This video is funded by the National Disability Agency.
[Music]
Hi, my name is Prue Stevenson and I’m an Autistic self-advocate and an artist and I make artwork about celebrating Autistic culture. I’ve been asked to answer two questions today. Question number one is what is my favourite stim and that was a really difficult question to answer and think about, because I have a lot of different stims and the reason why that is, is because um there’s a function to every stim and after thinking about it for a long time I’ve realized that patting is one of my favourite stims, so just like this, and that’s because patting, it has a very diverse range of functions that it can hold and it’s also accessible in many different environments.
So for example, one function that patting can have is that if I’m in an environment and I’m unsure of what to do, I don’t have a structure to work with, then patting say a wall or some carpet can create structure for me to focus on and then I feel really calm. Another one is that if I’m feeling really overwhelmed, I can, I can pat something and it can help me regulate my emotions. It can also help me if say I am, I got distracted because I was thinking about wearing velvet or corduroy pants and how I can rub my pants and that’s another patting motion that feels really good. But yes another one is that if, say I’m hypersensitive or overwhelmed by one sensation that my brain is struggling to process, I can give myself positive sensory input by patting and that’s because of the way that patting interacts with my personal sensory profile.
And the second question is how does my stimming relate to my sensory profile. My personal sensory profile means I am an avoider with some senses and a seeker with other senses. I’m hypo, or under responsive with my sense of balance, which means I love to stim. I love stims that activate my vestibular sense, such as jumping up and down, spinning, walking on my tiptoes, rocking, and moving my head a lot I love, you know, figure eights and stuff.
I’m hyper or overresponsive to my sense of smell and also my sense of hearing, which means when my brain needs to process those sensations, it can become painful and make my brain work too hard and start to overload and shut down. To prevent a meltdown, I can activate senses I’m hypersensitive in and give myself positive sensory input to combat negative sensory input. For example, if there is a smell that is really hard or, or I know another one, if there is more than one person speaking at a time, more than one sound source, or someone’s talking and the TV is talking at the same time, my brain won’t be able to, it will, it won’t be able to selectively hear and it will process both sounds at the same time and then my brain will get overloaded. And so to help combat that, I can activate something like this patting motion and that will help me to prevent my meltdown.
I hope you enjoyed the video and keep stimming and stim in ways that are safe for you and safe for others. Thanks.
The Reframing Autism team would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we have the privilege to learn, work, and grow. Whilst we gather on many different parts of this Country, the RA team walk on the land of the Amangu, Awabakal, Bindjareb, Birpai, Whadjak, Wiradjuri and Yugambeh peoples.
We are committed to honouring the rich culture of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this Country, and the diversity and learning opportunities with which they provide us. We extend our gratitude and respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to all Elders past and present, for their wisdom, their resilience, and for helping this Country to heal.
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