Natural Stims

Stereotopy is defined as a persistent repetitive action. People in the autism community: those who have autism, those who love them and those who teach them often call stereotopy ‘stimming.’ Stimming might be dramatic, like waving their arms and hands or it might be subtle, like looking at objects in their peripheral vision.  It might mean rocking or humming.  Maybe it could be repeating a sound or phrase. It could even mean opening and closing doors or lining up toys.

There are also many toys that lend themselves to stimming, like wind-up toys or toy trains.  Even toys that light up and spin or toys that vibrate can be super-stimmy!

People with autism describe stimming almost like scratching an itch.  It is satisfying to them.  Once you realize this, you know it is important to give them space and safe ways to engage in stereotopy. Toys are a wonderful way to give your child an outlet to scratch that itch.

You’ll see things in the environment around you all the time that are ‘stimmy.’  Christmas lights are a perfect example! Mikey might gaze at them out of the side of his eye or he might look at their reflection in the window. He finds it calming and he does it every year when we put up the tree.

Mikey loves to sit in our living room near the Christmas tree and just enjoy the lights.  It could be categorized as stereotopy, but it seems natural to me!