Communication difficulties are one major characteristic of Autism. Individuals with ASD usually have problems with social interactions. They may have a hard time understanding facial expressions and tone of voice, which can impede their ability to initiate or maintain conversations. In some cases, people may have speech delays or lack communication skills completely.

Another characteristic of Autism is behavioural difficulties. Individuals with ASD may exhibit repetitive behaviours, which is known as stimming.Stimming is a term used in the autism community to describe repetitive behaviors or movements that some individuals with autism exhibit. These behaviors can include hand-flapping, rocking, spinning, finger-tapping, or other repetitive movements or actions.Stims can be attributed to one or more of our senses. Some autism stimming examples fall under the following senses, which can be called as stimming types :

  1. Visual : Visual stimming involves repetitive movements or actions that engage the sense of sight. This type stimming may include flicking fingers in front of the eyes, staring at lights, or watching moving objects.
  2. Verbal/Auditory : Repeating the same words, sounds or noises without an apparent cause are typical examples of verbal stims.
  3. Tactile : Tactile stimming involves repetitive touch or texture-based sensations that engage the sense of touch. Examples include rubbing hands together, scratching surfaces, or feeling different textures.
  4. Oral/olfactory : This type of stim refers to the mouth and nose – strong tastes and smells can provide lots of sensory stimulation. Oral and olfactory stimming might lead a person to try spicy or sour food, or seek out strong smells(which may be unpleasant). Some examples are biting, chewing, licking, sniffing, touching objects with tongue or teeth, grinding teeth.
  5. Vestibular and Proprioceptive : Vestibular stimming refers to repetitive actions to do with balance, while proprioceptive is more to do with the person’s understanding of where they are and what they’re doing. Proprioceptive is the ability which allows us to control limbs without directly looking at them. Spinning around, rocking, throwing objects, pacing, jumping, rolling are some examples of vestibular and proprioceptive stimming.

Useful and sited links :

  1. https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-stimming-in-autism-260034
  2. https://allypediatric.com/blog/what-are-the-characteristics-of-autism/
  3. https://www.experia-usa.com/blog/understanding-different-types-stimming/