I don't like the obsession with returning to what's natural. It's deceptive and totally glosses over the underlying rational for why things are/were a certain way.
These "stimming" behaviours are better described as "soothing" behaviours. Yes, some of them stimulate and excite us, but they occur in response to stress (e.g. loud noises or boredom). Of course you're going to become depressed when you actively stop yourself from soothing, the stress is just going to run rampant through you. That doesn't mean you have to embrace them completely though. You can learn different ways to cope, ones that the less aware can tolerate better.
In the couple months before my first big hypomanic episode (and my mercifully swift diagnosis), I was experiencing what in retrospect looks like strong anxiety. But I'd been reading autism/neurodiversity literature and found that the self-rocking behavior soothed me, specially in public, and enabled me to be in social situations (even went to a party once).
Foolish 25-year old me though "well, autistic stimming helps me, maybe I have a touch autism". Ha.
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Edit: I have a young nephew who's probably gonna have confirmation on an autism diagnosis in an year or so. Since he spinned so much, I started spinning with him, either independently or raising him from the ground and making him fly.
Now I like to spin on my own, late at night, when no one will interrupt me. Caught it from a kid.
Last year for Halloween, I dressed as Hunter S Thompson (Fear and Loathing style). I remember being out and people remarking they really liked the costume, but how well I portrayed him. One person asked, "Are you on ether?" I replied, "No I'm on the spectrum." My normal body language movement is very fluid, seldom still. I don't hand flap, but I'm certain I have my own things. I feel masking will never do anything to change the conversation or raise awareness. ASD isn't entirely a disability, in fact to myself and likely many on this site (if you have it), there are aspects that are extraordinary if not super-human and quite beneficial day-to-day. The conversation about ASD seems to revolve only around the disabling aspects - expecting people to be something they are not, because their default mode is 'bad' does nothing to help.
This is a well-observed phenomenon in the care-industry. After a patient is diagnosed with a disability there is a danger of overfitting other behavior to the disease profile. Its called a "second/third order disability" depending on whether it the patient themself or their environment that is making the claim.
Take Greta Thunberg as an example. Her mother started claiming that her autism makes her more susceptible to the dangers of climate change. Her detractors are throwing this back at her, saying this little girl has autism which makes her susceptible to the global-warming lobby. Neither of these statements is any help to either side of the cause because they are an ad-hominem attack/defense.
When I squint my eyes, a lot of this autism awareness looks like identity politics by other means. Another argument to be made in the everlasting master-slave dialectic.
I think you’re somewhat misinterpreting the post here, which as inwardly directed expression of the thought process of an individual while you discuss the external thought process and judgements onto an individual.
> a lot of this autism awareness looks like identity politics by other means. Another argument to be made in the everlasting master-slave dialectic.
I'm not really clear what you mean here?
"Identity politics" is what arises when people are treated negatively because of what they appear to be; they then reclaim this identity that they are called and try to use it for collective action.
I have no idea what "master-slave dialectic" has to do with any of this? There's no "slavery".
It may come as a surprise, but neurotypical people also show stereotypical movements (stereotypy is the term used formally in scientific literature for this behavior).
There is a neural pathway that triggers this to occur in about any human, under the right circumstances - just watch anyone doing something that demands deep focus or concentration combined with fine motor skills.
For example, watch a musician or a someone playing videogame and you can identify motor stereotypical moves in the facial muscles (specially tongue/mouth/jaw).
The stereotypical moves in autistic persons tend to be very characteristic and are easy to spot if you have a trained eye.
So don't worry about moving your toes in patterns or jiggling your leg while you are coding, it is perfectly normal.
I've never seen a precise definition of stimming. Nor have I seen anything that talks about precisely how characteristic various forms of stimming are for autistic, otherwise neurodiverse folks, and neurotypical folks.
I think the social model of disability is really helpful here. Regardless of what neurological commonalities there are or aren't, we have a set of social classifications of which potential stimming behaviors are normal or deviant. Tapping your leg is normal (sometimes annoying to people nearby, but normal), flapping is clearly deviant, and lots of other behaviors are somewhere in the middle. This is socially significant, regardless of whether it maps cleanly to some non-social difference.
Am I getting this right; he learned to act like an autist, people got mad, he stopped and now he is observing autists like Kung-fu masters observing cranes and mantis'to come up with new moves?
I don't think you are getting it right. The author has some behaviors and has observed that some of them may have come simply from observing other autistic people. There is a core question of where did the behavior originate, and that question causes a lot of anxiety for the author in a world that is hostile to "the other".
This is expanded by a desire to free themselves of the world's judgment and their internalized constraints. Enacting these behaviors, borrowed from others or created within, feels like connecting with their natural body when before they felt separated.
They stimmed naturally as a child; were shamed for it and stopped; eventually realized that stimming is harmless and helpful to them; and started consciously allowing themself to do it again, using other autistic people as a reminder of how to do that.
Edit: Why is this being downvoted? I am factually summarizing the content of the article. If you don't like the article, don't take it out on me.
[+] [-] kcolford|6 years ago|reply
These "stimming" behaviours are better described as "soothing" behaviours. Yes, some of them stimulate and excite us, but they occur in response to stress (e.g. loud noises or boredom). Of course you're going to become depressed when you actively stop yourself from soothing, the stress is just going to run rampant through you. That doesn't mean you have to embrace them completely though. You can learn different ways to cope, ones that the less aware can tolerate better.
That's just my two cents though.
[+] [-] thanatropism|6 years ago|reply
Foolish 25-year old me though "well, autistic stimming helps me, maybe I have a touch autism". Ha. ----
Edit: I have a young nephew who's probably gonna have confirmation on an autism diagnosis in an year or so. Since he spinned so much, I started spinning with him, either independently or raising him from the ground and making him fly.
Now I like to spin on my own, late at night, when no one will interrupt me. Caught it from a kid.
[+] [-] Cybernetic|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wrnr|6 years ago|reply
Take Greta Thunberg as an example. Her mother started claiming that her autism makes her more susceptible to the dangers of climate change. Her detractors are throwing this back at her, saying this little girl has autism which makes her susceptible to the global-warming lobby. Neither of these statements is any help to either side of the cause because they are an ad-hominem attack/defense.
When I squint my eyes, a lot of this autism awareness looks like identity politics by other means. Another argument to be made in the everlasting master-slave dialectic.
[+] [-] SolaceQuantum|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pjc50|6 years ago|reply
I'm not really clear what you mean here?
"Identity politics" is what arises when people are treated negatively because of what they appear to be; they then reclaim this identity that they are called and try to use it for collective action.
I have no idea what "master-slave dialectic" has to do with any of this? There's no "slavery".
[+] [-] draw_down|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] taneq|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] scardine|6 years ago|reply
There is a neural pathway that triggers this to occur in about any human, under the right circumstances - just watch anyone doing something that demands deep focus or concentration combined with fine motor skills.
For example, watch a musician or a someone playing videogame and you can identify motor stereotypical moves in the facial muscles (specially tongue/mouth/jaw).
The stereotypical moves in autistic persons tend to be very characteristic and are easy to spot if you have a trained eye.
So don't worry about moving your toes in patterns or jiggling your leg while you are coding, it is perfectly normal.
[+] [-] hyperpape|6 years ago|reply
I think the social model of disability is really helpful here. Regardless of what neurological commonalities there are or aren't, we have a set of social classifications of which potential stimming behaviors are normal or deviant. Tapping your leg is normal (sometimes annoying to people nearby, but normal), flapping is clearly deviant, and lots of other behaviors are somewhere in the middle. This is socially significant, regardless of whether it maps cleanly to some non-social difference.
[+] [-] draw_down|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] KONAir|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] noobiemcfoob|6 years ago|reply
This is expanded by a desire to free themselves of the world's judgment and their internalized constraints. Enacting these behaviors, borrowed from others or created within, feels like connecting with their natural body when before they felt separated.
[+] [-] PhasmaFelis|6 years ago|reply
They stimmed naturally as a child; were shamed for it and stopped; eventually realized that stimming is harmless and helpful to them; and started consciously allowing themself to do it again, using other autistic people as a reminder of how to do that.
Edit: Why is this being downvoted? I am factually summarizing the content of the article. If you don't like the article, don't take it out on me.
[+] [-] bigred100|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kragen|6 years ago|reply