10/12/2026
We are excited to bring you the October Strategy of the Month: Stimming!
Understanding Stimming
Stimming is short for “self-stimulatory behavior.” It can include movements, sounds, or actions that provide sensory input or help someone regulate.
Everyone stims! Tapping a pencil, bouncing your leg, doodling, humming a song, or twirling your hair can all be forms of stimming.
Autistic people may stim more often or in more noticeable ways. Examples include hand-flapping, rocking, spinning, repeating sounds or words, pacing, jumping, or playing with objects in a particular way.
Stimming can serve many purposes. It may help someone:
- Stay calm or regulated
- Manage overwhelming sensory input
- Get needed sensory input
- Focus or concentrate
- Express excitement, happiness, or anticipation
- Communicate feelings
- Cope with stress, anxiety, or uncertainty
Stimming isn't always a sign that something is wrong. A person might flap their hands because they are excited just as easily as they might rock because they are overwhelmed.
Look at the whole person—not just the stim. Ask, “What might this person be communicating or getting from this?” rather than immediately assuming the behavior needs to stop.
Safe stimming should generally be allowed. If a stim isn't hurting the person or others and isn't preventing participation, there may be no reason to interrupt it.
Sometimes we do need to intervene—but the goal should be safety and access, not making someone look less autistic. - - If a stim is harmful or interfering with someone's ability to participate, we can look for safer ways to meet the same sensory or regulatory need.
Stopping a stim doesn't necessarily solve the underlying need. If someone is overwhelmed and we stop their rocking, for example, they may still be overwhelmed—they've simply lost one of their tools for coping.
Stimming is part of neurodiversity. Rather than asking, “How do we make this behavior go away?” we can ask, “How can we help this person feel safe, regulated, understood, and able to participate?”
A simple takeaway:
Stimming is a way the body communicates, regulates, and experiences the world. Before we try to stop a stim, let's get curious about what the person might be telling us.
