The role of stimming in sensory processing

Stimming (short for self-stimulatory behaviour) is something many autistic people do to help manage how they feel or how their body is reacting to the world around them. It might look like hand-flapping, rocking, making sounds, or fiddling with objects – and it’s completely natural.

For many autistic people, stimming plays an important role in coping with anxiety, excitement, sensory overload or just the everyday demands of life. It can help create a sense of control and calm when everything else feels a bit much.

Some common stims include:

• Rocking back and forth

• Hand flapping or finger flicking

• Repeating sounds or words

• Gazing at lights or moving objects

• Tapping or spinning things

Each person’s stimming will look different and serve different purposes – and that’s OK.

When stimming increases, it’s often a sign that someone is feeling overwhelmed, overexcited, anxious, or struggling to regulate their sensory input. Rather than stopping the behaviour, it can be far more helpful to ask: What’s going on here? What does this person need right now?

Sometimes, stimming can cause harm – like head banging or biting. In these cases, the goal shouldn’t be to stop the stimming altogether, but to help the person find safer ways to get the same sensory feedback. That might mean offering things like chewable jewellery, weighted items, or resistance-based movement like wall push-ups.

Supporting stimming also means helping children and young people learn where different behaviours are most appropriate – without shaming or punishing them for doing something that helps them feel safe and calm. Just like we all adapt our behaviour in different situations, this is about expanding options, not taking away essential tools.

It’s worth saying this, too: stimming isn’t something only autistic people do. Most of us stim in small ways without even realising. Maybe you tap your pen when you're thinking, bounce your leg in a meeting, or twiddle your hair when you’re anxious. When I was a child, I used to tap my tongue inside my mouth while reading. My teacher told me off for it during “silent reading”. I still do it now. As someone with dyslexia, reading can be tiring and dysregulating. That little movement helps me cope. It might irritate others, but it stops me becoming so overwhelmed I have to stop altogether.

If we can recognise how all of us use small actions to soothe ourselves, it becomes much easier to understand and respect the ways autistic people self-regulate, too.

Stimming isn’t something to fear or fix. It’s communication. It’s coping. It’s valid.