Stimming is not a Demonic Demonstration

It was from one of those short internet videos I got to know about stimming, the young lady making the video spoke about how every situation in Africa has been regulated to a demonic attack of some sort when some are conditions that should be checked and worked on early enough.

Image credit

Stimming is a self-stimulating act, often involving a repetitive act or sound. A lot of people engage in stimming acts, consistently biting their nails, and swaying their bodies. People do this a lot, most times because they are bored or nervous but stimming is one of the diagnoses for autism condition. The act of stimming in an autistic person could get out of hand and create serious problems.

Stimming in an autistic person could be more serious than a normal person, you will notice a more intense act that goes on for a longer period. Stimming becomes a problem when it begins to interfere with daily lifestyle, it leads to social exclusion, or it has become a destructive act.

Stimming in an autistic person could include, pulling of hair, consistently rubbing a part of the skin or scratching, constantly blinking of the eye, staring at lights for a long time, bouncing, and the act of flapping hands intensely for a long time. A child with autism may indulge in a repetitive act that is dangerous, like banging their head, picking at sores, biting or punching,

An autistic child can be helped with managing the act of stimming, the child may be showing such traits to handle their emotions at the moment. The child may be acting on a reaction to sadness, fear, or being anxious.

Image Credit

The autistic child who is stimming may be showing a sign indicating the need to change the environment. The child may just want to be left alone at the time, simply want to get out of the noise in the environment or even desire some slow music being played for him or her.

Parents can also try to understand the reason why their autistic child is stimming and look for ways to help out and provide help before they engage in a destructive act.

As an adult who has innocently picked up a stimming habit either to calm down or for any other reason you do it, when you realize it is going beyond the norm, attracting lots of attention, or making other people feel uncomfortable then it's time to use the key if self-control and stop it immediately.

Before stimming as an act is considered a problem that may require further medical diagnosis and attention, you need to answer these questions. Does this behavior harm the child/adult, is it harmful to others around them, will it disrupt the ability of the child to learn or disrupt other life activities? Depending on the response you have to these questions, you can tell if your child needs help or not.