Dictionary

stimmer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio

Etymology

From stim (“to perform a repetitive self-stimulating action”) + -er.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:autism) One who engages in stimming behaviour.
   • Cam is a first-class stimmer. The stims have passed through stages, each more obsessive than the last. 2010, Mark Osteen, One of Us: A Family's Life with Autism, page 148:
   • 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. 2021, Erin Felepchuk, “Stimming, Improvisation, and COVID-19: (Re)negotiating Autistic Sensory Regulation During a Pandemic”, in Disability Studies Quarterly, volume 41, number 3, archived from the original on 22 Jan 2022:
   • 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. 2006, Donna Satterlee Ross, Kelly Ann Jolly, editors, That's Life with Autism: Tales and Tips for Families with Autism, page 125:

Forms