#Stimsensory

[stimsensory]

Neon Squish Ball

These Neon Squish Balls are great for work and school. When squeezed, the powdery dough inside is visible and good for visual stimming.

WARNING: Small parts - choking hazard. Not suitable for children under 3 years old. Do not use near sharp objects. Do not put in mouth. If damaged, dispose of immediately. Product can mark or stain.

[ratstims]

Minecraft axolotl stimboard. Sources under the cut.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/sylveon-stimboard-credit-to-gifs-and-pics-in--503769908313618562/

https://www.pinterest.com/andreyheere/stimsensory-gifs/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/417568196709693357/ https://www.pinterest.com/pin/685180530804749146/

https://www.pinterest.fr/pin/681802831072506891/?amp_client_id=CLIENT_ID(_)&mweb_unauth_id=%7B%7Bdefault.session%7D%7D&from_amp_pin_page=true https://www.pinterest.com/pin/173318285636687650/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/711216966149669048/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/551550285614491664/

[guiltyidealist]

Conquest for non-ableist companies that make products for neurodivergent people #3: Stim Sensory

Stim Sensory, Ltd. is a UK-based company that makes stim products for neurodivergent people. They have a Tumblr account, @stimsensory! Below I’ll go over some important points about it so that you can decide whether it’s deserving of your business.

- Wide variety: chewables, squishies, puddy, weighted animals, and more... and some come in pride colors!

- Pride color section is categorized as “LGBTQ+”. Includes trans, nonbinary, intersex, pan, ace, aro, bi, lesbian, and gay colors. Inclusivity!

- Lots of the products are between 2 and 5 pounds! The two most expensive items are an aromatherapy necklace for 12.5 pounds and the chewy pride necklaces at 7 pounds. Affordable

- Intro on the “About” page: “I found that most of the [stim] options available were designed for children, and were often large, cumbersome items for sensory rooms instead of day to day stimming. I decided to start StimSensory so that adults could access stim toys that were chosen with them in mind. Every non-autistic person is different, and the same applies to autistic people. So we should not expect everyone’s stimming needs and wants to be the same.” Good, good! Great goal! Wholesome and necessary goal!

- “Neurodiversity” section of the “About” page: “I [am a young autistic woman and] therefore know just how incredibly fulfilling, fun, and stress-relieving stimming can be, and see it as a positive part of being on the spectrum. StimSensory also aims to provide products for non-autistic people who benefit from stim toys, such as those with ADHD or trichotillomania.” By neurodiverse people for neurodiverse people: always a good sign! The autism acceptance narrative is great. And the diversity of neurodiverse targeting is excellent 

- “Variety” section of the “About” page: “I also aim to provide stim toys for teenagers and young adults, rather than focusing on children. StimSensory offers neurodiverse adults ways to stim subtly or with gusto, allowing you to choose how you stim.” Ah! Variety of experiences! 

- “Affordability” section of the “About” page: “It is my belief everyone should be able to stim with every sense. Product prices are kept affordable so more people can access the items they need. As only 16% of Autistic adults are in full time, paid work (National Autistic Society, 2016), StimSensory attempts to provide stimming options for people who may not have high disposable income.” Accessibility, acknowledgement of systematic ableism, and a little hint of capitalism defiance!

- “Autism Acceptance Day” post on the “Blog” page: “Here's the thing. I like being autistic. I would not ‘get rid’ of my autism. Some parts are really difficult (such as sensory overload, anxiety over routine changes, meltdowns, etc). But what makes everything way, way more difficult is other people's reactions. When people work to understand you, and accept that what you're saying, what you're experiencing, is real, it makes everything a lot easier. It makes adaptations much more possible. So for autism acceptance day, I ask you to listen. Listen to what autistic people say about their experiences.” Defiance of cure culture, narrative of autism acceptance, rejection of autism “awareness”

Personal conclusion: This is a neurodiversity-positive company run BY a neurodivergent person FOR neurodivergent people that you can safely support with your business while getting cheap stim supplies. 10/10 would buy from and do recommend.

[tabby-shieldmaiden]

A Google search for “stim toys UK” lead to a website called StimSensory. It’s run by an autistic woman, and from the looks of it they sell a number of different toys. Slime, chewlery, squeezable balls and weighted bracelets, to name what I can see at first glance.

I checked out the shipping, and it says that they ship with Royal Mail. Though you will have to pay for shipping. I’m hesitant to link the website, since I fear tumblr will hide this reply, but they do have a website up with all their information on it. Recommend you check it out, and happy stimming.

where do any of u reccomend buying stim toys from??? in the uk?? whilst trying to avoid amazon???

[fearmevirgins]

the stuff i ordered from stimsensory arrived today!!

im literally so excited i cant dhhdd

maybe now I'll stop ruining all my hoodie strings lol

[stimsensory]

Glow in the Dark Squish Ball

Similar to the standard Squish Ball, these Glow in the Dark Squish Balls glow green in low lighting! Great for both visual and tactile stimming.

WARNING: Small parts - choking hazard. Not suitable for children under 3 years old. Do not use near sharp objects. Do not put in mouth. If damaged, dispose of immediately. Product can mark or stain.

[stimsensory]

Payment Update:

Previously there was an error preventing customers from paying by debit and credit card. It should now be fixed. Apologies for the inconvenience!

[stimsensory]

Glitter Mochi

The Glitter Mochis are great for visual stimming, as the glitter inside reflects the light. They are also good for squishing and tactile stimming.

WARNING: Small parts - choking hazard.

Not recommended for children under 5 years old.

[stimsensory]

A selection of 'new' products are available. ('New' in quotation marks because I bought them a while ago but was busy/procrastinating so they are only being added now 😅).

The Chewable Flat Circle Necklaces are subtle, thin chewies with a lovely smooth texture.

The Glass Putty is a sparkly, stretchy putty containing pieces of glitter and shiny ribbons. It is available in Blue, Purple, Red, Green, and Gold colours.

Finally, Push Poppers are also now available! They come in three shapes (square, hexagon, and circle) and two colours (rainbow and glow-in-the-dark).

(Image descriptions:

Image 1: four pictures on a white background. Top left picture shows a grey Chewable Flat Circle Necklace. Top right picture shows a green glow-in-the-dark circle Push Popper. Bottom left picture shows a rainbow hexagon Push Popper. Bottom right picture shows green Glass Putty. Below the pictures is the text 'Four New Product Available'.

Image 2: two pictures on a white background. Top picture shows a grey Chewable Flat Circle Necklace on a white background. Bottom picture shows the same necklace with the thread coiled up.

Image 3: four pictures of the Glass Putty on a white background. Top left picture shows an open container of red Glass Putty with a small ball of putty in the forefront of the picture. Top right picture shows gold Glass Putty. Bottom left picture shows purple Glass Putty. Bottom right picture shows blue Glass Putty.

Image 4: three pictures of the rainbow Push Poppers in plastic wrapping on a white background. Top picture is a square rainbow Push Popper. Bottom left picture is a circle rainbow Push Popper. Bottom right picture is a hexagon rainbow Push Popper.

Image 5: three pictures of the glow-in-the-dark Push Poppers in plastic wrapping on a white background. Top picture is a hexagon glow-in-the-dark Push Popper. Bottom left picture is a circle glow-in-the-dark Push Popper. Bottom right is a square glow-in-the-dark Push Popper.)

[stimsensory]

Mini Fidget Rings are now back in stock! These interlocking rings are great for subtle, tactile stimming, and make a small sound for auditory sensory seeking too.

Mini Fidget Rings are £4.00 each from StimSensory.

StimSensory Ltd currently only sends orders within the United Kingdom.

(Image description: the top half of the post shows a Mini Fidget Ring, which is a product made from 10 small interlocking rings, on a white background. The bottom half has a white background with the following text overlayed in black: 'BACK IN STOCK. Mini Fidget Rings are now back in stock. £4.00 each')

[stimsensory]

More Giant Mochis are back in stock!

The price has also increased slightly as they're a bit more expensive to stock, so they are £4.50 each now.

The Giant Mochis come in 4 animal shapes: Rabbit, Bear, Turtle, and Pig.

StimSensory Ltd currently only sends orders within the United Kingdom.

[stimsensory]

Chewable Single Gem Necklaces back in stock!

Black, Turquoise, Copper, and Marbled White Chewable Single Gem Necklaces are back in stock now. Additionally, four new colours are available: Marbled Grey, Pink, Pearl Blue, and Blue.

The price of the Single Gem Necklace has been raised to £4.25 after I reviewed the costs associated with the product. Quite a few other products will have an increase in price (usually not too much higher) for the same reasons.

[stimsensory]

Transgender and Aromatic Chewable Pride Necklaces are back in stock! 🏳️‍🌈

They are £7.00 each, and 10% goes towards Rainbow Railroad, a charity which helps LGBTQ+ people escape violent and oppressive situations.

I'll try to get the other Pride Necklaces back in stock soon! 😊 As well as some other chewable necklaces I need to restock, and a couple of new necklace styles!

Image description: a picture of two chewable necklaces in plastic packaging lying on a brown blanket. One has the colours of the transgender flag (blue, pink, white, pink, blue), the other the aromantic flag (black, grey, white, light green, deeper green). Below this picture is the caption 'Chewable Transgender and Aromantic Pride Necklaces'.

[stimsensory]

Autism Stereotypes: Autism Quotient

A little disclaimer: this is just a little rant. It’s just one of those things I can ramble about, and I enjoy doing so.

So, for those who don’t know, the Autism Quotient (AQ) is a questionnaire used to screen people for autism. It’s not a diagnostic tool, but is used to see whether someone should get assessed for autism. It’s used in research sometimes as an indicator of clinical and sub-clinical autism traits in people who are autistic or are related to an autistic person.

There is some evidence for the AQ’s use as a screening instrument. However, what I’m going to discuss is not the validity or reliability of the questionnaire overall. Rather, I’d like to point out one of the stranger questions that may rely upon outdated stereotypes about autism.

You can check out the AQ yourself here if you’re interested.

The statement is: ‘I would rather go to a library than to a party.’ When scoring the questionnaire, ‘strongly agree’ and ‘agree’ indicate autistic traits. IE, preferring the library to a party is considered to be an autistic trait.

The problem is, the question has no context.

The lack of context makes this question frustrating and annoying. Is the party with friends? Is it a birthday party? Is it a social party? Do I know anyone there? Is it loud? Is it a silent disco? Is it a nightclub? Is the library quiet? Do I have anything to do in the library? Am I in the mood to read? Am I in a group at the library? A study session? Am I in a silent area in the library? Am I tired? Am I out of social energy? Have I socialised recently? Is some random person going to talk to me in the library? In the party, I can expect being talked to and prepare for it, whereas in the library I may be caught off guard and overwhelmed.

Of course, I doubt the researchers think of all of this. They likely just think ‘autistic people prefer to be alone/socialise little, and so they’ll go to the library’. This is based upon the assumption that autistic people cannot be extroverted, that we cannot actually seek social interaction or want to socialise. And sure, some autistic people may not want to/be able to cope with parties because of all the people and sensory input. I know I would often stay in my room when my parents had dinner parties. I don’t tend to go to parties nowadays for the reasons mentioned before; I don’t know who will be there, how loud it will be, whether I will be able to escape if it is too much, etc. But, when I know everyone and they know me, I can enjoy parties.

But it is overly simplistic to assume all autistic people prefer libraries to parties. I mean, parties may have one loud musical soundtrack going on, which can hurt my ears. But I have an excuse when I don’t hear someone over the music, and the music drowns out background noise. In a library, you can hear everyone talking, whispering, tapping, coughing, humming, and giggling. It’s often difficult for me to focus when in a library without my headphones on. In a library, I am trying to read or work. I need silence, or music from my headphones, in order to focus. In a party, I’m not trying to work. If I make a social faux pas at a party it’s possible to blame alcohol, and people are less likely to notice it if they’ve had a drink too.

So there are different requirements and difficulties in both situations, and my preference differs depending upon both the environment itself and my own state of mind.

Nowadays, I’ve figured out what the researchers asking this question probably mean. They're probably asking 'would you prefer to go to a location with little noise and socialisation, or a place with lots of noise and socialisation?'. But I didn't figure this out until I looked at these questionnaires from the position of a researcher rather than a participant.

The answers I give do not always line up with what researchers think I mean. If you say you prefer parties, they'll assume you're not sensitive to loud noises or don't mind lots of socialisation. In fact, it could easily be that the library near you has a nosy librarian who always wants to chat, and the party you're thinking of is a gathering with friends, video games, and pizza.

The problem is that the researchers may make different assumptions about the questions than the participant. When I get those sorts of questions, I'm running through all the variables that would affect why I may choose one over the other. I'm using past experiences to decide. Sometimes a researcher looks at the answer and sees what their interpretation is, not what my answer is. 

[stimsensory]

It was my birthday on Tuesday, and I turned 20. It's weird, because that feels like a more 'adult' age than 18. But I definitely don't feel like an adult, which I've heard is normal 😅

I had a great day. Played games over zoom with friends, had presents with my family, and had pizza and watched a movie in the evening. 🍕

Birthdays tend to be very stressful, so I prefer to have very little in the way of 'stuff to do' and have a plan in advance. Because of the pandemic, this is actually more socially acceptable at the moment and I don't feel as guilty for it. Instead of going out to a loud restaurant, I had pizza delivered. Instead of socialising in a big group, I was on a zoom call. It was all a lot more subdued, and I liked that.

[stimsensory]

Back home after getting two negative COVID-19 tests!

My room is half StimSensory, a quarter University stuff, and a quarter Pokémon toys 😂😅

Here is a video of the Flashing Snowman stim toy (£3.50 each)

Video description: the Flashing Snowman is on a white pillow. I pick it up and pluck the soft spikes.