Hidden Coping Strategies of Autistic Women | Excerpt from “16 Overlooked Autistic Traits in Women”

[MrLeethium]

Man that really hits home for me ! When i was a kid i used to spell all the words i was hearing/saying in my head, nobody would notice, when i was walking i did it in rythm too ! I would also stretch my finger skin from my nails (if that makes sense) inside the seams of my sleeves, and everyone told me "stop hiding your hands in your sleeves !" so now i do it against the seams of my pants or on anything else and nobody notices !
I "unblock" my ears all the time as well as spreading my toes in my shoes, i always thought it was a kind of "OCD" thing but the more i learn about autism the more i think i could be one...

[NotYourTeddyBear]

since getting diagnosed I've made the realization that me tapping my individual fingers or toes in a pattern is such a hidden stim I've always done

[nryane]

I knit or crochet, which moves my hands in an “acceptable” way. My grandchild crochets regularly, as well.

[TheMildOne]

I have hypermobility in my muscles so I can tense virtually everything. Over the course of my life I've found tensing these muscles rhythmically works as a really good stim for me

[KBinturong]

I did a family gathering and I feel so depleted. It’s been two weeks now and it’s hard to keep up with everything 😢

[Firegen]

It normal to make a stim into something socially invisible without remembering why you did it? I itch. It has always been read as ezcema. I know now it is a stim because its comes most when I'm anxious or feeling overwhelmed.

[alexwhitelaw]

it's shocks me that I stim so much (like a boy) and I'm a girl and it still took them till now to start diagnosing me

[brian]

Yup.
Whenever I’m with family, especially wife’s family, after an hour or so I need some solitude.

[mrscrofford]

Ugh I wanna vanish for days into my closet and hide snuggled up with a book and my dog 😅

[stefaniecolapinto]

I get so depressed after large or small but intense gatherings…I don’t know how to deal with it, I just crash for days and can’t function anymore…

[valerietheriault]

Thanks for this very much needed education

[Lady_Elizabeth_Brenner]

Little "secret" stims for me include hair twirling, knuckles cracking, "writing" words I hear or read on myself with my finger. I also do have larger stims that I just don't tend to do in public.

[katdeleon]

I remember my mom would tease me about my hair twirling. I did particularly a lot as a kid. She gets it now.

[fluffyunicorn]

I shake my pen, play with my hair, tug at my clothes, shake my hands. Suspect I have undiagnosed autism. You seem so lovely btw ♡

[mozie]

If I'm holding a paper in a new/overwhelming situation (I did this a lot in college) that paper WILL get rolled around in my hands over and over again and I'm barely conscious of doing it. I also rock back and forth on my feet, heels to toes and back, again largely unconsciously.

[tabitas.]

Love the content!
Unfortunately in my overload the flashing subtitles nearly made me scroll away. ❤

[EliW]

i cope by psychologically and conversationally dominating the room. i make the NT's understand that small talk bullsh1t won't be tolerated, for instance

[Heather-jcor]

I have flapped my hands since I was a kid. I don't like large crowds of people. I've been diagnosed though.

[rengsn]

Is it also possible for someone to not stim but be in perpetual freeze mode as a result?

[herewegokids]

So after a particularly stressful convo w my partner I took the lid to a plastic water bottle and chewed it until it was flat