First of all, sorry if this thread is in the wrong place - I wasn't really sure where it belonged.
My question is this: when you stim, is it something you consciously decide to do to make you feel better? Or is it more of a natural response, something you don't really think about, maybe something you don't even always realise you're doing? Do auties/aspies just stim when they're stressed, or can it be an expression of excitement as well? Sorry if that's too many questions, don't feel you have to answer all of them... but it's something I've been wondering about because I don't really understand it atm.
well i stim ALOT. alot of times i start doing it without thinking about it but than after i start i will realize im doing it but alot of times it just takes to much effort to stop so i just stop when i stop. its really really hard for me to stop hand flapping when i do that...its somewhat easier to stop rocking and hitting/shaking my head.
Same here 
i stim when i get up in the morning
and sometime before bed
otherwise i it depends on mu surroudings
i ussally stim in crowds
then alone
It's not something I do consciously. I wouldn't say it's "like breathing", because I can stop and I'm usually at least dimly aware of doing it (after awhile). It's more like scratching an itch.
Um...rocking back and forth, hand-wringing, hair-tousling, lip- or knuckle- biting, rolling my shoulders, rolling my head, cracking my joints, pulling on my lower lip with my fingers, wrapping my arms around my torso and squeezing, fisting and unfisting my hands, pulling or twisting the edges of my clothing, rubbing my earlobes.
I think it relieves pressure and helps to keep me 'anchored' to where I am. Focussed and less likely to wander off mentally.
my latest is blasting music
(poor neighbors
.....but who cares about them
)
Well, I understand that. But it's also something that you can start doing without realizing it - so without control.
But a compulsion is something you tend to be aware of more than a stim. A stim can be unconscious but a compulsion by definition implies that you feel the urge to do something and that you are aware of the "need" to do these compulsive actions.
... but then again, maybe that's the difference. I feel like I HAVE to do those things. I am COMPELLED to do them, overwhelmed by the anxiety I feel sometimes if I'm not doing them. It helps me shut down my mind. ??
That sounds like classic obsessive-compulsive behaviour to me.
I wonder if it is possible that something can be a stim at one time but a compulsion at another? It sounds like that is what you are experiencing, the same movement or action can be a stim sometimes, but other times it is an OCD thing (when you feel you HAVE to do it and develop strong anxiety when you don't).
(A tic on the other hand I would describe as an "impulsive compulsion" - it is similarly compulsive but the "decision" to do this action sneaks past your "inner censor". They are possible to curb for a while but much harder to control consciously than OCD compulsions are - even though you may find the OCD compulsions far more distressing)
These days, I mostly shake a foot very fast at the ankle, twitch legs mostly below the knee, wring hands,flick fingers and toes, make waves through fingers, mostly stuff that can be concealed under a desk. I might also roll my head a bit.
There's one I had as a kid that certainly wasn't so good. (We're talking about more than 20 years ago.) I had a nasty head-thrashing (just in the air, not slamming into stuff) habit that looked kind of like what heavy metal fans used to do when they listened to their music. I had some bizarre desire to make myself dizzy.
When I was a kid, I used to spin around at night so all the lights would look funny. I gave it up when I was about 7 or so.
I find it interesting that I stim when I lisent to fast music. Some times I dance other times I acually stim rocking my body or wigging my fingers
I find that certain types of clubs (indie/alternative) were the first times I really could "let go" in public and stim away to my heart's content (of course I didn't know it was called that then), because people didn't seem to mind how I "danced". Well apart from my (otherwise tolerant) first boyfriend, who kept telling me how "ashamed" he was over how I was wringing and holding my hands behind my back 
I use to do that as well? Did anyone love to spin in compture chairs? Or spin in general. I seem to do that alot when I was really little.
Oh yes! Dad had a turning chair in his office and we often went there on Saturday and Sunday mornings to help him clean up. I would spend a lot of time spinning in this chair.
I constantly pick at my eyes (incl in public - have tried to stop SO many times), plus I used to tweeze my legs (stopped because I kept losing my tweezers, and didn't allow myself to buy new ones...I still sometimes pick the hairs out with my fingernails though).
I used to do the leg tweezing thing all the time, that's actually an OCD thing called Trichotillomania, by the way. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichotillomania
Correction: Leg HAIR tweezing thing!!!
Oh really? thanks for the info...interesting how they describe it (impulse disorders) as "a small, short term gain at the expense of a large, long term loss"...I'm not quite sure what that means.
I guess it means that you get the satisfaction from picking the hairs out but the awareness of the "loss" (in the case of head hair or excessive eyebrow plucking) is not enough to stop you
I also stim sometimes by stroking my arms or tummy or hair.
Hello everyone,
Here is my "list-o-stimms" i do on a semi-regular basis. Of course this list is not all inclusive!
1. jump up and down
2. flap hands
3. Bite fingernails
4. Bite skin
5. listen to same music over and over and over and over and over... and over ... again (particularly rock music or rap)
6. Pound rocks with a rock hammer -- being a geologist, a no-brainer
7. wear soft clothes and snuggle with blanket
8. Spot planes at various airports (Ted Stevens Anchorage Int'l (PANC) or Portland Int'l (KPDX)) Especially watching the Lufthansa A340 jet take off for Frankfurt Main Int'l (EDDF) as LH469
9. Have a logical to semi-logical conversation with my self -- a regular occurrence.
10. Admire rocks
11. Watch volcanic eruptions on youTube, particularly this one
http://www.you tube.c om/watch?v=itTYc4sRvxI
Live long and Prosper!
So what your saying is that stimming does help you in some way and as a parent of a child with aspergers I should'nt try to stop him from doing this as long as he's not hurting himself?
of course you shouldn't stop your child from stimming. maybe he should keep it to the "down low" in public, but don't try to remove it altogether. my mom overreacted to my hand flapping, rocking, and jumping; she tried to stop me from doing these, but now i've gotten right back at it and only do it when she's not looking.