Honestly if you're autistic I 100% recommend seeking out and befriending other autistic people if you haven't yet.

It's wild how much easier it is to be yourself around people who just *get it*

Also stimming with other people hits different.

There are two terms I personally use for stimming with other people:

- parallel stimming (stimming at the same time in the same space, but not in a relational way)

- Co-stimming (stimming mirroring, influenced by, in contact with, or otherwise interacting with another person)

These aren't terms I've heard anywhere else, just ones I use based on observations of my own experiences with other autistic people.

Parallel stimming example: friend and I are watching a movie. I'm chewing on a chew while watching, they're messing with a fidget cube

Co-stimming examples:

- friend does verbal stim & I echo it back as a verbal stim (repeat x infinity)

- friends happy flapping makes me excited so I happy flap

- Rubbing hands together as a mutual tactile stim

That isn't to say two people will get along just because they're autistic (I've got plenty of autistic people that I just don't care for)

It also isn't to say that we'll always find the stimming of other autistic people to be enjoyable (speaking from experience there too)

Some of y'all give me ~anxiety~ with your constant bouncing.

Also I'm very sensory avoidant with most of my senses. Will say from experience that spending extended periods of time with very sensory seeking oriented autistic folks can be a ~challenge~

But as a general rule I just feel this wave of relief when I'm around other autistic people. Like I don't have to try so hard. I can just be me. Often even before they tell me they're autistic. Yeah, we can't always detect each other... but also like sometimes you just know.