Stimming is great! I have SPD, external senses that are much more acute than the norm, and fibromyalgia, which amplifies sensory information into sometimes excruciating pain that NO neurotypicals in the same environment are experiencing. In my case, I can definitely tell you that things that are too loud for my "bat ears" are causing ear pain, among other places if my muscles tense up. I would add to your list of people who commonly stim: people with sensory disabilities. I worked at a school for the blind for 10 years. Instead of telling people to stop stimming, I made sure to explain it can be fun and healthy and help them regulate their senses and emotions. They just need to be aware that people who see them do it who don't understand what it is might make incorrect judgments about their capabilities, and that they need to be aware of which environments are physically safe to stim in. Very close to a wall, in a hot kitchen, standing close to someone else in line, while you need to be focusing your attention on walking safely and knowing where you are... Not safe. In your bedroom, in a wide open space, sitting down... Go for it. (Many kids were shocked that it's okay to stim in certain contexts, when they have been told by so many other adults just not to do it at all.) Also, I explained that some situations can have unwanted consequences when you perform certain stims, such as during a job interview. It's also important for them to know which stims, and in which contexts, are either helping them focus or distracting them from something they need to be focusing on instead. I made it very clear that people who just tell them to stop all stims all the time just don't understand, and that all humans have stims, it's just that some are more socially acceptable than others. And that they can learn to self-advocate about this topic. I also often explained to certain students (who I knew would not be emotionally distressed by asking for this) that sometimes I'm really not able to filter out some of their stims and it makes it very hard for me to fully focus on speaking and listening during our conversations, so I ask them to please pause that stim until we're done talking. You mentioned "conflicting access needs" in one of the videos in this series, and I think that's a really important concept. Man, visual noise while I'm trying to drive is the worst! My mom has a habit of absently rubbing her hand on her seat, for example, and she can't hear the noises it makes or understand how visually distracting it is, sometimes to the point of nausea. So for me that's visual and auditory noise. Driving takes way too much of my brain bandwidth as it is! Pain and fatigue take a lot of my bandwidth before I even get in the car. Please remember that I'm in charge of your safety in a murder machine! Here's an article that I share with a lot of people about how everyone stims, but some people never get in trouble for it, while people with disabilities, especially in special ed environments, might have a whole behavior plan written about them. As you may know, not every special ed professional has a healthy view about stimming and what it accomplishes, and how asking kids to mask all the time may negatively affect them. www.tsbvi.edu/component/content/article/102-deafblind-and-visually-impairedmulti-impaired/2584-looking-at-self-stimulation-in-the-pursuit-of-leisure-or-im-okay-you-have-a-mannerism Oh, and speaking of fibromyalgia, here's a pro tip: Often, when I need to sit upright with no immediate escape from that task (for example, waiting in a doctor's office) I rock my upper body a bit, which seems to confuse the pain signals in my nervous system, and at least slightly turn down the pain that builds during every minute that I have to sit there. Yay! Of course, the sitting and the movement cause pain flare-ups over the next couple days anyway. (Most things do.) But in that moment on the chair, things are just a little better. Oh, and two other groups of people who often have sensory processing issues: people who were born prematurely, and people who are gifted. Premature babies are assaulted by a level of sensory input that they are not ready for because the womb was supposed to be their environment for weeks or months longer into their fetal development. Giftedness is pretty much by definition neuroatypicality. Brains are permanently wired differently than the norm. But that's not a category that's typically listed among types of neurodiversity. Maybe it's because most of the other causes are pathologized? Giftedness can be disabling in a world not designed for you or that doesn't understand your experiences, and may prevent you from getting assessments, accommodations or services for things like ADHD, SPD, etc. if your grades are good or you're perceived as being too smart to have anything "wrong" with you. Thank you for this video series, and I'm proud of you for Doing The Thing. These videos are well written, and a thorough yet accessible introduction to these topics. Please don't feel bad about ADHD barriers. You've done a great job. :)
See, this is why I love when people comment on my videos - they tell me things I never even thought of! Great article as well, I'll definitely be adding that to my resource list. :)
echolalia is when you repeat after someone else. what you are talking about is palilalia and i don't even know how to pronounce that. i never heard of it, i just found out when i looked up echolalia on wiki to be sure, bc i did know about echolalia.
I have this pillow,customized only for my feet because i really can't sleep or sit comfortably without it. When i was young, i always cried when we sleep in other house because i don't have my pillow. I will only sleep when i am super tired
Excellent video. 🙏
Thank you! That is great information so we can be careful to be understanding of others.
I am moving my leg back and forth whole watching this video. I also wiggle my feet or strum my fingers on my leg lol.
Stimming is great!
I have SPD, external senses that are much more acute than the norm, and fibromyalgia, which amplifies sensory information into sometimes excruciating pain that NO neurotypicals in the same environment are experiencing. In my case, I can definitely tell you that things that are too loud for my "bat ears" are causing ear pain, among other places if my muscles tense up.
I would add to your list of people who commonly stim: people with sensory disabilities. I worked at a school for the blind for 10 years. Instead of telling people to stop stimming, I made sure to explain it can be fun and healthy and help them regulate their senses and emotions. They just need to be aware that people who see them do it who don't understand what it is might make incorrect judgments about their capabilities, and that they need to be aware of which environments are physically safe to stim in. Very close to a wall, in a hot kitchen, standing close to someone else in line, while you need to be focusing your attention on walking safely and knowing where you are... Not safe. In your bedroom, in a wide open space, sitting down... Go for it. (Many kids were shocked that it's okay to stim in certain contexts, when they have been told by so many other adults just not to do it at all.) Also, I explained that some situations can have unwanted consequences when you perform certain stims, such as during a job interview.
It's also important for them to know which stims, and in which contexts, are either helping them focus or distracting them from something they need to be focusing on instead.
I made it very clear that people who just tell them to stop all stims all the time just don't understand, and that all humans have stims, it's just that some are more socially acceptable than others. And that they can learn to self-advocate about this topic.
I also often explained to certain students (who I knew would not be emotionally distressed by asking for this) that sometimes I'm really not able to filter out some of their stims and it makes it very hard for me to fully focus on speaking and listening during our conversations, so I ask them to please pause that stim until we're done talking. You mentioned "conflicting access needs" in one of the videos in this series, and I think that's a really important concept.
Man, visual noise while I'm trying to drive is the worst! My mom has a habit of absently rubbing her hand on her seat, for example, and she can't hear the noises it makes or understand how visually distracting it is, sometimes to the point of nausea. So for me that's visual and auditory noise. Driving takes way too much of my brain bandwidth as it is! Pain and fatigue take a lot of my bandwidth before I even get in the car. Please remember that I'm in charge of your safety in a murder machine!
Here's an article that I share with a lot of people about how everyone stims, but some people never get in trouble for it, while people with disabilities, especially in special ed environments, might have a whole behavior plan written about them. As you may know, not every special ed professional has a healthy view about stimming and what it accomplishes, and how asking kids to mask all the time may negatively affect them.
www.tsbvi.edu/component/content/article/102-deafblind-and-visually-impairedmulti-impaired/2584-looking-at-self-stimulation-in-the-pursuit-of-leisure-or-im-okay-you-have-a-mannerism
Oh, and speaking of fibromyalgia, here's a pro tip: Often, when I need to sit upright with no immediate escape from that task (for example, waiting in a doctor's office) I rock my upper body a bit, which seems to confuse the pain signals in my nervous system, and at least slightly turn down the pain that builds during every minute that I have to sit there. Yay! Of course, the sitting and the movement cause pain flare-ups over the next couple days anyway. (Most things do.) But in that moment on the chair, things are just a little better.
Oh, and two other groups of people who often have sensory processing issues: people who were born prematurely, and people who are gifted.
Premature babies are assaulted by a level of sensory input that they are not ready for because the womb was supposed to be their environment for weeks or months longer into their fetal development.
Giftedness is pretty much by definition neuroatypicality. Brains are permanently wired differently than the norm. But that's not a category that's typically listed among types of neurodiversity. Maybe it's because most of the other causes are pathologized? Giftedness can be disabling in a world not designed for you or that doesn't understand your experiences, and may prevent you from getting assessments, accommodations or services for things like ADHD, SPD, etc. if your grades are good or you're perceived as being too smart to have anything "wrong" with you.
Thank you for this video series, and I'm proud of you for Doing The Thing. These videos are well written, and a thorough yet accessible introduction to these topics. Please don't feel bad about ADHD barriers. You've done a great job. :)
See, this is why I love when people comment on my videos - they tell me things I never even thought of! Great article as well, I'll definitely be adding that to my resource list. :)
@@BlaireM yay! 💗
P.S. Do you know about the UA-cam channel called "How to ADHD?" She has done some videos about sensory issues and stims, too.
i actually listen better when im drawing
echolalia is when you repeat after someone else. what you are talking about is palilalia and i don't even know how to pronounce that. i never heard of it, i just found out when i looked up echolalia on wiki to be sure, bc i did know about echolalia.
Ooh, you're right! I don't think I had heard of pallilalia yet when I made this video. Thanks for pointing that out! :)
I have this pillow,customized only for my feet because i really can't sleep or sit comfortably without it. When i was young, i always cried when we sleep in other house because i don't have my pillow. I will only sleep when i am super tired
I've always had a lot of trouble sleeping too - I don't ever sleep well without my weighted blanket.
Can you talk about SPD during the pandemic, please! Thank you so much.... for your coruage
I can certainly do that!
Sorry but what is doodling hurting? Answer nothing also I never thought of my doodling was a stim now looking back it was and still is. :)