Silently he walks up to the lazyboy and fits himself snuggly
into it’s seat in a foetal position. The pencil that a moment ago was just a
thing to be held at all times suddenly takes on a new life. Mo lifts it up to
his face and starts to flick it to and fro in close proximity to his eyes with
both thumbs and forefingers deftly controlling it’s momentum. Suddenly he seems
to enter a state of bewitchment. As he reaches a certain point in his repertoire his features contort to match the intensity of the movement.
“Stop it Moeez You are stimming too much!” he hears a familiar voice rudely interrupting
his ritual. Sometimes he stops for a few seconds to pacify the interloper, at
others he has been heard saying “You tell me I am autistic. Autistic people
stimm. Then let me stimm!”
Stimming or self-stimulatory behaviour to the on looker
presents itself as a repetition of physical movement, sounds or objects. Common
examples of stimming are hand flapping, rocking, head banging, squealing and so
on.
To the person with
autism it is a self-regulatory mechanism that calms them down, makes them feel
good by blocking out external stimuli which may be overwhelming to them and indeed
free up some of their neural space to focus on other cognitive tasks.
The fact is that its not only individuals on the spectrum
that stimm. You and I stimm as well! What do you think you are doing when you
are tapping your feet incessantly during an interview or flicking your toes at
night under your comforters to lull yourself into slumber? Us neurotypicals
simply get away with our stimms because they don’t look odd or are not socially
inappropriate.
I am all for teaching autistic children socially acceptable
behaviour and of course one cannot allow their stimming rituals to compromise
their safety and health but before we label them as ‘abnormal’ and ‘retarded’
(yes these words are still in use) let us try and enter their world for a few
minutes where the texture of a shirt may perpetually feel like sand paper
rubbing against the skin, the sound of the fan comparable to a running chain close to the
ears or the movement of a swing seem like
a roller coaster ride. Would one not be forced to engage in all sorts of
‘stimms”?
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) the prevalence of autistic
children is 1 in 68 in the USA. That is a lot of autistic individuals amongst
us. So last year, in response to my nagging him about his stimming, when Mo
told me, “ Mama, stimming is a part of who I am,” instead of reprimanding him, I
felt a huge pride in my son who had asserted his right to be who he was meant
to be. In my eyes, that day my 5 foot 1 inch 17 year old stood a foot taller
than me.
😙😙😙
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