Evolution of Stimming

Hey guys! This is the fourth edition of the Autism Chronicles. I think there is just three more after this. This week, I'm going to talk about my history of stimming. You guys may wonder, what is stimming? Dictionary.com will explain.

Stimming is a jargon term for a particular form of stereotypy, a repetitive body movement (often done unconsciously) that self-stimulates one or more senses in a regulated manner. It is shorthand for self-stimulation, and a stereotypy is referred to as stimming under the hypothesis that it has a function related to sensory input. Stereotypy is one of the symptoms listed by the DSM IV for autism and is observed in about 10% of non-autistic young children. Many people with autism do not exhibit stereotypy. Common forms of stereotypy among people with autism include hand flapping, body spinning or rocking, lining up or spinning toys or other objects, echolalia, perseveration, and repeating rote phrases.
There are many theories about the function of stimming, and the reasons for its increased incidence in autistic people. For hyposensitive people, it may provide needed nervous system arousal, releasing beta-endorphins. For hypersensitive people, it may provide a "norming" effect, allowing the person to control a specific part of their sensorium, and is thus a soothing behavior

Wow, that's a lot of info. My brother Nicky's stimming style is hand flapping and flicking his ears when he is excited. For me, it's a whole variety of motion behavior. This is going to get confusing, I'm afraid. Unfortunately for me, Nicky can't help me this time. Here we go!

Nicky just came up and read as I typed.

Nicky: I'm not stimming around, AJ.
AJ: No buddy, AJ's stimming like with Bugs Bunny and the spider.
*Nicky smiles and leaves*

Women's Hair

Yeah, object of stimming was the hair of ladies. This was when I was about two years old. I guess it was because they hair of a woman was long and curly. The women who worked with me in school had to wrap their hair in a bun in order to work with me. My mom informed me of a true story: When we were going to Disney World, we were on a plane. I was stimming with the hair of a complete stranger in front of me. The woman turned around to see who was doing it. When she faced me I pushed her face back to the front away from me.
Luckily I don't do that anymore. A full grown man playing with the hair of a lady would be very creepy.

Cereal

When I was about four, it went from hair to cereal. I used to request to have cereal in a cup but not to eat, but to stim. I poured the cereal on this table-desk thing along the wall in the living room and I would push and scatter the cereal everywhere on the table. I did this for hours straight. Unfortunately I was reckless and the cereal would flip between the edge of the table and the wall. When my dad pulled the table, aunts were crawling all over the place. I was never allowed to stim with cereal again.

Spoon

Ah, the spoon. I loved stimming with a spoon. Why? I would use the spoon to imitate the Street Poles outside. This was also around the age of 4. I would push the spoon towards me as if we are passing the pole, driving up and down the road. I would hold the spoon in a vertical position to imitate the poles that DID NOT have a light attached to it. I would hold the spoon in a horizontal position (with the circle on the left and the bottom on the right or reverse-wise depending on which side of the street I was mimicking) to imitate the poles that DID have lights attached to them.

I remember one time taking a spoon from the thing that holds silverware. Mom and dad caught me. I ran to the backyard. My parents were concerned because I kept losing the spoons. My dad was chasing me around the yard, literally. I was too fast for him but he came up with a strategy to hide behind the tree. I was running another lap with the spoon in my hand like a runner with the Olympic Torch. Dad popped out from behind the trees in front of me grabbed me and more importantly, my spoon.

Man, I'm having no luck with stimming.

Straw

I did the same exact thing with a straw but the only difference between the straw and the spoon was I used the straw to imitate the highway lights. These were the straws that were bent horizontally at the top. I held the straw regularly to mimic the small highway light, upside down with the bent on the bottom and big stick on top-horizontally to mimic the big highway light and I would bend the straw in half to mimic the small-double branched lights. I would hum to mimic the sound of riding on a highway.

Bits of cardboard paper

I would love to stim with crumbs of paper on the stairs just like how I stimmed with cereal on the table. My parents did not like that I was playing with garbage so I had to sneak off and do it. I remember my dad coming and I had to hide the paper. I gripped it in my right hand.

Dad: Hey AJ, high-five!
*I high-fived him with my left hand.*
Dad: No, your right hand!
*I had no choice but to release the small pieces of paper out of my right hand to high-five him.
Dad: *gasp*
AJ: ...sorry

Toys:

It all started when I was eight years old. I received the Bugs Bunny Space Jam Doll from McDonald's. I ripped the clothes and hat off and Bugs was now in regular form. At first, I played with him with other toys, mimicking families and such, but then....I was fascinated by the flappy ears. I would shake him. I play tv shows, movies, sport games I remember viewing, etc. in my mind while the bugs doll triggered it. It was a lot of fun. If I ever lost it...

AJ: Mom, do you know where my Bugs is?

My parents approved of this because it was silent, I wasn't creating a mess, no silverware was missing, Bugs was my favorite Loony Toon, it was perfect!

After about four years, the Bugs doll was filthy and it fell apart from years of shaking it. Then, the "Hello Kitty" from McDonald's took over because the key chain attached to its head was flappy and that was good enough for me. A few years later, I moved to this half-soldier toy because of his flappy arms and it was more "for guys" than a Hello Kitty doll.

Then, November of 2004, my mom got a rubber spider for me. I wondered why she randomly got a rubber spider? I shake it, it was perfect! The 8 huge thick legs were really flappy. It was the best stimming tool yet!! It lasted for a year and a half before the bottom legs fell off. We got a new one at the same store. I must've taken better care of it because over three years after purchasing it, it's still in good condition to this day.

I still stim to this day.

Have a good night guys!!

"Autism is like a culture, a heritage."