About stimming and autism

Stimming – or self-stimulatory behaviour – is repetitive body movements or noises. Stimming might include:

• hand and finger movements – for example, finger-flicking and hand-flapping
• body movements – for example, rocking back and forth while sitting or standing
• posturing – for example, holding hands or fingers out at an angle or arching the back while sitting
• visual stimulation – for example, looking at something sideways, watching an object spin, or fluttering fingers near the eyes
• repetitive behaviour – for example, opening and closing doors or flicking switches
• vocal stimulation – humming, whistling, grunting, or repeating words or phrases
• chewing or mouthing objects
• listening to the same song or noise over and over.

Many autistic children and teenagers stim, although stimming varies a lot among children. For example, some children just have small or occasional hand movements, whereas others spend a lot of time stimming.

Stimming can also vary depending on the situation. For example, some autistic children and teenagers stim, or stim more, when they’re feeling stressed or anxious.

Why autistic children and teenagers stim

Stimming might help autistic children and teenagers cope with and manage strong emotions like anxiety, anger, fear and excitement. For example, stimming might help your autistic child to calm down because it focuses their attention on the stim or produces a calming change in their bodies.

Stimming might also help autistic children and teenagers cope with and manage overwhelming sensory information. If your child is oversensitive to sensory information, stimming might reduce sensory overload because it focuses their attention on just one thing. If your child is undersensitive, stimming can stimulate ‘underactive’ senses.

How stimming affects autistic children and teenagers

Stimming isn’t a bad thing if it doesn’t hurt your autistic child or others.

But some stimming can be self-injurious – for example, severe hand-biting.

Stimming can also affect your child’s ability to learn in the classroom. For example, if your child is absorbed in watching their hands in front of their eyes, they might not be able to listen to their teacher or engage with their work.

And stimming might lead to judgment or bullying by other people.

We all use stimming sometimes. For example, some children suck their thumbs or twirl their hair for comfort, and others jiggle their legs while they’re working on a difficult problem or task. You might pace up and down if you’re anxious or fiddle with a pen in a boring meeting.

Understanding and accepting stimming in autistic children and teenagers

Many autistic people feel they should be allowed to stim because stimming helps them to manage emotions and overwhelming situations. Stopping autistic children and teenagers from stimming or reducing their stimming might make them feel more anxious, angry or sad. So it can be important to understand why your autistic child stims and show that you accept your child’s stimming.

But sometimes stimming can hurt your child or other people – for example, head banging or slapping. In this situation, it might be best for your child to replace the unsafe stim with something safer. This way, your child can still use a stim to manage emotions, but they don’t need to stop stimming or stim less often.

Things that affect stimming: environment and anxiety

Changing the environment or helping your autistic child with anxiety might help your child reduce their need for stimming. Stimming might also reduce as your child develops more skills and finds other ways to deal with sensitivity, understimulation or anxiety.

Changing the environment
Stimming might be a sign that your child is feeling overwhelmed in their environment. Your child might need a quiet place to go or just one activity or toy to focus on at a time.

Or stimming could be a sign your child needs more stimulation. Your child might benefit from background music, a variety of toys and textures, or extra playtime outside.

Some schools have sensory rooms for autistic children who need extra stimulation. There might be equipment children can bounce on, swing on or spin around on, materials they can squish their hands into, and visually stimulating toys.

Working on anxiety
If you watch when and how much your child is stimming, you might be able to work out why your child is stimming. And if the stimming is happening because your child is anxious, working on your child’s anxiety might affect their stimming.

For example, there might be something new or changed in your child’s environment. Your child’s stimming might reduce if you prepare your child for new situations and teach your child new skills to deal with things that cause the anxiety.

Where to go for help with stimming

Occupational therapists can help you look at environmental adjustments to support your autistic child, like reducing or increasing sensory information in your child’s environment.

If your child’s stimming is hurting your child or other people, speak to your child’s GP, paediatrician or psychologist or another health professional working with your child. They can help your child replace unsafe stims with safer alternatives.

If you’re concerned about your child’s safety when they’re stimming, there are therapies and supports that can help. These therapies and supports are listed in our parent guide to therapies for autistic children. Each guide gives an overview of the therapy, what research says about it, and the approximate time and costs involved in using it.