This course explains the many functions behind stimming and what the Autistic person is communicating through their stims. Stimming is Autistic language. We communicate through movement and sounds first. Words are our second language.
This session is ideal for Autistic people themselves, but also useful for teachers, SNAs, family members, therapists and employers.
Stimming is often described as “stereotypical repetitive movements” in autism. It is also described as “self stimulatory behaviour”. There is much written about autism and stimming but very little about human stimming. In fact we don’t have a specific term for human stimming. Autism professionals have long thought that Autistic people stim to self regulate. But stimming is so much more than that.
Common types of stims are:
- Handflapping
- Pacing
- Humming
- Repeating on line of a song
- Gazing
- Staring
- Finger tapping
- Head movements
- Doodling
- Spinning
- Twirling your hair
- Finger clicking
In this course Stiof Macamhalghaidh looks at stimming as a normal human behaviour. They look at redefining what stimming means and draw on everyday examples of human stimming.
Exploring Stimming - SLIDES
