What is Stimming?

Z loves to run!

In my very simplified explanation, Self Stimulating behaviour or 'Stimming' is repetitive movements or sounds often associated with autistic behaviour. It's used as a regulation technique - to control sensory input, a form of self expression or just pure enjoyment. Stimming is one of the 'signs of autism' that people might first notice in their child. Even before I thought Z might be autistic it was something I was aware of. All the 'baby progress' and 'milestone' emails were warning me about whether my child was rocking back and forth or flapping their hands. And yeah, these are typical behaviours but these weren't the stims that Z particularly showed. He didn't rock much more than most toddlers and he didn't flap his hands that much. But there were plenty of other repetitive behaviours. Stims don't always look the same. For Z he would bang his head on the floor (so glad that this one stopped) especially during meltdowns, he pulls the skin from his fingertips and toes and pull the nails off, he used to drum on things ALL of the time, roll toys or objects past his eyes as close as he could get them, he hums and makes happy sounds but most of all he runs. Laps and laps from one end of the living room to the other (he used to go through the hall to the far end of the kitchen then back again). Over, and over, and over. He is SO fit. My living room walls now have permanent marks on them from where he pats the wall as he crashes to a halt. I only wish I could channel some of that energy to be active too! 

Some of his stims are passing, only lasting a short time but others like the humming and running have been something he's done since he was able to. He really seems to find a lot of satisfaction from it. Stims for Z can mean different things. His skin and nail pulling is something he does when he is deep in thought or distracted by something. He can't always communicate his anxiety but I think it's often related to that too. Running is normally always a happy stim for when he is excited and needs to let that energy out, he mostly hums as he runs for some extra joy! As loud as this stim is, I love it because he's so clearly happy. Other times he will push his (or my) hands into his chin, this is sometimes frustration but other times happy, depending on the sound he makes as he does it. 

Sometimes as a parent watching our kids, stims at times can be a bit worrying or annoyingly loud and repetitive but they're so important.  I don't stop him from stimming but of course some of the more harmful behaviours I've tried to move him away from, by distraction or making the space he's in as safe as possible. The hardest to see was when he was going through head banging (not in a cool heavy metal way), stopping him would cause even more stress so I had to just surround him with pillows and stay close by. He never hurt himself but it was really hard to watch and not be able to do anything to make him feel better. The skin peeling is another hard one because he's made himself bleed many times, I try to distract him with things to do or fidget toys (not a massive hit for Z but sometimes it works). I also offer to help him by cutting the broken nails off with my 'special snippers' or use 'magic cream' to put on afterwards to help them heal - which is a whole other sensory minefield. Stimming is part of who Z is and how he regulates his emotions and expresses himself. It's how he grounds himself when things are tough or overwhelming, how I know he's better after being poorly and how he helps control his world.

Sarah x