Autism

I like to pull the corner of my phone case off and snap it back on

There's been a song stuck in my head for as long as I can remember (decades) that only comes out of the recesses of my brain when I'm alone, and I hum it over and over. Usually this is during driving or focusing on coding. Kinda frustrating that I don't even know if it's a real song or just something my brain is doing for fun. (It sounds a bit like the civil war song, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, I guess?) I'm too self-conscious to do it around other people.

Not exactly my favorite, but my most done is biting/peeling my lips.

Stretching is probably my favorite. Like those good ones after waking up

Finding a soft lock of my hair and twirling it around my fingers. Both for the softness and the gentle tugging at my scalp. And as a bonus it's fairly socially acceptable.

• jiggling pectoral or glute muscles (usually to music)
• opening and closing the lid of an inhaler
• grinding the folded tags in clothing
• stroking beard
• peeling top layer of skin off finger nails
• plucking overly long eyebrow hairs

Toys. I have a speedcube and several Transformers by my computer at all times.

Probably shaking my leg slightly, or stretching

As an adult it is a mix of leg jiggling and rubbing my finger nails against my thumbs. As a child I used to tap out rhythms with my heels and toes, much to the chagrin of my teachers and classmates.

Rocking, shaking my leg, tapping my finger, watching YouTube even when there’s nothing interesting on.

When my feet are available for this, such as laying down or dangling, I like to push one down while pushing it up with the other foot, then switching feet.

Rotate left & right on my desk chair Pacing around my living room puffing on my nicotine vape & talking to myself Stroking my walrus mustace (I blame Jamie Hyneman lol)

Rubbing my head. I keep it buzzed and it’s 👌🏻

Thumb to finger taps. I do this often, more when getting nervous. I tap teeth to each other, too, feeling like I'm tapping one top to one bottom at a time. Going all the way around to tap all my teeth. I realized I'm tapping multiple teeth each time, but it's a tap for each pair of teeth.

• Walking/pacing around the room in circles (I do this very often)
• Shaking my legs
• Twirling my hair

I like putting pressure on the arch of my feet. (Or where my arch would be as I have extremely flat feet.)

I actually bought a small wooden foot massager for this. As I'm working, I can just put my feet on this and roll them back and forth. I get the sensory input that I'm craving without needing to stop working to find something to press my feet against.

I'm a leg bouncer.

I also like those toggle switches with the super tactile click. I'll flip one of those back and forth a bunch if I had one on hand.

Cat: We wiggle our knees in and out. Feels good.

Usually when I notice I'm doing something (stroking my beard or moving my legs are the most common ones) and I have to be discreet, I try to focus on moving my toes

me, a person who's recently begun to suspect i might be autistic:

óoooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

yep.

poppets!