Stimming

Stimming is something familiar you do to give yourself a simple sensory stimulation that you can focus on, to help you regulate your sensory data when you have too much or not enough, and to help regulate or perhaps process your emotions.

It can help block out the onslaught of raw sensory input that allistic people don't get, allowing you to somewhat ignore the chaotic stimuli of your surroundings and instead focus on something predictable, ordered, and repetitive, that you have control over.

It can help calm you down. I've certainly noticed I start rocking my shoulders more when reading something uncomfortable, e.g. glancing at hate speech against a minority group I'm in. (Would that the daily news wasn't filled with such things right now, in 2020s Britain.)

There seem to be two different types of stimming, an unconscious one that everyone agrees is definitely stimming, and a conscious equivalent that some but not all people also see as a form of stimming. I don't know of any terms for these distinctions, so let's call them unconscious stimming and conscious stimming.

Unconscious stimming

Unconcscious stimming, for want of an official term, is what most people think of when you talk about stimming. It's not something you have any control over, it's something you suddenly notice you've been doing for the last few seconds.

You shouldn't suppress the urge to stim. Stimming performs a vital function, helping regulate your mood. *Some* stims might be unhealthy, in which case you can practice healthier equivalents to show your unconscious that these are other available options. But you can't stop stimming altogether, and shouldn't feel pressured to try. Stimming in general is a perfectly healthy thing that autistic people need to do, and as long as it isn't harming anyone, it shouldn't be discouraged. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

In a society consisting solely of autistic people, it would simply be accepted that this is how everyone regulates their emotions, and no-one would think anything of it. Whether allistic people feel the same way is on them.

Next, let's get a little bit controversial.

Conscious stimming

He's wired in.

— (Fictionalised) Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network, 2010

Conscious stimming, for want of a better phrase, is when you decide to give yourself some known, orderly sensory data you can concentrate on in order to block out the chaotic sensory data of the outside world.

You might choose to listen to a song you like on repeat, or calm down to some ambient music, or concentrate on a complex task while drowning out the world with a field recording.

After a stressful day, you might let off steam by jumping on a trampoline, or practicing a martial art, to help regulate your emotions.

These may or may not count as a type of stimming, I'm not sure, and no-one I've asked seems to be sure either. It might be more accurate to say that these are things that reduce the need for stimming, rather than a separate form of stimming in their own right.