The Rise of Stimming Visibility On TicTok: Why Autistic Self-Regulation Is Finally Getting the Spotlight It Deserves
Friday, May 9, 2025.
For decades, stimming—short for self-stimulatory behavior—was something autistic people were taught to suppress. The flapping, the rocking, the finger-flicking, the pacing.
It was pathologized, medicalized, punished, or politely ignored. At best, it was seen as an “inappropriate” coping mechanism. At worst, a symptom to be extinguished.
Then came TikTok.
And suddenly, stimming went viral.
What Is Stimming, and Why Does It Matter?
Stimming refers to repetitive movements, sounds, or behaviors that help a person regulate their sensory or emotional state. While everyone stims to some extent (fidgeting, tapping, bouncing your leg during a Zoom call that should have been an email), autistic individuals often engage in stimming more intensely, more frequently, and with different purposes—often for neurological survival.
As Dr. Temple Grandin explained decades ago:
“When I was little, I would rock for hours. It wasn’t about zoning out—it was about tuning in.”
In autism research, stimming is now recognized as a form of self-regulation and communication, especially in environments that are overwhelming, confusing, or emotionally intense (Leekam et al., 2011).
TikTok and the Stimming Renaissance
Social media has not only normalized stimming—it has aestheticized it.
Search #stimming or #stimtok and you’ll find creators openly, joyfully showcasing:
Hand-flapping in excitement
Rocking back and forth while listening to music
Finger-flicking, hair-twirling, or playing with sensory toys
Visual stim compilations: slime, kinetic sand, fluid art, soap-cutting, etc.
These aren’t just soothing to watch. They’re declarations of neurodivergent presence. For many autistic people, posting these videos is not a trend—it’s resistance.
As creator @AutisticSoul put it in a widely shared video:
“I stim because I’m processing the world at full volume. I post because I’m done hiding that.”
From Shame to Showcase: Why Visibility Matters
The psychological toll of masking stimming behavior is real. Studies show that suppressing self-regulatory behavior contributes to increased anxiety, depression, and autistic burnout (Cage & Troxell-Whitman, 2019). Social media’s growing acceptance of stimming offers a rare inversion: authentic behavior is not punished—it’s validated.
This is especially critical for:
Late-Diagnosed Adults reclaiming their natural behaviors
Autistic Youth trying to understand and express their needs
Neurotypical Allies learning that stimming isn’t “weird”—it’s wiring
And perhaps most important: stimming visibility de-pathologizes difference. It invites curiosity instead of control.
What the Research Says
Leekam et al. (2011) argued that repetitive behaviors, including stimming, serve multiple functions in autistic folks—especially for managing sensory input and emotional arousal.
Kapp et al. (2019) found that autistic adults consistently report stimming as beneficial, and that negative attitudes toward stimming come primarily from external (i.e., neurotypical) observers, not from lived experience.
Hull et al. (2017) connected the suppression of natural autistic behaviors (including stimming) to increased mental health distress and masking fatigue.
Bottom line? Stimming is not a problem. It’s a solution. The problem was making people feel ashamed for it.
Neurodivergent Humor and the Language of Stimming
Online, autistic creators are infusing stimming with humor and identity:
“If you think hand-flapping is weird, wait ‘til you see me stim with a USB fan and a half-eaten fidget cube.”
“I stim like it’s a full-time job and frankly I deserve benefits.”
“Not neurodivergent unless you stim your way through IKEA.”
These aren’t punchlines. They’re punchbacks—humor deployed as a boundary against neurotypical scrutiny.
The Danger of Aestheticization Without Understanding
Of course, there's a flip side.
As stim videos gain traction among non-autistic audiences, some worry about stim voyeurism—where behaviors are consumed for entertainment without respect for their purpose. When stimming becomes content, it risks being decontextualized, or worse, mocked.
Autistic advocate Meg Proctor of Learn Play Thrive cautions:
“When we separate stimming from its functional role in self-regulation, we risk reducing autistic people to their movements instead of understanding their needs.”
Stimming as Sovereignty
More than a behavior, stimming is an assertion of autonomy. A refusal to participate in the exhausting theater of neurotypical composure. A way to say, “This is how I inhabit the world—and I will not apologize for regulating my nervous system.”
What we're seeing now, in real time, is a kind of neurological pride movement: a shift from the pathology model to a participation model, where autistic people dictate the terms of their own visibility.
And TikTok, for all its flaws, might just be the accidental stage that made it happen.
The Future of Stimming Is Public, Not Policed
Stimming isn’t going away—nor should it. As online spaces evolve, and neurodivergent creators continue to set their own narrative, stimming will likely become recognized, respected, and—dare we say—revered.
If anything, the real question isn’t “Why do autistic people stim?”
It’s “Why did we ever think they should stop?”
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Cage, E., & Troxell-Whitman, Z. (2019). Understanding the reasons, contexts and costs of camouflaging for autistic adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49, 1899–1911. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-03878-x
Hull, L., Petrides, K. V., Allison, C., Smith, P., Baron-Cohen, S., Lai, M.-C., & Mandy, W. (2017). “Putting on my best normal”: Social camouflaging in adults with autism spectrum conditions. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(8), 2519–2534. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3166-5
Kapp, S. K., Steward, R., Crane, L., Elliott, D., Elphick, C., Pellicano, E., & Russell, G. (2019). ‘People should be allowed to do what they like’: Autistic adults’ views and experiences of stimming. Autism, 23(7), 1782–1792. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361319829628
Leekam, S. R., Prior, M. R., & Uljarević, M. (2011). Restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorders: A review of research in the last decade. Psychological Bulletin, 137(4), 562–593. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023341