This Autism Awesomeness Month,
Join the Movement!
SSS: Stop Stopping Stims!
SSS is a movement to promote a very practical type of understanding and acceptance of people on the autism spectrum by seeking to inspire everyone else to take a simple but important step toward creating a thoughtful, care, autonomy-supporting, non-coercive, non-traumatizing environment for their autistic loved ones.
How?
By no longer stopping people on the spectrum from doing their stims.
What is a stim?
If there is one common association many people have with autism, it is the focused, often-repeated behaviors that are generally referred to as “stims.” These activities can take the form of movements (flapping hands, wiggling fingers, running back and forth), making sounds (repeating words, sentences, or sounds, clapping hands, singing), visual experiences (dropping small items and watching them fall, dangling items and watching them dangle, staring at something that is moving or lit up, looking at a book), item set- up (sorting items, making piles of items, lining up items, stacking items), vestibular regulation (spinning, swinging, rocking), and verbal expression (talking about a particular subject, asking a particular question).
SSS: Stop Stopping Stims
Children and adults on the spectrum have been stimming since time immemorial. And, for the same span of time, well-meaning neurotypical people have been stopping them. This misguided practice leads to trauma, distress, anxiety, dysregulation, overload, Neuro-Crashes, masking, stunted growth, and serious disruption of the relationship between children/adults on the spectrum and the people that love them. (Download our white paper for a full explanation of these phenomena.)
Stims are among the most misunderstood aspects of the autistic experience.
With your help, the SSS movement will show the world the purpose, the function, the benefit, the beauty, and the importance of our loved one’s stims.
Only with this understanding will our loved ones on the spectrum have their stims valued and respected for the creative and crucial self-regulation and emotional safety-producing activities that they are.
How can you participate?
If you love someone on the autism spectrum, make a short video demonstrating one of their stims and telling us why you support it. If you are autistic, make a video demonstrating and sharing one of your stims with the world and explaining how it’s useful to you. Post the video on your socials, and tag your friends so that they can join the movement.
Note: We ask that you refrain from criticisms of people who have stopped or are stopping stims and keep the focus positive to make it easy for people to get on board and change their behavior without feeling alienated or criticized. Thank you!
For a free copy of our white paper, Autism - Stop Stopping Stims: Why Stims Are Important (and Beautiful!), enter your name and email address below, and we will send it to you.
Who started the SSS: Stop Stopping Stims movement?
The movement was initiated by authors Raun K. Kaufman and Kate C. Wilde, both neurodivergent. In their 55 years combined of working with people on the autism spectrum and their families, schools, therapists, and educators, Raun and Kate have never stopped a stim.
They pioneered the concept of the Neuro-Crash and are the creators of the ACT (Autism Crisis Turnaround) protocol for meltdowns, extreme/explosive behaviors, and high anxiety, built around a true understanding of and respect for the autistic brain, nervous system, psyche, and experience. See below for their full bios.
Author, lecturer, and former CEO Raun K. Kaufman has worked with families and educators for the past 25 years. He also brings his own experience as someone who himself was diagnosed with so-called “severe” (non-speaking) autism as a child.
- An international lecturer and graduate of the Ivy League’s Brown University with a degree in Biomedical Ethics, Raun has completed lecture tours in the U.S., United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Romania, France, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
- He is the author of the award-winning book, Autism Breakthrough: The Groundbreaking Method That Has Helped Families All Over the World and the co-creator of the ACT protocol.
- He has been interviewed by media such as National Public Radio, BBC Television, Fox News Channel, The London Telegraph, and People Magazine.
- As a child, Raun was diagnosed with so-called “severe” (non-speaking) autism and recommended for lifelong institutionalization. Instead, his parents worked with him in a totally new way they developed, enabling him to blossom, grow, and, ultimately, accomplish everything his parents were promised he would not. A book and television movie were made about his journey.
Kate C. Wilde has spent the last 30 years working with children and adults on the autism spectrum and their families, as well as with therapists, educators, and schools.
- She is the author of the acclaimed books, Autistic Logistics: A Parent’s Guide to Tackling Bedtime, Toilet Training, Tantrums, Hitting, and Other Everyday Challenges, The Autism Language Launcher: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Your Child Turn Sounds and Words Into Simple Conversations and Autism Abracadabra: Seven Magic Ingredients to Help Develop Your Child’s Interactive Attention Span and the co-creator of the ACT protocol.
- Renowned for the courses she teaches throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Kate also speaks at worldwide online autism summits.
- She is a columnist for Exceptional Needs Today, and has written articles for such publications as Autism Parenting Magazine in the U.S. and SEN Magazine in the U.K.
- She has forever left her mark on the autism world by having, over the years, intensively trained and qualified more than forty professionals who have gone on to help thousands of families, children, and educators across the globe.
