Supplemental Information for Autism: Self-Stimulating Behaviors or "Stimming" as Coping

“Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements,” often called self-stimulating behaviors or simply “stimming,” are a common symptom of autism. More and more people see that these behaviors can be helpful coping strategies. If engaging in these behaviors helps your child feel more calm and ready to face their fears, they might be good to include in your child’s coping skill toolbelt as well. Common stimming behaviors that may be helpful include rocking back and forth, head-nodding, chewing on something (for example, a chew toy or pen cap), or finger tapping. 
 
In many cases, stimming may not be a good way to cope with anxiety. This is the case when:

1. There are negative social consequences for stimming that you or your child would like to avoid (for example, if they get teased at school)
2. Stimming is very distracting and does not help your child face their fears (for example, spinning in circles)
3. Stimming is physically harmful.

We have described these examples in more detail:

1. While we advocate for society to accept differences in autistic individuals, unfortunately it is common for children to be bullied when they stim. If you or your child is worried about being bullied for engaging in certain stimming behaviors (for example, hand-flapping), you can always work together to find other coping skills that are less noticeable.
2. When stimming takes a lot of effort (for example, spinning in circles), it can be very distracting and make it difficult for your child to learn or participate in exercises as part of LUNA. The goal of coping behaviors is to help your child self-soothe and face their fears, not for this behavior to be distracting or to be done in place of accomplishing your child’s goals.  
3. Sometimes youth engage in self-harm behavior if they are very anxious (for example, scratching, hitting, head-banging). Most people do not think of this as “stimming,” but we wanted to include it here since children will sometimes self-harm when feeling strong emotions like anxiety. If this is a concern for your child, we recommend you seek out help for self-injurious behavior as well. A good start for this can be finding alternative coping behaviors that your child finds calming as part of this week.

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