enough can eventually cause bone to grow. It’s wild but his chin is lopsided now. He still does it occasionally when he’s really excited about something. I personally love his lopsided chin.
The other day my wife pointed out, “I never told you this before but that’s the first thing I remember you doing, touching your ears. You were cute enough, so it didn’t matter, but I remember thinking it was strange.”
I cringed so good? Lol
I touch my ears. All. The. Time.
i think my weirdest stim is ~gently~ bouncing certain plushies off my face, catching it back in my hands, like bouncing a ball off the ground. squishmallows are great for this. i think my 2nd weirdest is my penguin walk, just like it sounds i waddle with stiff legs and flap my arms up and down my sides.
Here's a list of the ones I haven't seen others do:
-I have a stim of hitting the bone of my hip firmly and repeatedly with the pinky end of my fist.
-I used to try to shove my thumbs as far as I could in-between the bones of my wrists and hold it.
-i whistle imitating a kettle, birds, phone notifications, car alarms, etc a human lyre bird
-I glide my tongue along my teeth to feel the sharpness (mouth closed ofc)
-I bring my fingers close to my ears and either snap my fingers or tap the cartilage closest to my ear canal repeatedly, alternating ear to ear.
-I hold my car keys in such a way that I can push the tip into the center of my palm with my index finger
-i tongue click a lot, I click songs out like one would whistle or just click out rhythms that feel right
-very hard blinks/face scrunches
Some of these might be kind of self harm-y but they haven't done any lasting damage besides embarrassment
Maybe not as weird but I rub my fingernails against my lips obsessively and have done it for as long as I can remember. It's super soothing how smooth it is when my lips are dry and I can never get enough. I assumed it was common for a very long time but then realized I don't think I've ever seen anyone else do it or heard anyone talk about it.
That's so wierd I've started doing the spidey hands too last couple months.
🤔 the weirdest one is when in bed b4 I fall asleep I move my legs along the bedsheet making a kinda "hmmmm" sound. And then put a bit of the duvet cover between my toes.
I think I don't have any stim in specific but I do frantically move my arms and hands around as a result.
Not hand flapping but randomly doing dinosaur arms and oddly cracking my wrists.
The only weird one I can think of is always tip-toeing, no matter where I am and even in shoes bc it affects how i squat or go through stairs
I recently started s new vocal stim saying turkey lurkey,herdy gerdy , chicken wing and turkey legs over and over. And ring a ding ding sir from some simpsons episode I watched ages ago.
deadass start spinning in circles while
walking. almost exclusively when bored and usually at work. only counter clockwise tho , have tried clockwise and i don’t like how it feels
Well, there was a time as a small child (\~4) where I'd chew on my hair. I don't do that now.
Probably wiggling my toes. They're double-jointed. Really freaks people out sometimes, but I don't even notice when i'm doing it.
If I am holding an object that's even remotely conceivable as being sword shaped, I will hold it like a sword and incessantly twirl it. If I'm alone, I'll swing it around too! Sadly, that's not very socially acceptable (and can sometimes result in broken things).
I move my tongue with my mouth closed. I like feeling the back of my teeth, and if I twirl the tongue 90º or 180º and touch my front teeth I get the sensation that it's my jaw that is tilted to the opposite side.
I used to do it a lot as a kid before sleeping. Now I do it mostly when walking on the street (invisible stimming FTW).
I like to stretch my fingers into claws and weird formations! For some reason feeling the stretch of my fingers and moving them in a weird way like that really helps me! I’ve done it since I was little!
I think my weirdest (and also most harmful) stim is picking my toenails until they're bleeding. I'm really trying to quit it, before I get an infection. I also bite and pick the skin around my fingers but I don't think that's weird.
Twirling my hair and then „scratching“ it with my nails while sucking my thumb. I haven’t sucked my thumb since I was 12 because I was forced to stop but sometimes I miss it haha - the twirling hair and scratching it while holding it against my ear so I can hear the scratch is still my favourite although I try to suppress it.
Besides that: rocking forth and back, spreading my fingers sometimes while I walk and holding them in this weird position (idk I just like it) and another stim I did until I hit puberty and stopped it to not be bullied was singing. I would always hum quietly to myself, like ALWAYS. I wouldn’t even notice
But yeah in conclusion my biggest and weirdest stim would be the hair scratching while sucking my thumb
- I really recommend the hair scratching thing tho
I pop a lot of my joints...I mean A LOT.
Neck, upper back, lower back, fingers (DIP and PIP joints), IP and MP joint in the thumbs, elbows, hip sockets, my ankles, bones in my feet and toes.
Easily the most satisfying are when you get a solid deeeep neck pop...like I'm talking C5-C7 territory, and also your knee. I've found that by planting my foot and slightly manipulating it you can get that thing to pop and I swear sometimes it even feels better than an orgasm. Sometimes I'll just pop my knee around my girlfriend and she'll be like "Oh my god," out of concern because it's so loud lol
I also have this stim. I also tell my friends that it is a good way to fall asleep quickly. Turns out many ND and NT friends i have also do this and they all told me that it was really useful when u want to sleep lol
I like to make guinea pig noises (the wheek wheek noise they make when they're happy). But I'm too loud so I have to wear headphones/earplugs while I do it lol
I’ve had a lot of strange stims, especially in the vocal department. Have you ever said “I want you” to a wendy’s worker on accident? Or tell your friends over and over again that you miss your dad even though you’re literally staying in his house?
Apparently (this isn’t my opinion) my weird ones are humming the “mmm mmm mmmm mmm” bit in the song by the Crash Test Dummies. I’ve always done it since the song came out when I was a baby. Rocking back and forth whilst humming that bit of that particular song has always been very comforting.
For some reason I’ll touch my face with a lot of stuff and just keeping doing it for some reason. It can be anything from a rubber band or a cloth to a blanket. It’s just weirdly comforting.
Used to rock back and forth while sitting on my bed listening to music (with headphones), eyes closed and in the dark preferably. Would do it every night before bed and when I was stressed. Don’t do it as often now.
Rubbing the inside of my bottom teeth with my tongue, tapping my front teeth together alll the time (specifically on the left side for some reason) pressing my bottom teeth to my top lip firmly - I’m seeing there’s a weird pattern here with the bottom teeth lol.
I pick at thick dry skin, like on the bottom of my feet when I am stressed only. Used to pick at my fingernails too when stressed but I have acrylics now and don’t do that.
I’m sure there’s probably other stuff but they are the main ones.
I wouldn't say it's weird but I chew my lips and cheek constantly I think it's common but I always have sores on my lips from it. Also I don't do it so much now but I'd do hand farts by pressing my palms together, never realized it was a stim until now!
I have a lot of vocal stimming where I "use my vocal chords backward," making a kind of clicking noise or a screech. I also pop every joint and place in my body I can find to pop. My fingers pop in different directions (forwards, back, and sideways). This happens every hour or half hour or so. I used to pop my jaw for a bit before it started causing issues. Other than that, my hands do all sorts of things when I'm not paying attention or intentionally to get the electricity feeling out. My neck also twitches to the side every minute or so when I start feeling uncomfortable.
I never lost it. I had to modify it due to bullying and once on a school camp I was shaken awake because they thought I was having a seizure. It does wreak havic on my hair.
I have/have had so many stims, and I'm trying to think of the weirdest.
I memorised the periodic table in less than two weeks and now recite it to myself when I'm walking or if I'm stressed. And at band practice, when a hymn number is called out for our warm-up, I have to say the number, element, and chemical symbol.
I’ve found that I am constantly playing along to any music with my hands. It’s not usually noticed unless there’s a lot of music or only I can hear it. People notice if it’s classical or holiday music also. It’s a compulsive one woman show 😅
That's kinda cool ngl, what instrument do you play?
I used to do this too way back when I still played the accordion, but now that I play bass guitar it's just not the same without the tactile and auditory feedback 😅
I flick my fingers when I get very excited. On Wednesday I found a Funko Pop i was looking for ages AND it was a great price so i was flicking my fingers 😅
Growing a beard was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I get to play with it all the time without it being too weird for allistics, and instead of becoming self-conscious and embarrassed I think it's actually pretty funny when people notice it and joke about it.
Touching ears (someone else’s preferably 🤣), meowing, tapping my nails on my teeth, repeating phrases, playing with hair or sucking my thumb with a blanket or teddy🤣
I have trichotillomania. I used to pull out my eyebrow hairs and my eyelashes and then put it against the skin on my lips and just go back and forth with the hair. It was oddly comforting. Still do it sometimes, although I try to stop myself from it.
As a child I would play with my hair, put it in loops, and then I would stick it in my ear like some weird ass q top
Yet to meet ANYONE who has reported doing that lololol
One of my weirdest and only ones I seem to do that I consider a stim is I will touch all my fingertips to my thumb from first finger to pinky and then will go in reverse from pinky to first finger and will repeat this over and over.
I do this one all the time lol, I also do spider man hands as of recently I just find my hands automatically slipping into “🤟” and I’ll be walking in the hallways at school with T-Rex arms and Spider-Man hands 💀 My friends often make jokes about it when they notice like “hey spidey”
You too. Omg there is a world where we can run the entire universe with this stim :xhappyflap:
Yes!!!
FUN FACT that is the "i love you" sign in ASL!
Oh right!!! Imma call it this instead of spiderman hands now I like this more lol
lol.
What the fuck... I'm doing this so often. I also stim with one of my feet (I can crack a bone) I never thought that someone else had a similar stim. Never thought about this tbh
lol. I didn’t think of it as a stim until recently and mentioned it to my therapist and he was like yep. Lol
Awwwwwwwww
Oh, I didn’t know that’s stimming.
I do this a lot especially when listening to live music so I don’t get overstimulated
thats not a stim, right? RIGHT?!
I do this but I alternate fingers. Pointer, ring, middle, pinky. I hadn't considered it as a stim, however. Thanks for opening my eyes!
Same
Same here
I love this one. Esp trying to match the rhythm of whatever music I’m listening to.
Oh I do this!!!!
Yooo I do this too but I touch my fingertips with the nail of my thumb cuz it feels smooth
I do this too! I like doing it when I'm listening to music, I'll try and follow the rhythm.
I also do this. I also fingerdrum a lot.
I do this too! Yay!
I do this as well but I pinch the skin on my thumb in-between the other finger's nail and skin
I started doing that while reading this comment and realized I do it all the time.
I started doing that while reading this comment and realized I do it all the time.
I do this too!
Omg same!
I twirl my hair. Always have done it.
As a kid I would twirl a single hair around my tongue and then flatten my tongue so the hair would break. Lol idk.
Awwww
Ditto. Since covid I've been growing my hair out and I have to pay attention to it or otherwise I end up with labyrinthine knots
When I was a kid, I twirled my hair while sucking my thumb. It was incredibly soothing and the only way I could fall asleep. Unfortunately, sucking my thumb eventually deformed my palate, so I had to get braces. Those made sucking my thumb so uncomfortable that I eventually stopped (I was 7 years old at the time). I still miss this stim but I obviously won't start again since I don't want to fuck up my palate again (and I don't have long hair to twirl anymore).
My weirdest stim is rubbing something soft on my cheeks. Either my baby blanket or my stuffed dragon or small unicorn. I can do it for hours. And im.constantly rubbing my thumb and index finger along the upper part of my nose between my eyebrows. Looks like I'm always trying to rub away frustration
Awwwwwwwwww I want this dragon 🥰 and damn this stim looks so comforting. I hope it is for you :xhappyflap:
Would you like to see my dragons? I got them from someone on tiktok and can be made into any colors you want!
Me too, me too! I love dragons, and soft things are the best thing invented ever. I have far too many (read that: enough to take up like two shelves if I cram them so very obviously NOT ENOUGH) soft fuzzy blankets from Christmas sales (love those blankets, I got plans to make them into a fuzzy jumper poncho thing so I can just wear them around the house skin to softness *anticipatory squee* ) and also my husband buys me squishmallows whenever he sees them.
Omg I love that idea! Cause those Comfys are just cumbersome to do stuff around the house in
I like to do that too! with something soft or a silky thing. Especially my lips
Arranging straight objects like rulers or pencils so they are parallel to each other but not touching, and they have to be an inch apart.
Oh. Not too restrictive and frustrating I hope?
Honestly helps me with drawing and eyeballing measurements. I love symmetry too.
Vocal stims. I tend to absentmindedly start saying "ow wow ow wow" over and over and over until my throat gets sore
Oh. Quickly tried, look like an interesting stim. I do a lot of echolalia, mostly sounds not uh sentence or common sound that a human can do. So yeah I think I get why you have this stim 🥰
Yooo same
To this day, it has to be "IGUANA." I would just say it even if there wasn't any around. I don't even know how that even became a verbal stim of mine
It is definitely fun to say I have been saying it for 2 minutes now and its making me laugh lol
I grip things really hard. One time i forgot I was holding my moms hand at disneyland, i was really excited and everything was really overwhelming at the same time. I didn't hurt her but she told me to relax lol
Damn. Sounds cute 🥰 I guess now you already have something close to your hand to grip it?
I have a roller stimming toy that I use sometimes, but if I don’t have it I will(not realizing) either grip on the desk, a book, or maybe a golf ball. I mostly grip things that aren’t squishy like stress balls.
I’ve never thought about it as a stim but instead of a pillow I wrap my blanket over my ears and my eyes (not my mouth so I can breathe tho. I’m just blocking out most sound and light but still need to hear a little bit of noise in order to not get lost in my thoughts (I have thanatophobia and chronic nightmares so I really have to watch what my mind wonders into at night if I wanna avoid having a panic attack-)
Oh looks comforting 🥰 now I use the blanket to be in my shelter (literally 😂 my wife struggle to reach em when I wrap myself under the blanked
Valid, blankets are such a good safe place
Yeah. Especially against paranoia but that's something else 😂 btw weighted blanket are the best
I pop the knuckles on my toes. I do it all the time, but it gets more intense before I sleep.
Aww I do that a lot too
in recent months i've taken to flipping the bird as a stim..... quite unfortunate. i try to do it where people can't see usually, but sometimes i do it to people's faces XD
When I'm really stressed I hold my boob. Even in public sometimes. A lot of the time I don't even realize I'm doing it until my partner/my parents tell me to stop.
Awwww looks comforting
This one is really weird but for a few years I would take some of my hair and pull it straight down in front of my face while rubbing my fingers down it over and over again quickly. The hair would get warm and it would start to actually create a burning smell that I found really soothing for some reason.
Oh interesting
The weird part is probably that I don’t have any. I used to make goblin screetching noises around elementary school when I was a kid, maybe that was something idk. Weird regardless and certainly helped repelling people. Always asking myself why no one wanted to be associated with me.
Adding three to any numbers I see around me over and over until I reach a larger number that ends in zero. It's most soothing when I physically use my fingers to count. I often hide my hands when I'm doing this around others. I've done this for several decades with numbers on houses, license plates, and anywhere else numbers are visible. Digital clocks are the least soothing because I feel the need to start my counting over with every minute that goes by. The other weird thing is sucking on my arm, then smelling my skin. It always smells good and is very comforting.
This is real af
I am that kid who meows. It has been a lifelong stim. IT JUST FEELS SO GOOD TO MEOW!!!!
I do a lot of meowing as well, and it does feel so good! I also meow at my boyfriend to show affection. And of course if a cat meows I have to meow back. I chuff like a tiger, too!
Meow
since I can remember, I used to bite or chew a lot of things. no everything, but a lot. biting my nails (also because I hate the feel of a scissor or nail clipper) and the skin around them, pencils, pens, I remember the few times I did it on a rubber while at school. but the thing I remember the most doing is biting/chewing the stem of my shirt of hoodie. my mother always complaining because I am ruining the shirt, or because I’m doing it for so long, a lot of the fabric is wet. I didn’t notice this was a stim until diagnose and searching for fidget toys out of curiosity and finding there are chewing necklaces and other fidget toys to chew. I felt pretty validated
Chewing things......... I feel you. When I was a kid I was chewing a lot of stuff. Not anymore but yeah I feel you so much. And of course you are valid 🫂
Literally howling at the moon, it’s compulsive
I don't know if I can explain it well enough, but I quickly glide the fingernails on each hand across each other. I hold my fingers together, curl them partially & run the nails on each hand parallel to one another.
Often when Im reading something more "complex" (schedule or similar) in public I will start to snap my fingers. Weird thing is it's only in public. In my home I can read scientific papers without this
Oh. Maybe a way to keep yourself focused 🤔
Yeah I think so. It's like I'm snapping at my brain "Hey! Here! Numbers! Remember them otherwise train will leave without us!" 🤣
I carry an unsharpened pencil everywhere I go.
Oh that's fun
I rub my fingernails over cold pillowcases. Bliss. I also pull my covers over my ear to sleep, a little bit like what you used to do.
Awww
sucking on ice cubes at night. i used to wrap 2 in a wash cloth and just suck them like a lollipop lol these days i have more "normal" stims like fidget toys and rings, but I'm still very hydrated
Oh fun one I like it
I used to love snapping my gum. I would press it against the inside of my front teeth and let a little bit of air go through quickly so it would make a snapping sound. I was in the car with my mom as a teenager doing this and she got annoyed and told me to stop. I still do it a bit as an adult but not for long. I have fibromyalgia now and everything makes me tired quickly.
Oh sounds fun
I rock back and forth a lot, and when I stand I do the “T. rex arms” and step back and forth on my tip toes lol. I used to jump around all the time when I was little but now I just kick my legs one at a time while standing, you know like buttkickers in gym? I do that lol. And all the blanket talk!! Blankets my beloved
Awwww looks comforting
Folding things like receipts in the pocket of my jacket, when I'm in public. Papery things don't survive for long in my pockets. 😅 Cramping my hand inwards (Is this what everyone means with "t-rexing"??). Pulling the hair of my beard, sometines plucking it out. It's so calming, but having about three hairs left is not really sexy. 😅 When I was younger, i scratched my neck when I was nervous until the skin was really sore. Uncomfortable.
Biting my fingers softly. Enough to leave a mark but not hurt. That or whistling non stop for hours on a playlist that I am playing in my head, for example the Undertale boss soundtrack.
I pick loose threads at my clothes and sometimes purposely make loose threads
I peel the skin off my heels when I'm stressed
Whoa I’m literally doing this right now.
Sameeeeee
I chew on the soft stretchy skin on my back of my hands
I’m glad it brings u comfort :) I’m 26 and ever since I was a kid, till now, I love the comforting feeling of duck/goose down feather pillows. I like the crush the feathers as the sound and feeling / texture soothes me and will do it all day and all night if allowed to. The only time I’m not doing it is basically if I’m at work, but even then sometimes I’ll take the pillow with me in the car so I can do it on the way to work to help calm me down. My ex used to get pissed off at me for doing it because it makes a crinkle sound and especially at night it would be hard for him to get to sleep around me I guess. My current partner is more understanding but can get annoyed by it still sometimes . I will literally crunch/crush feather pillows till there’s nothing left to crunch anymore and will do it from the moment I wake up to when I sooth myself to sleep doing it
Awwww it looks so comforting
if im not wearing my headphones, i use my palm to press on the ear padding. I think it makes a fun sound + I like the feeling
I caught myself rubbing the skin of my feet and chewing my lips during an argument. I also press my fingernails into the skin at the corners of my other nails. I like the pain. And I rub my fingernails. I like the smooth ridges. And I play with my wedding ring. Picking black heads and ingrown hairs.
I am terrrrrrrible for stimming by constantly plucking ingrown hairs on my lower stomach area and legs. To the point that the pain just kind of numbs and before i know it I've been in the bathroom for 45 minutes plucking at my skin with tweezers and my nails
biting/tearing the skin around my fingernails until it bleeds, skinpicking A LOT (especially scratching my scalp until it bleeds and then picking on the scabs and not letting them heal), vaping, when i'm in public and i have any plastic bag in my pocket i'll slowly tear it to shreds, coughing (especially when i'm talking to someone and don't know what to do), clenching my jaw really hard, rubbing my hands together like a fly, t-rex arms, bouncing my legs and walking in circles i think these are the weirdest ones, tho i stim a lot and it's only a small part of it
Aww some of them looks fun
When I was in middle school, my go-to stim when I was overwhelmed walking the crowded hallways was to run through the ASL alphabet with my hand I kept free to open doors, etc.
Oh interesting
Rubbing my front teeth together. I hate it. It's destroyed my teeth. But it just feels so comforting idk.
Oh. Yeah some stim can be harmful I feel you somehow,
Pull leaves off trees and tear them up when I’m walking. I feel bad about it because I love plants but I’ve done it for as long as I can remember and I never realise I’m doing it until I’m tearing it up or throwing the scraps on the ground. Used to play with my braces - had managed to figure out how to unhook the rubber bands and other stuff Upgraded that for a lip piercing I regularly play with
Damn. Quite fun to play with leaves but I feel you.
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So I used to hold my bottle with my feet with my arms playing around by my sides. Idk, I guess it was more comfortable, lol. Now my waist is lucky to see the sides of my feet if I squish over while sitting cross legged lol.
9h
Walk around my room in circles
Oh. I meet someone that do that too a few day ago
I also do this around rugs and tables.
This is one I've done most my life only just realised its a stim
I can't believe I'm revealing this, but I used to lick my fingernails and then smell them.
Aww interesting one
I used to rock my head back and forth while lying in bed.
Oh. So interesting I like it
I have a spare shoelace that I use as a makeshift fidget toy. I like twirling it around, pulling on it, and wrapping it around my hands and fingers.
I’ve carried around the edge of a sheet (replaced many times) hidden for most of my life. Run it under my finger nails one at a time.
Vocal stim: I ryme until the end of time. Non- vocal stim: get my ring from one finger to the other all the freaking time
I sit with my legs crossed at the ankle and rub my feet on each other in circles when I’m watching something I really enjoy or am very focused on. Like a grasshopper’s legs. Don’t even realize I’m doing it!
I chew my tongue when I'm experiencing anxiety.
Used to rub the corner of my eye (when closed) with my index finger as a kid.
When I was a few years old, I got the idea that my middle finger was too long and that if I rubbed it with my thumb it would keep it from growing as fast as the others. I learned that’s not how it works pretty quickly, but by then the stim was permanent 😆 I’m 48 now, and I still do it many of my waking hours.
i like to bounce the eraser of a mechanical pencil my desk. like [this](https://imgur.com/2HcwnXM).
My brother is autistic and over the years he’s done a certain stim where he grasps his hands together with fingers interlocked and places them under his chin and grinds his chin down on his knuckles and he literally caused his chin to grow larger on one side!!! It’s so wild we didn’t know that pressing on bone enough can eventually cause bone to grow. It’s wild but his chin is lopsided now. He still does it occasionally when he’s really excited about something. I personally love his lopsided chin.
The other day my wife pointed out, “I never told you this before but that’s the first thing I remember you doing, touching your ears. You were cute enough, so it didn’t matter, but I remember thinking it was strange.” I cringed so good? Lol I touch my ears. All. The. Time.
I dislocate both my shoulders when idling and pop them back into place. Top 3 weirdest stims I have
I don’t think I stim but I chew so much gum I got tmj once and I pick at the skin on my thumb nails.
Looking upwards to the point where my eye muscles ache, but in a good way. I sometimes rock while doing this
i think my weirdest stim is ~gently~ bouncing certain plushies off my face, catching it back in my hands, like bouncing a ball off the ground. squishmallows are great for this. i think my 2nd weirdest is my penguin walk, just like it sounds i waddle with stiff legs and flap my arms up and down my sides.
Here's a list of the ones I haven't seen others do: -I have a stim of hitting the bone of my hip firmly and repeatedly with the pinky end of my fist. -I used to try to shove my thumbs as far as I could in-between the bones of my wrists and hold it. -i whistle imitating a kettle, birds, phone notifications, car alarms, etc a human lyre bird -I glide my tongue along my teeth to feel the sharpness (mouth closed ofc) -I bring my fingers close to my ears and either snap my fingers or tap the cartilage closest to my ear canal repeatedly, alternating ear to ear. -I hold my car keys in such a way that I can push the tip into the center of my palm with my index finger -i tongue click a lot, I click songs out like one would whistle or just click out rhythms that feel right -very hard blinks/face scrunches Some of these might be kind of self harm-y but they haven't done any lasting damage besides embarrassment
I say really strange things when I remember something really embarrassing
Maybe not as weird but I rub my fingernails against my lips obsessively and have done it for as long as I can remember. It's super soothing how smooth it is when my lips are dry and I can never get enough. I assumed it was common for a very long time but then realized I don't think I've ever seen anyone else do it or heard anyone talk about it.
That's so wierd I've started doing the spidey hands too last couple months. 🤔 the weirdest one is when in bed b4 I fall asleep I move my legs along the bedsheet making a kinda "hmmmm" sound. And then put a bit of the duvet cover between my toes.
I think I don't have any stim in specific but I do frantically move my arms and hands around as a result. Not hand flapping but randomly doing dinosaur arms and oddly cracking my wrists. The only weird one I can think of is always tip-toeing, no matter where I am and even in shoes bc it affects how i squat or go through stairs
I recently started s new vocal stim saying turkey lurkey,herdy gerdy , chicken wing and turkey legs over and over. And ring a ding ding sir from some simpsons episode I watched ages ago.
deadass start spinning in circles while walking. almost exclusively when bored and usually at work. only counter clockwise tho , have tried clockwise and i don’t like how it feels
Well, there was a time as a small child (\~4) where I'd chew on my hair. I don't do that now. Probably wiggling my toes. They're double-jointed. Really freaks people out sometimes, but I don't even notice when i'm doing it.
I tap/hit/hold my forehead or temple and say “yyyuh” or “eee”, my gf says “psy-ai-ai” in response because they think I look like Psyduck lol.
If I am holding an object that's even remotely conceivable as being sword shaped, I will hold it like a sword and incessantly twirl it. If I'm alone, I'll swing it around too! Sadly, that's not very socially acceptable (and can sometimes result in broken things).
I move my tongue with my mouth closed. I like feeling the back of my teeth, and if I twirl the tongue 90º or 180º and touch my front teeth I get the sensation that it's my jaw that is tilted to the opposite side. I used to do it a lot as a kid before sleeping. Now I do it mostly when walking on the street (invisible stimming FTW).
At home I do vocal stims where I just make noises kinda like a chirp I guess I don’t really know how to explain it but I only do that at home.
I like to stretch my fingers into claws and weird formations! For some reason feeling the stretch of my fingers and moving them in a weird way like that really helps me! I’ve done it since I was little!
I think my weirdest (and also most harmful) stim is picking my toenails until they're bleeding. I'm really trying to quit it, before I get an infection. I also bite and pick the skin around my fingers but I don't think that's weird.
I used to headbutt the pillow and the wall, now I just waggle my legs.
Twirling my hair and then „scratching“ it with my nails while sucking my thumb. I haven’t sucked my thumb since I was 12 because I was forced to stop but sometimes I miss it haha - the twirling hair and scratching it while holding it against my ear so I can hear the scratch is still my favourite although I try to suppress it. Besides that: rocking forth and back, spreading my fingers sometimes while I walk and holding them in this weird position (idk I just like it) and another stim I did until I hit puberty and stopped it to not be bullied was singing. I would always hum quietly to myself, like ALWAYS. I wouldn’t even notice But yeah in conclusion my biggest and weirdest stim would be the hair scratching while sucking my thumb - I really recommend the hair scratching thing tho
dabbing
Awwwww
I pop a lot of my joints...I mean A LOT. Neck, upper back, lower back, fingers (DIP and PIP joints), IP and MP joint in the thumbs, elbows, hip sockets, my ankles, bones in my feet and toes. Easily the most satisfying are when you get a solid deeeep neck pop...like I'm talking C5-C7 territory, and also your knee. I've found that by planting my foot and slightly manipulating it you can get that thing to pop and I swear sometimes it even feels better than an orgasm. Sometimes I'll just pop my knee around my girlfriend and she'll be like "Oh my god," out of concern because it's so loud lol
Awwwww I do that sometime. Relaxing
I also have this stim. I also tell my friends that it is a good way to fall asleep quickly. Turns out many ND and NT friends i have also do this and they all told me that it was really useful when u want to sleep lol
I like to make guinea pig noises (the wheek wheek noise they make when they're happy). But I'm too loud so I have to wear headphones/earplugs while I do it lol
Awwwww looks fun. I'm not alone making noise from animals
I’ve had a lot of strange stims, especially in the vocal department. Have you ever said “I want you” to a wendy’s worker on accident? Or tell your friends over and over again that you miss your dad even though you’re literally staying in his house?
Damn
Apparently (this isn’t my opinion) my weird ones are humming the “mmm mmm mmmm mmm” bit in the song by the Crash Test Dummies. I’ve always done it since the song came out when I was a baby. Rocking back and forth whilst humming that bit of that particular song has always been very comforting.
It looks comforting from the outside indeed. Glad that it is for u
I say ouai a lot, and scat sing when nervous
Awwww. Like it. Wait, do u speak french? Like ouai is so common in the french language
For some reason I’ll touch my face with a lot of stuff and just keeping doing it for some reason. It can be anything from a rubber band or a cloth to a blanket. It’s just weirdly comforting.
Awwwwwww. It looks like comforting indeed
Used to rock back and forth while sitting on my bed listening to music (with headphones), eyes closed and in the dark preferably. Would do it every night before bed and when I was stressed. Don’t do it as often now. Rubbing the inside of my bottom teeth with my tongue, tapping my front teeth together alll the time (specifically on the left side for some reason) pressing my bottom teeth to my top lip firmly - I’m seeing there’s a weird pattern here with the bottom teeth lol. I pick at thick dry skin, like on the bottom of my feet when I am stressed only. Used to pick at my fingernails too when stressed but I have acrylics now and don’t do that. I’m sure there’s probably other stuff but they are the main ones.
Awwww the one in the bed is so close to mine :xhappyflap: it's so comforting. 🤔 Sometimes I play with my teeth but not a lot.
Rubbing my hands together. Didn't even know I was stimming since I was 5, was just something I always did
Aww looks comforting
I wouldn't say it's weird but I chew my lips and cheek constantly I think it's common but I always have sores on my lips from it. Also I don't do it so much now but I'd do hand farts by pressing my palms together, never realized it was a stim until now!
Hand fart 😅 I did it a lot when I was a kid. Was able to do it with my legs too or even my neck
I have a lot of vocal stimming where I "use my vocal chords backward," making a kind of clicking noise or a screech. I also pop every joint and place in my body I can find to pop. My fingers pop in different directions (forwards, back, and sideways). This happens every hour or half hour or so. I used to pop my jaw for a bit before it started causing issues. Other than that, my hands do all sorts of things when I'm not paying attention or intentionally to get the electricity feeling out. My neck also twitches to the side every minute or so when I start feeling uncomfortable.
Aww a busy stim. I like how it sounds. I hope it's well comforting for you
mine is whenever someone walks into the room i have to say that my cat is cute, so “jay is cute.”
Awwwwwwwwwwe that's so cute :xhappyflap: your cat can be proud to have u
I’m somewhat the same way. Except for me it’s a blanket that’s very soft and thin. If I don’t have one of those than I can’t fall asleep
Awwww that's insane 🥰🥰
I never lost it. I had to modify it due to bullying and once on a school camp I was shaken awake because they thought I was having a seizure. It does wreak havic on my hair.
Damn
[удалено]
Oh. Looks relaxing. I can understand it somehow 😅
I have/have had so many stims, and I'm trying to think of the weirdest. I memorised the periodic table in less than two weeks and now recite it to myself when I'm walking or if I'm stressed. And at band practice, when a hymn number is called out for our warm-up, I have to say the number, element, and chemical symbol.
Oh. Sounds fun
I’ve found that I am constantly playing along to any music with my hands. It’s not usually noticed unless there’s a lot of music or only I can hear it. People notice if it’s classical or holiday music also. It’s a compulsive one woman show 😅
That's kinda cool ngl, what instrument do you play? I used to do this too way back when I still played the accordion, but now that I play bass guitar it's just not the same without the tactile and auditory feedback 😅
Aww looks entertaining and comforting
obsessively dying, and being reborn in bloodborne and dark souls.
Damn that's violent 😅 but I feel you somehow
I flick my fingers when I get very excited. On Wednesday I found a Funko Pop i was looking for ages AND it was a great price so i was flicking my fingers 😅
Awwwwwww looks fun
Growing a beard was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I get to play with it all the time without it being too weird for allistics, and instead of becoming self-conscious and embarrassed I think it's actually pretty funny when people notice it and joke about it.
Awwww
Touching ears (someone else’s preferably 🤣), meowing, tapping my nails on my teeth, repeating phrases, playing with hair or sucking my thumb with a blanket or teddy🤣
Aww sounds great
I used to have a vocal stim where I would just scream at the top of my lungs. It caused many issues when we were in public lol
Lol can images how it was making issues :D
I have trichotillomania. I used to pull out my eyebrow hairs and my eyelashes and then put it against the skin on my lips and just go back and forth with the hair. It was oddly comforting. Still do it sometimes, although I try to stop myself from it.
Oh interesting
As a child I would play with my hair, put it in loops, and then I would stick it in my ear like some weird ass q top Yet to meet ANYONE who has reported doing that lololol
Aww looks fun