I don't stim! Is this normal?

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Well, I've had maybe mild sensory overloads. I often get distracted by a lot of noise at once. That's one of the main reasons why I have my headphones with me at all times. The days when I forgot them can make focusing and staying calm as usual really hard. I think part of the reason I don't have them is because of my concerta. It helps stimulate my brain a lot better. I've taken different stimulants since the second grade.

Yes, some people can be more mildly affected than others. So it can certainly be more mild for you than for someone else like me. It is good that what you are doing and taking is helping you. I wear ear protectors (the big plastic sound insulating ear muffs that you see people wear at construction sites) sometimes and sometimes even wear foam ear plugs with them. I also sometimes listen to my MP3 player under my ear protectors. My earphones for my MP3 player broke though so I have to get new ones. But sometimes that is the only way I can tolerate life is with those things on. I even wear them when I go out in public sometimes.

I never meant to insult or hurt anyone but I do think it would give autism a better rep if we learned to control the worst and most obvious of these behaviorism when out and about in public. It is so outwardly weird and strange that I am very glad not to have it. Having it would mean I could never fully pass, and remaining silent about my diagnosis would make people assume I have Tourettes or something. Which isn't a bad thing at all, with all due respect, but I'd rather blend in and not be noticed. If you want to be left alone and not have to answer uncomfortable and repetitive questions, trying to keep your 'stimming' to a minimum would be ideal.

As far as sensory overload goes, I believe I explained in my previous posts that I do experience those to some mild degree. Working in a very busy, mechanical environment surrounded by machines (which I actually did for a week when I was 18 ) is awfully exhausting to me. Still it does not show on me, other then that I get less responsive, more quiet and outwardly tired.

PS: There is NO WAY I am the only one on the whole forum who does not stim??

We all know that you are not the only one of the forum who does not stim. We have known that for years. Several people on the forum don't stim. And I know that you did not mean to hurt anyone. If I felt that you had I would have been very intolerant in my responses to you or I would have ignored you completely. But I think what I have mentioned a few times that you are not understanding is that some of those behaviors that you want people to control are INVOLUNTARY, Involuntary means that the person cannot control it. That is like asking someone to wait until he gets home in the privacy of his own house to breath. And even if it is not involuntary, there are some times when if you don't release the pressure of what you are feeling at that moment, and these movements are actual physiological, neurological responses, you might not be able to survive that moment intact.

If I have a public meltdown it is because I HAVE TO HAVE IT. I don't enjoy it, I don't do it because it's cute, if I do it it is because if I don't something much worse will happen. At that point I don't give a rat's ass about the reputation of Autism, I am just trying to survive this moment and get through it the best way I can.

I am glad you have some kind of sensory understanding. Maybe you can use it to see if you can expand your understanding. Imagine the exhaustion you felt in the machine shop, which, by the way, I don't think you have to have Asperger's to feel exhausted from sensory issues in a machine shop, but imagine if you experienced that feeling only 10 times more intensely and had it accompanied with physical pain and mental and emotional torture. Like if you can combine that feeling with the most intense mental and emotional agony you have ever felt, and then added a physical beating, and trust me I know what physical beatings are like, I know what it is like to be punched and kicked in the head, and all over my body, but imagine, a physical beating, going on at the same time as the mental and emotional anguish of the most horrible mental or emotional trauma you have ever felt and then the fatigue you felt at the machine shop but 10 times more. If you were experiencing all those sensations at once, sensations strong enough to cause you to actually black out or collapse or not be able to breathe or raise your heart rate to the point where you feel the need to call 911, then you can talk about whether or not people should try to control a neurological release to these symptoms. I think anyone who is feeling symptoms like this almost every day is entitled to flap or rock if they want to. And no, it is not that extreme every single time but it can get close very, very often and I have had it that extreme many times. But it is the least you can do for them to respect their need to calm themselves and get through these moments in whatever manner they can.

I've never rocked backwards and forwards or flapped my hands or done humming noises or any of the other ASD type of stims.

I agree with this, also skibum you always write things down so well, I like reading your posts. Most of the time I don't realise I'm stimming, it just happens. You can't say that you don't stim then say that everybody else should not do it it public. As for your question I think it is relatively unusual but there will always be those that don't.

Thank you Tetris. I really enjoy your posts as well.

There are thousands of possibilities for stimming. Any of them can easily have started so long ago that you no longer recognize that you're even engaging in it and/or be so subtle that you no longer notice.
Almost always a "lack of stimming" claim is a combo of "wishing to be unique" coupled with "a lack of insight" into one's own behavior.

Yes, it is "possible."  Anything is possible.
But it's supercalifragilistically unlikely.

I used to read things about stimming and think that I didn't anything of the sort. A few months later, I caught myself doing a head-bobbing and foot tapping thing, as if there were music going on. I do this when I'm nervous, for example test taking, or in a place where there are a mix of people that I know and don't know (if it's only people I don't know, I'm super still), but I also sometimes do it when I read by myself or am enjoying my time with a few close friends. People have commented on it, asking what music's in my head, but there's usually nothing going on (music wise ;P). Having something enough borderline 'normal' lets me get away with it, without even paying much attention to it. I wonder if this would be the case for others who claim not to have any (or at least for some of them).

Also, child abuse seems to be a fairly common trend with many on here. This was the case with me. That's forced me to learn how to mask a few ASD behaviors, for example, I can now look into people eyes, but that took a LONG time to do convincingly, and I still only do it when it would be inappropriate not to (I tend not to look into the eyes of close friends). I wonder if something similar would be the case with stimming.

Btw, not advocating the use of force to change behaviors, or even that such behavioral changes should be desirable.

Likewise, Skibum, I LOVE your posts!

Thank you Raleigh! Hugs!

I've been going to schools for autistic kids my entire life and that are many who don't do any noticeable stimming. also i bet if you filmed yourself at home for several hours and played it fast forward you might see your self making the same movements over and over.

Very interesting. I only experience sensory overload like that when I'm actually sick, but I think that can happen with some NTs as well. I normally have very mild sensory issues. Most of the time I just get a bit annoyed or get a bit of a headache. It is painful for me to listen to nails on a chalkboard, but that's common for NTs.

This thread reminded me of something I've been pondering for awhile - nearly started a thread on it but didn't seem important enough as he's a fictional character.. but:

Does Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory stim?

As Aspie as he is (and even that loser of a psychiatrist I saw a couple weeks ago mentioned Sheldon as an example of Asperger's just before he stated that he didn't see it in me ) I don't think I have ever seen him stim.

Anyone correct me if I'm wrong?

What is stimming? If it's only rocking or spinning in circles, then I don't stim. Mind you, I'd love to spin around, but a 57yo male looks really odd doing that. lol

But maybe there's more to stimming. I'm often whistling or doing that non-whistle blowing a tune between my lips. When I was younger, I did a lot of that knee jiggling thing. A friend of mine is always doing that trick with the pen, spinning it around the thumb and back. There may be other things. Are such things considered stimming?

If I understand correctly any kind of repetitive movement especially if is involuntary is considered stimming. I've tried to eliminate any public handflapping by using a stress ball I carry around with me everywhere I go. I've noticed that since I stopped the handflapping I spontaneously started a kind of sputtering with my lips. Which I suppose is less noticeable than handflapping - but it still a kind of stimming. Either way, it is my impression that most stimming is a pressure release valve dissipating excess energy.