Stimming and Sensory Processing (Part 1)

It has taken a lot to write and publish these blog posts because I worry about the reaction I will get, but here goes...

When I was little, I used to like touching different materials with different textures, especially sand. During weekdays in the school summer holidays, my brother and I used to go to a summer play scheme for disabled children and their siblings, and in the building where they held the play scheme, they had two rooms for sensory play. One room was full of foam, soft building blocks and ball pits, and the other had many different lights, long florescent tubing and a bubble machine that changed colour. These were my favourite rooms to go to when I went because I loved soft play and I thought the lights in the Sensory Room were amazing! I loved to relax and play with the lights… I loved watching the bubble machine and feeling the tubing and the spongy flooring.

Sensory Processing Disorder is where a person struggles to process what they feel, see, smell, taste and hear. Lots of Autistic people experience Sensory Processing Disorders, mild or severe, but some don’t. Some people who have SPD don’t like touching certain things, and some won’t eat certain foods or they have to disguise it in something else. This is not only to do with taste, but sometimes it can be the texture. Sometimes they don’t like food touching other food, and in some cases, they have each part of their meals separated.

You may have heard people talk about stimming, especially when talking about or to an Autistic person, but do you know what it actually is? According to the National Autistic Society, stimming (also known as self-stimulating behaviour) can be identified when someone is carrying out a repetitive action or activity. Some examples of this are:

· Rocking back and forth

· Rubbing fingers together

· Moving an object between fingers

· Squeezing an object

· Tapping

· Flapping of the hands

Many Autistic people stim, and it’s their way to deal with certain situations. A lot of the time, Autistic people stim without even thinking about it; it’s an automatic response to stimuli (good or bad).

A lot of people don’t understand what stimming is and why it is done. I can only speak from my personal experience and perspective, but I will do my best to explain…

I can’t remember much about my experience with stimming as a child, but as I’ve grown up and become more aware of the “adult world”, I have realised that I stim quite a bit at times… I probably do it without realising as well, but I have noticed that when I’m upset, anxious or even excited, I tend to rock back and forth or side to side, or I rock my leg from side to side. I rub my fingers together and tap my foot as well. I can’t really explain why but it helps me relax, and if I’m feeling overwhelmed or anxious about something, it helps me with that too because I can then stop thinking about the things that are bothering me a bit by focusing on the stimming. To write this, I have had to think about what I do and why because I don’t think about it normally, I just do it.

I have always liked squidgy toys and things that I can hold and squeeze. I used to love play dough and play putty; I would sit manipulating it in my hand or fiddling with it using my feet for hours... At school, I had physiotherapy sessions three or four times a week, and whether I was standing in the tilt-table (standing frame) or stretching out on the physio bed, nine times out of ten, I would ask to play with the play dough. I also liked to play with it at home and on holiday too. I didn’t make anything in particular, I just loved the feeling and texture of it! I also have always loved bubble wrap; again, I really like the feeling of it and the sound of the “pop!” Looking back on it now, I realised that this is also a form of stimming.

Come back next time for Part 2…