When most people hear the word stimming, they often imagine the stereotypical image: hand-flapping, rocking, or spinning. And while those are absolutely valid and common forms of self-stimulatory behaviour, stimming is a whole universe of unique, creative, and personal expressions.

🧠 What is Stimming? 

Stimming (short for self-stimulatory behaviour) is any repetitive movement, sound, or action that helps regulate sensory input, emotions, or attention. For many autistic and ADHD people, it’s a way to cope with being overstimulated, under-stimulated, anxious, excited, or just needing to feel something predictable in a world that often isn’t. 

It’s not always visible or loud. It’s not always “obvious.” And it’s definitely not always what people expect. 

👣 My Personal Stims? No Hand Flapping Here. 

My stims are a bit sneakier. You probably wouldn’t notice them unless you were really paying attention and even then, you might just think I’m fidgeting. I twist and play with my hair, often unconsciously. I rub my feet together like a cricket when I’m lying in bed or rocking my foot if I’m sitting still for too long. It’s soothing, it’s familiar, and it helps me focus or calm down when the world feels like too much. 

These are the quiet, daily stims that help me function and feel like me. 

🎤 A Home Full of Noise, Rhythm, and Regulation 

Now, add in a household full of neurodivergent kids and adults, and you’ve got yourself a sensory circus. (A beautiful one, but still very loud.) 

Let me paint the picture: 

• My teen? Constantly rapping rhythms, bars, spontaneous freestyling. Sometimes it’s clever. Sometimes it’s… well, persistent. 😅 

• My oldest? Whistling. Endlessly. Tuneful, sure, but if I hear that one high-pitched note again at 7am, I might actually ascend. 

• And the youngest? A walking jukebox. Humming and singing everything from Disney songs to made-up jingles about their breakfast cereal. 

On a good day, it’s like living in a musical, quirky and expressive. On a tough day, when I’m already juggling sensory overload, it can feel like everyone’s stims are shouting over each other. Sometimes I have to step outside and breathe, or retreat to a quiet corner of the house with noise-canceling headphones and a cup of tea just to reset. 

But here’s the thing, I wouldn’t change it. 

Every whistle, hum, foot rub, or rap is a message: I’m here. I’m managing. I’m expressing. It’s not “bad behaviour” or something to be corrected. It’s a language of regulation, and in our house, it’s spoken fluently. 

It’s messy, musical, overstimulating, funny, frustrating, and beautiful. 

🔬 Understanding why we stim

Stimming isn’t just a habit it’s a biological and neurological response to how our brains process information. 

For neurodivergent people, the brain often takes in too much or too little sensory input compared to neurotypical brains. This can lead to feeling overwhelmed, unfocused, anxious, or disconnected. Stimming helps balance that sensory load. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Regulation: Repetitive motion or sound activates predictable sensory feedback. This calms the nervous system and brings a sense of control and grounding. 

• Dopamine and the ADHD brain: In ADHD, stimming can help release small bursts of dopamine, the “feel-good” chemical that’s often in short supply. It keeps us focused, rewarded and regulated. 

• Emotional expression: Stimming can also be a way of expressing joy, excitement, frustration, or anxiety emotions that may be difficult to put into words. 

• Motor and sensory feedback loops: Certain stims (like rubbing feet, tapping, humming) provide satisfying sensory feedback that soothes the brain and body especially when other stimuli are unpredictable or intense. 

In short? Stimming is a neurological strategy a smart, adaptive one to help manage the world in a way that works for our brains. When we understand stimming, we create a more accepting world, one where neurodivergent people don’t have to mask or shrink themselves to feel safe.

Let’s move toward curiosity, not correction.
Let’s celebrate the diversity of how people express themselves.
Let’s make room for stimming just as it is.

By Kylie Gardner 

The A List