Hand flapping.
Yep. I think it's mostly a context-related thing for NTs (stereotypical Italian hand-gestures, etc.) but with us it's more often a specific, directed-interest thing.
And good fun too!
_________________
Giraffe: a ruminant with a view.
The movements what NTs don't do so much is wave their arms about or flap their hands above their head, or whatever. But little finger movements is quite normal. NTs don't just stand or sit stock still all the time.
Certain kinds of finger movements, yeah, but I've not seen too many people wriggle them pointed upwards and/or in front of one eye or the other (not that I do that one in public much). And actually when I was in about 6th grade I did disguise some finger stims by turning them into normal-looking finger tapping, but they go back to what they originally were if I don't think about it.
It is interesting to wonder if it serves a similar function (stress? processing ?), just on a less intense level, though. Like how NT's can be induced (and even animals) to rock if put under lots of stress (or some if they're just thinking really hard). There doesn't seem to be a hard boundary between NT stimming and ASC stimming.
The movements what NTs don't do so much is wave their arms about or flap their hands above their head, or whatever. But little finger movements is quite normal. NTs don't just stand or sit stock still all the time.
They do certain little finger movements. I know they do nothing like my little finger movements, at least I've never seen one do them. I ought to eventually use my webcam to record it the next time I'm doing a lot of it.
_________________
"In my world it's a place of patterns and feel. In my world it's a haven for what is real. It's my world, nobody can steal it, but people like me, we live in the shadows." -Donna Williams
NT's do finger movements or leg shaking because they may be impatient or some other reason. It's not the same as stimming. Stimming is done more intensely, for me at least. It's hard for me to stop it. One, it feels good. Two, once I get in the habit it's too hard to control. Controlling it doesn't feel right.
Sometimes I just feel numb so I have to move my arms and hands around. If that makes sense?
_________________
My band photography blog - http://lostthroughthelens.wordpress.com/
My personal blog - http://helptheywantmetosocialise.wordpress.com/
Yeah I know someone who tried to control his rocking (because he wanted to, not because others wanted to) in the daytime, and eventually his mother told him that at night he was rocking in his sleep so violently that he was damaging the bed. And lots of people find that if you suppress stimming you get more self-injury.
In my case stimming seems to add to my understanding of the world, and if I don't do it things are much more confusing and chaotic. It's like the perceptions of everything around me come into my body and move my body around and somehow that makes me understand things better. Plus there's the assorted movements that happen with certain emotions or situations that are different in most ways from the usual movements people have in those situations. I was trying to make a video catalog of them for staff at one point but kept forgetting.
_________________
"In my world it's a place of patterns and feel. In my world it's a haven for what is real. It's my world, nobody can steal it, but people like me, we live in the shadows." -Donna Williams