Video · Chris / Inside view
Why Self-Regulating Movements Happen
Chris explains how self-regulating movements and coping responses can appear when an autistic person feels observed or emotionally activated—and why what helps depends on the person, time, and place.
Discusses self-regulating movements, emotional stress, feeling observed, and coping behaviors.
Accessible text version
Full transcript
That is something that we, especially autistics and ADHD, have: little motions or tics that we will do when we are stressed, feel like we are being observed, or anything that might make us anxious or overstimulated.
So we sort of do things like that, whether it is rocking back and forth, some kind of head motion, twiddling your fingers, or picking your nails—all of which I do.
We have our own little motions and tics. It is just us coping with an underlying emotion or stress that we are dealing with.
There are some ways of coping better than others, and not all methods of coping are right for specific times or places, but that is something that we have to learn, and it is very subjective to the individual.
Decoding Divergent shares lived experience and general educational information. It is not medical, mental-health, legal, or educational advice and is not a substitute for qualified professional support.