What Your Child’s Stimming is Trying to Tell You

As a parent, you’ve likely noticed your child’s repetitive movements—hand flapping, rocking, humming, or other rhythmic behaviors. If your child is on the autism spectrum, you may have even been told that these movements should be discouraged or that they’ll simply “grow out of it.”

But what if stimming is actually your child’s way of communicating?

At Golden Family Chiropractic, we believe that every movement, every behavior, holds meaning. Stimming isn’t just a habit—it’s a message from your child’s nervous system. When we shift our perspective and look deeper, we uncover something truly powerful: stimming is a sign of sensory tension and nervous system overwhelm. And when we address the root cause of this imbalance, we can help your child—and your entire family—find relief.

The Purpose Behind the Movement

Let me tell you about Amelia.

When Amelia’s mom first brought her to the chiropractor, she was concerned about her daughter’s constant nodding motions. These movements seemed to intensify when Amelia was anxious, almost as if they were helping her manage the butterflies in her stomach.

After trying various medical interventions, including the possibility of medication, Amelia’s mother knew in her heart there had to be another answer. That’s when she found us.

Through INSiGHT Neurological Scans, we uncovered what had been overlooked—Amelia’s nervous system was stuck in a constant state of stress, and her stimming was her body’s way of self-regulating.

Her story is not unique. Many children engage in stimming to cope with sensory overload and an overactive nervous system. Research shows that 80% of autistic adults report that stimming helps reduce anxiety, serving as a built-in calming mechanism.

When we begin to see stimming not as a behavior to suppress, but as a sign of deeper neurological imbalance, we open the door to true healing.

Understanding the Why: The Neurology of Stimming

Stimming is more than just a coping mechanism—it’s a sign of nervous system dysregulation. Here’s why it happens:

1. A Nervous System Stuck in Stress Mode

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls how our bodies respond to stress. Many children who stim experience dysautonomia, where the “fight-or-flight” system is constantly on overdrive, and the “rest and digest” system isn’t strong enough to bring them back into balance. This constant state of stress leads to heightened sensory overwhelm—and stimming becomes their way of finding relief.

2. The Body-Brain Connection and Proprioception

A crucial but often overlooked factor is something called subluxation—a misalignment of the spine that disrupts proprioception, or the body’s ability to sense movement and position. When proprioception is off, the brain struggles to interpret sensory input correctly. As a result, children may stim to fill in the missing sensory information.

3. Sensory Processing and the Spine

Subluxations, especially in the upper cervical spine, can interfere with how the brain processes sensory input. This often leads to sensory overload, which triggers stimming as a self-soothing response. Your child isn’t acting out—they’re doing their best to create stability in a world that feels overwhelming.

The Secret Superpower: The Vagus Nerve

At the center of all this is the vagus nerve, a powerhouse nerve responsible for activating calm, regulation, and digestion. When the vagus nerve is functioning well, the body can shift out of stress mode with ease. But when it’s dysregulated due to nervous system stress, children may feel trapped in fight-or-flight mode, leading to increased anxiety, sensory overload, and repetitive movements.

By supporting vagus nerve function, we can help activate your child’s natural calming response—helping their body find peace without needing to stim as often.

A Holistic Approach to Supporting Your Child

Instead of suppressing stimming, we focus on addressing the root cause through neurologically-focused chiropractic care.

Here’s how:

🌿 Restoring Nervous System Balance

By gently correcting subluxations and removing interference in the nervous system, we help your child process sensory input more efficiently. This naturally reduces the need for stimming.

🌿 Supporting Emotional Regulation

Children with nervous system dysregulation often struggle to manage emotions—leading to increased stimming during times of stress, excitement, or frustration. By restoring balance, we help them regulate emotions with greater ease.

🌿 Activating Natural Calm

Through specific chiropractic adjustments, we stimulate vagus nerve function, helping your child shift out of fight-or-flight mode and into a state of calm, rest, and healing.

While our care isn’t aimed at eliminating stimming altogether, families often notice incredible changes, including:

✔ Improved sensory processing

✔ Greater emotional balance

✔ Increased focus and engagement

✔ More ease in daily activities

✔ Strengthened communication and connection

Listening to Your Child’s Nervous System

When we view stimming as communication rather than a problem, we can shift our focus to supporting the nervous system instead of suppressing the symptoms.

If your child is experiencing sensory overwhelm, emotional dysregulation, or stimming behaviors, we’d love to help. Schedule a consultation with Golden Family Chiropractic today to discover how neurologically-focused care can make a difference in your child’s journey.

And if you’re not local to us, visit the PX Docs directory to find a provider near you.

Your child’s body is always speaking to you. When we listen with curiosity and care, we unlock a world of healing possibilities.