Journey With Me Through ADHD: A podcast for kids

What Is Stimming & Why Does My ADHD Brain Like That?!

4 snips

Jul 22, 2021

Dr. Kristin, a neuropsychologist, discusses stimming behavior in ADHD brains. She shares her personal experience and expertise. Stimming is common in fear, anxiety, and boredom. Different types of stimming behavior are explained. The importance of self-awareness and finding support is highlighted. Strategies to redirect and manage stimming behaviors are discussed.

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INSIGHT

Understanding Stimming

Stimming, short for self-stimulatory behavior, involves repetitive actions, sounds, words, or objects.
People stim due to various reasons, including anxiety, boredom, or simply because their bodies crave additional sensory input.

ANECDOTE

Kristin's Stimming Story

Dr. Kristin Wegener shares her childhood stimming experiences, like flicking pencils, rubbing fingers, rocking, humming, and making a frog-like throat noise.
She often did these unconsciously, causing confusion and frustration among family members who misinterpreted them as intentional annoyances.

ADVICE

Managing Stimming

Identify stimming behaviors and their purpose, then consider redirection if they bother others.
Ask for help from trusted adults to recognize, understand, and manage stimming behaviors effectively.

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The term "stimming" is short for "self-stimulatory behaviors" and is referring to the repetition of physical movements, sounds, words, or objects. EVERYONE, regardless of brain type, has a tendency to stim when put in a situation of fear, anxiety, or stems from boredom. It's more common for those of us with ADHD brains to present "stimming" more frequently and with more intensity because of the way that our busy minds are wired. In this episode, you will hear from neuropsychologist, Dr. Kristin Wegner, who will share both her expertise in stimming behavior and her personal experience with it growing up. She was recently diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and she now diagnoses and works with kids who have neurodivergent minds through her play method. She is the award winning offer of the children's book series titled, "Brody the Lion". In this book series, you will also meet characters within each book that has ADHD and other differences. Kristin is extremely gifted at speaking to children and you will love hearing all that she has to share! You can find her on Instagram @brody.the.lion or www.brodythelion.com.

There are different types of stimming behavior, including visual, verbal, auditory, taste & smell, tactile (touch), physical movement (vestibular: Repetitive action that has to do with balance (spinning, rocking) or proprioceptive: Spatial awareness and control *throwing items, pacing, jumping). The encouragement in this podcast is to become more self-aware of your "self-stimming" behavior, so you can identify if it's safe to continue doing and/or if it is something that needs to be investigated so that we aren't causing harm to yourself or others.

My friend Antonio, from Australia, shares his take on his own verbal stimming. I hope that hearing from a peer will help remind you that you're not alone and that we are an ADHD tribe here to support and encourage each other!

If you'd like to share some of your ADHD journey, please email me at katelynmabry4@gmail.com

You can also visit www.katelynmabry.com for more resources, to order my book, or to schedule a coaching consultation.