- walking on toes

- pacing

- hand flapping

- spinning around

- jumping up and down

- grinding teeth

- twirling hair

- tapping fingers

- clenching and unclenching fists

- pressing hands against eyes/squeezing eyes shut

- rocking back and forth (either while standing or seated)

- biting oneself

- banging head

- picking at hair or skin

- pulling grass

- rubbing hands or thighs

- spinning objects

- talking to oneself 

Non-Exhaustive List of Stims

research suggests that stims have a higher prevalence in neurodivergent people than neurotypical people and are related to various emotions. Stims can serve as a non-verbal method of communicating someone's emotional state for neurodivergent people, especially those with high support needs or who have trouble verbalizing their emotions. It is unclear if this communication is intentional or unconscious.

Relationship Between Stims and Emotions

also called Repetitive Motor Behaviors (a subtype of the Repetitive Behaviors included in the diagnostic criteria for ASD), commonly associated with autism and researchers have found some correlation between elevated stimming and atypical sensory profiles

Ithaca College

Issues with emotional regulation, aka Emotional Dysregulation (ED), are not diagnostic factors when evaluating people for autism, however many people with ASD struggle with emotional regulation which can manifest in behavioral or social difficulties due to difficulty or inability to apply adaptive emotion regulation strategies

Emotional Regulation and ASD

Ekblad, Leif & Pfuhl, Gerit. (2017). Autistic self-stimulatory behaviors (stims): Useless repetitive behaviors or nonverbal communication?. 

Autistic self-stimulatory behaviors (stims): Useless repetitive behaviors or nonverbal communication?

- temper outbursts

- frequent crying

- rapid mood shifts

- lower frustration threshold when demands aren't easily met

- meltdowns/shutdowns

Issues in Emotional Lability from Emotional Dysregulation (ED)

Failure to understand, interpret, and elaborate ones emotional experiences. There is a link between dissociation and Alexithymia. There is an inability to interpret situational and internal triggers that are be processed without introspection. Thus, emotional threshold is high to a point where feelings aren't easily manageable. Individual feels emotions are extreme and unpredictable because of their inability to process situations for self-representations. 

This is also common in Autism Spectrum Disorder and can contribute to difficulty self-regulating emotions, since one needs to be able to identify the emotions in order to regulate them effectively.

Alexithymia 

- irritability

- anxiety

- depression

- impulsivity

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