Although it can seem confusing, scary, or beyond your reckoning, your child’s stimming (short for self-stimulatory behavior) is nothing to be alarmed about. Nor should it be stopped, shamed, or a cause for additional angst. In fact, stimming has many purposes beyond being their body’s natural physiologic response to an overstressed or excessively agitated nervous system. It can also serve as a form of communication, a way to activate when they’re bored, or help them focus (movement that anchors thought).
Over time, with consistent intervention and ABA therapy, your child can acquire tools and skills that help prevent dysregulation in the first place, thereby decreasing the frequency and intensity of their stimming response. Equally important, parents, caregivers, teachers, and peers can learn how to interpret stimming episodes and respond accordingly, which is quite exciting when it comes to your child’s social-emotional future.
Contrary to what many think, stimming is not a side-effect of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Rather, the hyper-focused, repetitive motions associated with stimming are one of the criteria associated with an autism diagnosis. The majority of children with autism (92%) have what is called sensory processing disorder, which means their brains have a harder time processing information and stimulation entering through our five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch).
This is why stimming tends to occur in autism when:
However, as we mentioned in the introduction, stimming is not a problem behavior. It is the body’s way of attempting to self-regulate, and it is also a gateway to nonverbal communication for those who know how to pay attention.
📊 By the Numbers
92%
of children with autism have sensory processing disorder, meaning their brains process sensory input differently. Stimming is one of the natural ways they self-regulate that input.
Here’s a scene that may be familiar to you: you’re about to head out the door to attend a family holiday meal when you notice your child is sitting in their favorite spot on the floor, in front of the aquarium, rocking back and forth. You gently say their name to get their attention, and they act as if they don’t hear you.
As the parent, odds are you know exactly what this means. Your child is feeling nervous about the upcoming event, and the aquatic fish dance, combined with their own rocking, helps calm them down.
Experienced ABA therapists understand and practice that stimming is not a problem behavior, nor is it something to be stopped. Instead, we can work with what the stimming means and how to support it, so that it doesn’t become a disruptive part of household or classroom life.
While we see stimming more extensively and in greater intensity, you can also witness plenty of stim-like responses in neurotypical (non-autistic) populations. For those of us without a neurodivergent diagnosis, stimming may look like:
All of these are physical way of burning excess energy, expressing anxiety, communicating excitement, or anchoring thought/focus when sitting or standing in one place. In this judgment-free guide to stimming, we’ll help you understand more about the behavior, what it means, and how to best support stimming behaviors in your child with ASD.
⭐ Key Takeaway
Stimming is communication, not misbehavior. It tells you something about what your child is feeling, sensing, or needing. The goal of ABA therapy is to support the function of the stim, not to silence the child.
When a child has difficulty assimilating or interpreting sensory input, it’s referred to as a sensory processing disorder. As many as 9 out of 10 kids with ASD process sensory input differently than the neurotypical population. Stimming is their natural, self-soothing response. And, as researchers from Rochester have discovered, stimming is the way children with sensory processing challenges can make sense of the world again, giving them a sense of repeatable, predictable control.
When they are stimming, odds are your child is either experiencing sensory overload or is understimulated and trying to “feel” something again. Ultimately, stimming addresses these two core issues. Once they are stimming, the child feels relief from releasing anxious energy, feels their physical boundaries or the ground beneath them, or has a sensory experience that provides stimulation where they’ve been lacking.
These actions may be distracting, but they don’t cause any harm, which is why experts confer; there’s no reason to stop them or intervene. The exception would be any case where stimming poses a threat to themselves or others (such as spinning that interferes with other children or head banging).
Sometimes, after the fact, a verbal child can tell you what was going on for them while they were stimming. However, for younger or non-verbal children with ASD, stimming provides the amazing opportunity to learn more about what’s happening for them, giving us a chance to understand their experience.
Stimming episodes are directly related to what they are feeling or need/want to feel. They are most likely to look something like:
As you begin paying attention to the minutes before, during, and after a stimming episode (and if you’re able to get them to talk about it or answer questions or you), you’ll most likely learn their bodies communicated one of the following:
As you can see from some of these examples, stimming is not always about stress or anxiety. In fact, many examples of stimming are very positive. Our job as parents, caregivers, or ABA therapists is to help teach and model emotional regulation. We do this by interpreting what the stimming is saying to us, and then deciding what to do next in terms of letting it be, redirecting the focus, or getting more help.
Once we’ve completed functional behavior assessments (BCBAs), we can provide customized recommendations for what a parent/caregiver should let the child stim, redirect their attention, or seek additional help.
The following is a generalized version of that:
Most stimming falls into the “let it be” category because our first priority is to honor the whole child. Again, there is nothing wrong with stimming if it isn’t causing harm of any kind. So, we create calm environments with plenty of sensory-soothing tools in the proverbial toolbox and an informed population (we teach instructors and peers to “let them be,” too!).
In the “let it be” stimming category, we include:
If there’s no harm being done, and it’s not overtly disruptive to others in the space, we accommodate the behavior rather than suppress it.
When the need for the stimming behavior is appropriate, but it doesn’t work in the space, we redirect it. For example, humming or scripting loudly in a quiet classroom moment. In this case, we work with children to find other ways to stim that are less distracting (like using a quiet fidget toy or a tactile soothing method).
⚠️ When to Seek Help
Some stims pose a safety risk: head-banging, biting that breaks skin, or scratching until it bleeds. In these cases, do not punish or shame the behavior. Work with a BCBA to identify a safer replacement that still meets your child’s sensory need.
Sometimes, stimming poses a threat to the individual or those around them. This can include things like head-banging, self-biting (usually to feel intense pressure), or picking at skin until it bleeds. Again, we don’t try to stop or shame the stimming. We simply work to find a safer stimming replacement.
Letting it be or using ABA therapy models to replace harmful stims with a safe but still soothing replacement honors the child’s need, prevents them from being shamed, and also prevents escalated anxiety. Recent studies have shown that while children with “people pleasing” tendencies may be able to suppress stimming behaviors, they typically use covert compensatory behaviors that may be more dangerous than the original outlet.
ABA therapy takes a person-first approach to stimming behaviors, starting with a complete Functional Behavior Assessment. This assessment is done using information from a variety of sources (parents, teachers, caregivers, and the child if they are verbal) and our own observations. It gives us a clearer picture of the child's stimming behaviors, as well as what’s happening around them before, during, and after.
Much like personal private investigators, we want to learn what the triggers are and the most personalized ways to support the client when those triggers are present. By working closely with the child, their environment, and those who know them best, we avoid the guesswork inherent in a one-size-fits-all approach.
Parent collaboration is central to our process here at ART because we want the child (and parents) to feel fully supported and for there to be a continuity of approach between home and school. A supported stimming approach will vary by need (is it related to nerves, overload, or excitement?).
However, some of the approaches we use include:
Here at the Autism Response Team (ART), our BCBAs and RBTs are trained in individualized, assessment-first approaches.
While we encourage working with an ABA therapist to create a comprehensive plan you can implement at home, school, and in public, there are things parents can do right now to support their child - and to help us partner with you..
Again, these notes are genuinely useful for the ABA team and will help us to create a more customized, effective plan for your family.
🎯 Want Personalized Guidance?
Our board-certified behavior analysts perform individualized functional behavior assessments at four North Texas centers. We meet your child where they are.
Stimming is a communication gift from your child that helps us begin to understand them better, so we can craft a comprehensive plan that truly supports their best interests and helps them thrive. Whether you’ve noticed an increase in alarming stimming behavior or you simply want professional input around what your child needs, the Autism Response Team is here to help.
ART’s board-certified behavioral analysts perform individualized functional behavior assessments to work with your child’s regulatory needs, rather than against them. With four North Texas ABA therapy centers at your disposal, we are ready to support your child and spare you another long commute.
Contact Autism Response Team for a free consultation at one of our North TX ABA centers. (877) 77-ART-T.
