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Sticking tongue out and shaking head side to side advice ?

NAS86512

I am 33 years old and was diagnosed 2 years and recently out of no where. I'm sticking my tongue out and shaking my head side to side and when I start speaking with my tongue out and sound differen sometimes I am also crying too these episodes last about 2 - 3 minutes. I've never showed anything like this according to my parent or family members growing up as a kid.

  • These sound like what is referred to as a "stim" - a way you developed to stimulate some of your senses to distract you from what was causing pain at the time (physical or psychological).

    It is a variant of the rocking back and forth action that some people do when agitated.

    Childhood stims are often deep rooted and come to the surface when we feel particularly stressed as it is one of our oldest learned coping mechanisms.

    Have you been feeling particularly overwhelmed lately? I suspect it more important to address the cause rather than the stim itself at the moment as most attempts to suppress it will only add to your stress.

    My advice would be to engage with a therapist who has experience with autism and talk about autism with them. The fact you mention it is "out of nowhere" makes me think you may not know a lot about it yet - Autism is a condition you are born with and will have been a part of you your whole life.

    Therapists can help you understand the implications of autism and help you develop more agreeable coping mechanisms that should help you adapt your stimming to something you find more acceptable.

    It it not a case of you have it as much as you are it - it is not "cureable" as it is not an illness but rather a way your brain was wired up due to your genetics. This area is still the subject of a lot of research but the overwhelming majority of data suggests you are around 80% likely to have inherited it from one or more parent.

    That is already a lot to digest.

    Welcome to the club.