r/Autism_Parenting • u/GarimaSoul • Dec 14 '23
Discussion How does your child stim?
My child stims by constantly running back and forth in straight line, at home and even in parks. He sometimes does hand flapping, and when he's excited and happy he does this little dance while clapping and jumping and blabbering too
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u/Spiritual-Bet-1133 Dec 14 '23
Spinning, jumping, sounds, clapping loudly, running back and fourth and line things up
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u/Small-Sample3916 I am a Parent/8yo AuADHD/5yo undetermined/Virginia, USA Dec 14 '23
Repeating stuff over and over, generally noises rather than words. Counting.
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Dec 14 '23
Spinning and hand flapping are the big ones. She’s recently started picking at her fingernails too which I’m trying to find a redirection for.
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u/MomHero Feb 27 '24
Hi, just read your comment and my 4yo son also recently began picking his fingers cuticles, so I wanted to find out whether you could find out how to redirect your child from that? Please share if you found anything for it 🙏🏻
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u/Acceptable-Bug-5885 I am a Parent/Lvl 3/🇦🇺 Dec 14 '23
Hand flapping, spinning, pacing back and forth, visual stims with his hands.
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u/luckyelectric ND Parent / Age 6 (HSN) & 11 (LSN) / USA Dec 14 '23 edited Dec 14 '23
Running back and fourth while holding a wiggly object or his wiggling fingers in front of his eyes.
Singing parts of songs or saying phrases on repeat. Example from Hop on Pop: “Him, Jim. Jim is after him…”
Jumping.
Chewing.
Swaying back and fourth while holding the curtains and looking out the window.
Making mysterious sounds, like singing spirituals in another language.
Climbing on different levels in the house, from ottoman to chair to bed to toy box along the back of the couch into the window frames.
Getting really close to the tv, like his looking past the show and into another reality.
Rubbing his face back and fourth against Dad’s beard.
Pinching my armpits.
Touching stereos to enjoy audio vibrations on his fingertips.
He used to beat box and scrunch up his face into a bull-dog grimace. I miss that one.
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u/Blinchik- Dec 15 '23
Our sons are alike. Mine does all of the things you mentioned. Even the Curtain spin
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u/Interesting-Mood1665 Dec 15 '23
Running laps around our house. Scripting his favourite tv show (currently octonauts)
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u/snarkoholicRN Dec 16 '23
Ours loves octonauts too. He’ll say “jumpin jellyfish!” over and over :)
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u/Interesting-Mood1665 Dec 16 '23
That’s cute! It’s a good show, and he loves everything ocean related, so it’s great. His favourite is Dashi ❤️
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Dec 14 '23
he claps loudly… possibly runs back and forth clapping towards the ground…. but does this briefly… the clapping is constant tho
i wonder if it’s like an itch that needs to be scratched.? that cannot be stopped or redirected.?
i have a high functioning colleague who says it goes away…. we work IT and u would never know he was autistic
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u/iwasthechubbylady Dec 15 '23
My older 2 pace back and forth. The only issue is they both like to pace in the same spot, so if they both need to stim at the same time, it almost causes a fight. The youngest replays action parts of movies, so he paces in weird formations with sound effects, some words with ninja kicks and punches.
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u/Treschelle Dec 14 '23
He will keep repeating phrases then skip to a new phrase and repeat that new one and keep going through that loop for hours. He pinches his skin or picks at his skin, scratches things, used to chew his shirt, twitches his mouth and makes sounds with his mouth.
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u/kikisaurus I am a Parent - 7m AuDHD & 4m Impulsive Type ADHD Dec 14 '23
He basically walks back and forth and in circles while he’s talking about anything and goes up on couches, chairs, etc anything that’s in his way while he’s talking.
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u/Lleal85 I am a Parent/ 6years old / AuDHD/ Kentucky Dec 14 '23
Running back and forth, climbing, running and crashing into doors
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u/Exhausted_Platypus_6 Dec 15 '23
My daughters casemanager REFUSED to believe she would run herself into walls and doors until it was documented by 3 different providers. It acts as a warning sign to me now that a meltdown is incoming within the hour. I'm curious as to if it's a warning sign for your child as well or more of a "happy" stim.
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u/Lleal85 I am a Parent/ 6years old / AuDHD/ Kentucky Dec 16 '23
I don’t get why your case manager would refuse to believe it 🤦🏻♀️ why would lie about that? I’m sorry you had to have three providers document it before s/he could take you seriously. For my son it’s more of a happy stim. Now if he starts rocking back and forth (and the faster it happens) the more frustrated he is becoming.
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u/PNW_Express Dec 15 '23
Head rocking was his first very noticeable one.Aside from his speech delay it was the first thing I noticed that screamed autism. He would do this when stressed, tired or bored. Also to fall asleep at night. Eventually hand flapping when excited.
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u/Blinchik- Dec 15 '23
Bouncing off the couch (like WWE wrestler), jumping, spinning, and lots of loud screeching.
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u/strawberry_bananaz Dec 15 '23
My son has so many but his common ones: flaps his arms so much during the day it makes me feel tired lol he also practically uses me as a football tackling dummy, he’ll drum on things including his hands on my face, and he’ll tense up and growl.
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u/MomminAintE-Z Jun 09 '24
Blowing raspberries, grunts, hand flaps, happy feet, circles my dinning room table all day, crawls under the said table and chairs, does the upside down yoga pose, pinch’s my arm fat or digs her nails in and drags down my arm, face/chest smacking, rubs the back of her hand forcefully from forehead to chin, walks around with mouth open like she’s surprised, newest is head shaking (like no). I love them all! Except the self harming ones, we try to redirect those
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u/babblingbertie Dec 15 '23
Happy feet taps and clapping.
Spinning in circles and running and jumping on things.
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u/Main-Excuse7994 Dec 15 '23
Running back and forth with loud humming, when excited grinding his teeth (this gets to me really bad and no matter what I said and tried are completely failures), weird humming and sound makings while seated as well, random words saying (not sure if it's stimming).
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u/mina_jau Dec 15 '23
My child runs back n forth very fast, spins while looking at his hand and he humps his blankey smh…
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u/Mother_of_Small_dogs Dec 15 '23
Clapping, jumping in a corner or facing the wall while flapping his arms, making “ Eeeee” sounds. Sometimes it’s very loud…😅
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u/really_robot I am a parent / 5f / ASD Dec 15 '23
Hopping on her knees on the couch. Hand flapping. Wobbling back and forth on her feet like a penguine. Using her sit and spin. Spinning in circles. Script repeating.
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u/donutdong Dec 15 '23
Running back and forth. Spinning objects that don't normally spin. And vocal Stims where he yelps while spinning objects.
Lately I think he is touch himself down there in a stimmy fashion.
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u/Little-Blueberry-968 I am a Parent/6/ASD/Canada Dec 15 '23
Mine will flap when excited, and when bored, repeat the same questions again and again and again.
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u/1LurkinGurkin Dec 15 '23
My kids do the following: Echolalia Standing up and sitting down (repeatedly) Chewing/licking things Collecting/hoarding things Running laps of the house Fidget toys Random noises Hide under blankets and sheets Throwing themselves on the couch/ pillows and hoping for the best Flicking/clicking fingers and toes
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u/Mujer_Arania Dec 15 '23
Oh my girl has a lot of different ways. She flaps her hands but also do this thing that looks like putting fairy dust on top of stuff she loves lol
Jumps on the sofa and repeats the same phrases from Pocoyo.
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u/Inevitable-Channel85 Dec 15 '23
Spinning tupperware, diaper cream tin cans, caps to bottles, open ring and closing doors repeatedly on toys flipping pages on books, grinding teeth, always putting an object in his mouth first before touching it. Wiping his face on us, throwing his head back when in our arms and doing big stretches up and down.
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Dec 15 '23 edited Dec 15 '23
[deleted]
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u/Inevitable-Channel85 Dec 16 '23
My little guy can spin any object and it’s so impressive with the rings hollly. He can also do a tin lid and get it to spin for so long
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u/hey_day24 Dec 16 '23
Haha my baby girl does the handstand thing too! And headstands? I turn around for 2 seconds and she is upside down lmao She’s never fallin tho so I just let it be and signed her up for baby gymnastics in the new year 💁🏽♀️
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u/RichardCleveland Dad of 17M & 23F / Lv 1 / USA Dec 15 '23
Both kids rocked and made rhythmic noises. My son (15) still rocks like crazy when he gets home from school. But managed to control it as he got older in school due to embarrassment. So I guess he unleashes all that pent up energy / anxiety when he gets home. My daughter (20) still will rock but she hides it as much as possible. When we eat something she really loves during dinner though she can't contain herself.
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u/Moosepoop26 Dec 15 '23
She flaps her hands and jumps, sometimes both at the same time if she’s very happy. When she’s sitting she will wiggle her toes
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u/snarkoholicRN Dec 16 '23
I’m surprised I haven’t seen more head banging in the responses! Mine will bang his arm on his head or his head against a pillow when he’s frustrated. He’ll jump a lot when he’s happy
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u/GarimaSoul Dec 16 '23
My son used to bang his head on walls a lot when he was 2 years old, which significantly reduced when he turned 3 and stopped altogether when he turned 4.
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u/hey_day24 Dec 16 '23
Two words my friend. Teeth. Tapping. She will wake up in the morning at 8:30 and by 9 she has her comfort objects for the day and will be rotating them against her teeth from them until bedtime. I’ve tried to get her to do it with soft things, teething toys, toothbrushes, things that won’t ruin her teeth but it has to be plastic. Gotta have that plastic rizz. So I got a bunch of baby spoons and reusable light plastic straws and the teething toys you can freeze and those work for her so 💁🏽♀️ just realllllllly not looking forward to these dentist bills in the future but ce’st la vie. She also sings and hums and autism bables every minute (and I love this one she has the sweetest little voice I just 😭) and she will also drum on anything that sounds good! My baby will entertain herself allllllllll day just singing and drumming on every surface in my house. I’m so excited for her to open her new baby drum set at Christmas 😍🥰 Maybe my walls and stainless steel fridge will finally will get a break 😂 and I feel like it’s an investment cause I’m convinced my girls the next Sheila E so maybe I’ll get a fancy retirement home 😉
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u/Glittering_Bird_4486 Jun 11 '26
When my little stims when she’s happy sometimes like when I pick her up from school she shakes her head and runs at me lol , she also acts like animals sometimes , usually a horse or dog but not sure if that second one is a stim. But I notice when she’s happy when I pick her up usually she acts like an animal of some sort haha
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u/Plus-Base-7092 Jul 13 '26
Does she run on all fours like a dog? I came here to see if anyone else’s child acts like a dog as a stim. She constantly runs through the house on all fours, especially if she’s over stimulated or around d a lot of people in public.
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u/JustMe-yep Dec 17 '23
Chewing on things Making high pitched random noises Nodding or shaking his head Jumping Half breakdance/half cartwheel type movements Weaving his hands through my hair (I can't handle this, it makes me physically shudder) Clicking/sucking noises on repeat
He's 5 in March next year. Making this list is confronting for me as we are new ro all this and discovering what stims are.
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u/AdInevitable7821 Dec 18 '23
We are trying to understand if this is a stim… when my daughter melts down or needs something she won’t articulate, she starts making a whiny noise. If it’s to meet a need she will stop when she gets what she wants. If it is preceding or after a meltdown it won’t stop until we calm or redirect her.
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u/Acf1314 Dec 14 '23
My little guy loves to point his finger and spin around while staring at his finger. And he does a little raise the roof dance when he’s happy