Everything2
Near Matches
Ignore Exact
Full Text
Everything2

stimtoy

created by Zifendorf

(thing) by Zifendorf (2.7 mon) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 1 C! Tue Jul 16 2002 at 2:17:30

Autistic slang for an object that is fun to stim on, particularly a sensory stim. Perhaps because of the fact that we commonly have narrowly focused minds and unusual sensory wiring, autistic people can often derive a lot of pleasure out of a simple object. It may be an ordinary household object taken out of context, like a key ring or a bicycle (for spinning the wheels, not for riding). It may be something specifically designed for even neurotypical people to stim on, like a koosh ball or spinning top. It may be a piece of reflective, prismatic paper that most people would find interesting or pretty but that an autistic person might stare at all day.

Common stimtoys are shiny, spin, move in unusual ways, or have a certain texture.

Other people have come up with their own names for similar concepts. Since LSD appears to mimic a few aspects of autistic senses, it's inevitable that some tripper out there would come up with the concept of trip toys. People with attention deficit disorder have ADD toys. Geeks have geek toys. Desk toys are even prevalent in the offices of neurotypical people.

While any of these could be used as a stimtoy, stimtoys also extend to objects that most neurotypicals would rarely stim on, like a piece of string or tinfoil. Also, autistic people tend to have a very long attention span for their favorite stimtoys. Familiar stimtoys can double as a source of comfort when disoriented in unfamiliar environments.

Example usage: "I've got a koosh ball, but I'd prefer a visual stimtoy right now."


printable version
chaos

stim neurotypical trip toy The Star Wars Anti-Smoking Ad
The Curlicue Fractal Executive toy Gongoozler autism
catatonic Attention deficit disorder LSD AD&D
font Aspie comfort disorientation
attention span String Geek Tripper
top wheel Spinning bicycle
Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.
  Epicenter
Login
Password

password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Cool Staff Picks
Things you could have written:
In the empty mountains
Peak oil
Eyesight resolution
Heroes of Destiny
My meeting with Laetitia Casta
Everything Quest
Pastor Aeternus
ooblick
Temporary Autonomous Zone
Vlad Tepes
Marquis de Sade
Why I write
Installing LinuxPPC on a Powermac G4's second hard drive
New Writeups
Ysardo
a brother to a sister(personal)
antigravpussy
your warm whispers(personal)
Clarke
Multiculturalism(idea)
aneurin
Earl of Landaff(person)
Heitah
Pseudocide(idea)
XWiz
Google Knol(lede)
Mythi
July 24, 2008(personal)
locke baron
The fall of Earth(fiction)
BookReader
Fear the Cold(dream)
Pavlovna
Kathleen MacInnes(person)
stainedglass
1(fiction)
kalen
Three "T"s(idea)
octillion369
Undead(idea)
archiewood
Ico(fiction)
Heisenberg
Why I love Everything2(log)
This affordable entertainment brought to you by The Everything Development Company