English edit

Etymology edit

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

Noun edit

stimmer (plural stimmers)

  1. (autism) One who engages in stimming behaviour.
    • 2006, Donna Satterlee Ross, Kelly Ann Jolly, editors, That's Life with Autism: Tales and Tips for Families with Autism[1], 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[2], 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”, in Disability Studies Quarterly, volume 41, number 3:
      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.