Stim or something else?

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I sometimes like to reach up and touch tree leaves as I go by, just to have touched them, not for how they feel. I like to think something nice at the tree as I do.

I like to hit the plastic thing on the end of the string for releasing the garage door from being engaged with the automatic opener. I hit one end, and it spins, if I do it correctly. I have to stretch a little to be able to reach.

Many years ago, I got yelled at when I lived at home and was one time running my fingertip around the cap on a bottle of juice at the dinner table. I was wiping off the condensation by doing this, so it made a ring appear on the cap. This was very annoying to my sister, so my father made me stop. I suppose it was rude of me while we were eating, but it seemed so harmless to me at the time.

I'm much more careful about being private with my stims now than I was as a kid. I either don't do them in front of most people or find a way to hide or mask what's going on. Makes for far less trouble that way.

I get these urges to, it doesn't really affect me but sometimes people get annoyed when I'm clicking a pen in class or so. I also find sometimes if I touch something with one finger then I have to touch it with the rest of my fingers so they feel 'even'.

I have an aspie friend who gets the urge to lick things.

So AS causes this?

Me too. A lot. Everything needs to be even. For example, if I get water on one hand I need to get water on the other one as well. If I walk outside and I step on something which makes the foot feel "weird", I need to step on something with the other foot too. The list goes on.

I think it is an AS behaviourism. I imagine it's a combination of sensory problems and a need for routine/consistency which causes these stims or whatever you call them.

Some day I want to see a psychologist and try and find out what is going on with my brain exactly. I have been suspecting Asperger's for a long time and it seems to be the only condition that could explain it, but I still would like to know why my brain works the way it does and a diagnosis is the only way to be 100% sure.

Thanks for all of the responses.