stimmer

stimmer

English

Etymology

stim (“any repetitive self-stimulating action”) +‎ -er

Noun

stimmer (plural stimmers)

1. One who engages in stimming behaviour.
   • 2006, That's Life with Autism: Tales and Tips for Families with Autism (eds. Donna Satterlee Ross, Kelly Ann Jolly), page 125:

     Most people probably wouldn't guess either of them had autism since they are both so high functioning; Dillon is a “stimmer” though—lots of hand flapping.

   • 2010, Mark Osteen, One of Us: A Family's Life with Autism, page 148:

     Cam is a first-class stimmer. The stims have passed through stages, each more obsessive than the last.

   • 2021, Erin Felepchuk, "Stimming, Improvisation, and COVID-19: (Re)negotiating Autistic Sensory Regulation During a Pandemic", Disability Studies Quarterly, Volume 41, Number 3 (2021):

     We are also perpetual stimmers: displaying or masking our stims, engaging in self-injurious or artistic stims, creatively expressing ourselves, or responding to trauma or stim suppression.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:stimmer.