Pacing or clicking one’s pen furiously are common responses to stressful situations. We do not regard them as unusual or something that needs to be curbed. Children and adults with autism may indulge in such repetitive behaviors as well, known as ‘stimming’. What differentiates stimming from typical responses to excitement or nervousness are the choice and intensity of the action that’s undertaken. Autistic children are likely to participate in what is considered to be “uncommon stimming” such as hand-flapping or rubbing one’s hands against a particular object for prolonged periods of time.
Stims are different from motor tics. A motor tic is a sudden short-lasting movement that is rather like an itch that is hard to control. Stims, on the other hand, are performed to calm and stimulate oneself.
Some typical stimming behaviors are listed below.
- Rocking back and forth
- Hand posturing / holding hands or fingers out at an angle
- Sniffing objects or people
- Rubbing a particular object
- Jumping
- Spinning
- Repeating a movie dialogue or song lyrics for a prolonged period of time
- Staring at lights
- Snapping or rubbing fingers together
Why do children with autism stim?
There are several explanations for how stimming helps autistic children feel more at ease with their environment. One of them is that stimming releases opiate-like substances in the brain called beta-endorphins. Beta-endorphins are known to produce euphoria and offer relief from pain.
Autistic children often grapple with sensory processing disorders that render them hypersensitive or under sensitive to sensory stimuli. A child who’s hypersensitive to sensory stimuli may stim in order to calm and organize themselves when faced by bright lights or a noisy room. An under sensitive child could seek stimulation by rubbing objects or rubbing their hands against each other.
Does stimming need to be curtailed?
Stimming can act as an effective means for an autistic child to calm themselves down or even to just express excitement. Stimming can be regarded as an idiosyncrasy that does not necessarily need to be addressed. Yet, some forms of stimming are self-harming in nature or shut the child off from their immediate environment. In such cases, special ed schools play an important role in lessening and/or modifying stims to ensure that a child’s stimming is safe and non-intrusive for both the child and their peers.
Special ed schools in NYC for autistic children employ professional staff members that are trained to help modify or lessen an autistic child’s stims and open up the doors for them to be more receptive and responsive to their environment. One of these NYC special ed schools is Rebecca School, located in Manhattan, New York. You can learn more about Rebecca School at www.rebeccaschool.org
Special Needs School NYC 