[Source:  BBC News]

What is this word?  It’s stimming, short for the medical term self-stimulatory behaviours – a real mouthful.
Stimming might be rocking, head banging, repeatedly feeling textures or squealing. You’ll probably have seen this in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) but not really wanted to ask about it.
It is a term used widely in the ASD community.
Why do people with autism stim?
There are many reasons. The world-renowned animal behaviourist Temple Grandin is on the spectrum and says most people stim simply because it feels good.

In Autism Digest in 2011, she said dribbling sand through her fingers was a feeling that used to calm her. Referring to her own childhood experiences, she said that stimming “may counteract an overwhelming sensory environment, or alleviate the high levels of internal anxiety these kids typically feel every day”. A real life example is that it could stop sounds hurting your ears.

As an adult, Grandin seems to control the sensory overload a little better but says some people need to stim to “refocus and realign their systems”.
Read the Rest of this Article on the BBC.com