Indispensable People
Making the Gospel Accessible to people of ALL abilities so that they may know Christ, grow in Him, and serve Him with the gifts He has given them.
Indispensable People
Embracing Self-Stimulatory Behaviors in Ministry for Inclusive Engagement
Unlock the secrets of stimming within ministry settings with host Tracie Corll as we shed light on a topic often shrouded in misunderstanding. Ever wondered how something as simple as foot-tapping or hair-twirling can play a pivotal role in emotional regulation and sensory management? Discover the diverse range of self-stimulatory behaviors and learn why they are crucial for both neurotypical and neurodivergent individuals. This episode promises to bridge the gap between sensory needs and active participation, offering insights into creating environments where everyone can feel included and engaged, regardless of their unique ways of processing the world.
Join Tracy as we tackle the nuanced challenges of embracing non-harmful stimming within ministry contexts. Learn about the societal pressures that lead many to mask these behaviors and the profound impact this can have on mental health. By prioritizing conversations with parents and caregivers, we aim to prepare for and address any safety concerns while ensuring individuals feel welcomed and accepted. Together, we strive to foster a ministry environment that champions inclusion, allowing individuals to connect with their faith and experience spiritual growth in their own authentic way.
Hi, my name is Trac Correll and welcome to Indispensable People. I'm a wife, mom, teacher, pastor and missionary, and I believe that every person should have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given, no matter their ability. Over 65 million Americans have a disability. That's 25% of the population. However, over 80% of them are not inside the walls of our church. Let's dive into those hard topics biblical foundations, perceptions and welcome to this episode of Indispensable People, and today we're talking about stimming.
Tracie Corll:What is stimming? How does it impact the ministry that you're in, how do you navigate the need for it and what happens in the case where it becomes inappropriate or harmful? So let's talk about it. First of all, stimming is defined as self-stimulatory behaviors or repetitive movements or sounds that people use to manage emotions, cope with overwhelming situations or reduce sensory overload. Many believe that stimming is something that you see with someone who is autistic, but it's actually above and beyond there, and typical adults even stim, and so let me give you some examples of what that looks like. So maybe it'll blow your mind or you'll be like oh yeah, I knew that. For example, people who tap their foot when they're impatient or anxious. They might twirl their hair when they're bored or tap their fingers when they're intensely thinking. I used to have a friend that we would have Bible studies and they would stay late into the night just chatting and enjoying time together and you always knew when she was getting overly tired because she would start to run her fingers through her hair and that was her coping mechanism in those moments when she was overly tired. So neurotypical and atypical adults children, teens are apt to stim in different ways, and so all stimming is not disruptive or harmful and we need to decide what that looks like in our ministries. Does it matter and how does it impact across the board? And so, yes, many people with autism or sensory processing disorder may have a bigger tendency to stim because they are sorting through sensory things and have a tendency to feel overwhelmed or just maybe the emotions become too much in the moment. The emotions become too much in the moment. So there are some opportunities to look at it from a bunch of sides.
Tracie Corll:But again, let's go over that definition in maybe a little bit different way. It is behaviors or stereotypical, repetitive body movements or repetitive movements of objects. Many individuals on the spectrum are going to engage in stimming and there are lots of different theories and possibilities as to why people do this. However, it is likely it provides sensory reinforcement or sensory stimulation, or it helps to regulate the senses. So it may even help to decrease the sensory overload or intake that a person experiences person experiences. So researchchopedu says. Another theory is that there is a brain dysfunction in the areas controlling these behaviors, or that the behaviors produce endorphins in the nervous system. So that's kind of your background, that's kind of the look and the understanding of what it might be.
Tracie Corll:So let's jump into what are the different types of stimming that you may see. So one of the things is going to involve a lot of body movement. That might be spinning or flapping, hand flapping, finger flicking, rocking, jumping and many other complex body movements. It's definitely not limited to just that. You may also notice vocal noises such as humming, whistling. They might clear their throat or repeat things over and over again. Or repeat things over and over again. You might see some olfactory or taste stimming, which might be like repeated sniffing or licking, tasting objects, and that's, you know, an area that could potentially become dangerous. Visual stimulation, which is eye blinking, lining up objects or, you know, looking into lights, things like that, you might see a repetitive use of objects, like flicking of a rubber band. They might be chewing on some things. The other, vestibular stimming, which is rocking, spinning, twirling or pacing, which is the same thing as body movements, it's just a different kind of a name.
Tracie Corll:The stimming may vary from person to person simply because their body is requiring a different input of those experiences. So let's dive into, let's get even more specific. So the vestibular stimming, which is the body movements, so spinning repeatedly, swinging, rocking, pacing, jumping, bouncing. So let's talk about some of those behaviors and what they might look like in your space. Okay, when you're talking toddlers, threes and fours, this isn't even out of the ordinary for typical children and so it's really probably not even going to distract, be off-putting in that environment. So it's going to actually be probably pretty simple and easy to cope with or work around, because a lot of the kids are doing a lot of those same things.
Tracie Corll:Now what we have to determine through that is through that stimming time, are they able to receive information, are they able to engage and disengage from the stimming? If they're asked to participate, those individuals are going to be able to engage and that's just a coping mechanism in the moment, and others may not be able to disengage from this stimming. So what we have to do is take into consideration are they receiving what they need in the moment right? Their body is doing those things because they need to engage, feel something, regulate something, those kinds of things. So we need to think are they dealable Right? Can we deal with them in this situation? Are they distracting others? And here's the deal If you have never experienced someone who was stimming or the typical environment that you're in doesn't typically have that experience the first couple times that it happens it's probably going to be very distracting.
Tracie Corll:However, over time, when it becomes a norm, it will be less distracting. So you have to decide do you provide a sensory room that some of that can be done and provided in the moments that they need it? Is it an ongoing experience? And if it is, how can you set up your environment that they're going to be a part of so that they can still participate and receive that sensory input that they need? And really, where it becomes concerning is when really when it becomes harmful to themselves or to someone else.
Tracie Corll:So let's kind of jump into a few other tactile stimming, which is maybe they're rubbing their clothing, they're scratching obsessively, they might be headbanging, teeth grinding, rubbing face and hands and tapping surfaces with fingers. Now, of course, if they're rubbing their clothes or they are tapping a surface with their fingers, those are kind of easy things to deal with. That's not hurting themselves and they're not hurting anyone else, and so those aren't super concerning. However, if they're scratching obsessively, headbanging super concerning. However, if they're scratching obsessively, headbanging, teeth grinding, rubbing face and hands, that could cause harm to themselves and we want to make sure, especially when they're in our care, in our services or at our events or whatever we're doing at the church or with our organization, that we provide the safest environment possible. So, if they're scratching obsessively, maybe there are these really cool. They're called calm stickers and they have tactile sensory. They're like bumpy kind of a thing that could maybe take the place of that.
Tracie Corll:If they are headbanging, there are protective areas that you can make sure that they're in. Definitely, ask parents or caregiver for strategies and also have some procedures in place if it should happen and what is required and how you would respond. If it should happen and what is required and how you would respond. The teeth grinding may be just a reminder. Obviously that's a bit difficult. The rubbing face and hands we could go back to the same thing as rubbing clothing, that we provide something else. One of the things a physical therapist had suggested for a child was as simple as putting a Velcro strip when I was teaching in a classroom, to put it on their desk. So maybe there's, you know, something like that that they can engage in that activity that wouldn't hurt themselves or cause harm to their bodies. So those are some easy.
Tracie Corll:The next one visual stimming lining up toys and other objects, watching ceiling fans splashing or watching water, ripping or shredding paper, running in circles, spinning and twirling, lining up toys and other objects that's easy. I immediately think of like children's church and how that could be a way to interact with the Bible story Watching ceiling fans. Typically, if they're going to engage in that behavior, they're not harming themselves, they're not hurting anyone else, they're not causing distraction to anything. So you know, let it be. There's many of these stimming things that can just let happen. They're not hurting anyone else, they're not causing continual distraction where it becomes unsafe, and so many of those things can just. You know, it's kind of pick your battles Like it's not worth it in the sense that their body is requiring, like it's a need, it's not a want to have some type of sensory input. So if we can provide that avenue, we want to allow it because that's what makes them feel safe, that is what makes them feel calm, that helps them to be engaged in our ministry environments. Now, running in circles and the spinning and twirling are the running in circles is probably going to be a bit of a distraction. Spinning and twirling, depending upon what that looks like, could be distracting. But you know, whether you put an X on the floor and maybe they have an area of space where it's safe, there's no objects that they could run into and they know, hey, this is my area and I can stay in that, or you provide optional seating that could provide for some of that. Those are all really great options to engage in those kinds of things. Next, we're going to talk about auditory stimming blurting out high-pitched noises, repetition of noises or sounds, excessively talking, repeating portions of videos, throat clearing and banging on everything no-transcript Stimming actions that would distract from the spaces that that you're in, that would cause difficulty to the other children or adults or teens in their space. So you know those, those are going to be things where we try to find outlets to have that capability. Find outlets to have that capability.
Tracie Corll:For example, I had a little guy a couple of weeks ago he I keep calling him little, he's not that little, he's in second grade, which is still little to me that he, whenever the children's pastor would ask a question and he would not be called upon to answer, he would then blurt out or cry because he was not called upon and he couldn't say what he needed to say. And so there was an extra volunteer in the room and I spoke to him and we talked about you know what and why and what happened and all that kind of stuff. And I said to him I said what happened and all that kind of stuff. And I said to him I said if you have an absolute need, you need to say what you are thinking. I want you to say it to miss so-and-so. And that person went and was able to sit next to him and when he felt like he had something to say that needed to be said and if he couldn't say it, then he might just blow up, you know, or whatever, or burst or however you want to say. He was able to lean over to her and tell her what he was thinking, so he had an outlet, and that's not always possible.
Tracie Corll:There might be other ways to go about that. I used to do, when I was teaching, a blurt box, so if kids had something that they wanted to tell me but I just wasn't available in that moment, they could write it down and stick it in a box. That's not necessarily the same. That is an auditory stimming need. It is again fulfilling a sensory need, and so it's not just an impulse, it is fulfilling a sensory need. So we would have to consider ways that it would allow for that. So let's try to be really careful not to get that mixed up with impulses like ADHD, where we become impulsive and we just can't tell ourselves to hey, stop, I've got something to say and I want the whole world to hear it. Kind of deal where you know those high pitch noises, repetition of noises and things like that, the throat clearing that's not for the need to be heard. That is again a sensory need, and so we can try to find ways to provide for that. There are lots of other. There are lots of. I mean.
Tracie Corll:The list of stimming possibilities is endless. The most important thing I would remind you of is to we got to keep everyone safe. We have to keep the individual who is doing the stimming safe and we need to keep the people around them safe. And if we can find sensory outlets, if we need to help them engage in a behavior in a different way so that the environment is safe, that is what we need to do. If the environment can provide for their stimming is what we need to do. If the environment can provide for their stimming, we should allow it because it is a bodily need. However, there are occasions at which it becomes difficult for that individual to maintain their place in the room without taking away from the entire group, away from the entire group, and so, again, we want to find ways to have conducive interactions and allow them to engage in the stimming if at all possible, and then if we can provide alternatives if needed.
Tracie Corll:For a real quick second, let me just dive into the kind of controversy of stimming and that is in which they really feel like there's a sect of people that really feel like if stimming exists, it should be allowed as long as it's not harmful, because oftentimes, because of the stigma or the misunderstanding that comes along with it. People are then judged because of those stimming needs and then it becomes a mental health issue and they try to hide it, or what is called mask the stimming. And so that's why we want to be able to allow the stimming if at all possible, intervene only when it becomes a huge, huge issue, and especially at safety concerns. But for the most part we're going to allow it. But for the most part we're going to allow it. And again, there are parts that become distractible. But there are some things that over time you just become used to and then you can work and regulate around it.
Tracie Corll:But that doesn't mean there aren't times where we do have to redirect it. But we don't want to cause shame. We don't want to make the person feel less than or need to completely change themselves because of the way that we have addressed it. And then maintain safety. And again, when the stimming tends to be in an unsafe manner, we want to set up policies and procedures on how we would handle that. And those are great discussions to have with parents or caregivers that can give direction on that and also helps them to be aware of what will happen, if so, that they are not surprised in the moment when those things occur.
Tracie Corll:So we want to allow what we can in the environment. We want to provide alternatives if necessary and at all costs keep everyone safe, because we can't hear the gospel and we can't hear the truths about what God has to say about his people and his creation, and we can't be discipled if we are totally wound up or taken into or overcome and overwhelmed by the sensory input that we're receiving. And we need access to allow that to process through our bodies in healthy ways so that Jesus can be known and people can have an experience with their creator. Do I know everything about disability ministry? Do I have all the answers? Have I done everything perfectly? I have absolutely not, but we are going to continue this conversation so that people of all abilities can have the opportunity to know Christ, grow in Him and serve Him with the gifts that he has given them.
