Reconfigure the meaning of stimming in adult women on the autism spectrum from first-person accounts. This reconfiguration occurred by identifying processes of resignification and depathologization of stimmings from the lived experiences of neurodiversity, away from a clinical perspective.
Following a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten Latin American women with autism, aged 19 to 52. These interviews were followed by a graphic exploration exercise focused on the body image and narratives of corporeality and corporality in each of them about their stimming. Data analysis was conducted using qualitative analysis software following an inductive and open coding approach to identify emerging patterns and categories in the participants' narratives.
A key finding was identifying stimming as part of the maximum expression of autistic identity, corporality, and corporeality. Women participants see stimming as bodily self-care, expression, and self-regulation practices. They state that their resignification is based on recognizing the notions over their bodies derived from sociocultural impositions and pathologizing frameworks about their behaviors associated with the autism spectrum, and transforming them from the vindication of their stimming and other autistic traits.
The resignification processes were linked to individualities and sociocultural contexts; however, the participants' resignification processes of stimming and experiences were similar. The research has uncovered some things that emerged during the coding and analysis of the narratives, for example, reflections on the relationship between gender bias and childhood autism, categories that appear during the analysis, and there could be needed to emphasize in future research. It is recommended that further studies integrate other autistic voices that could not be addressed, especially from an intersectionality perspective.
Stimming is more than a motor act or a diagnostic criterion for people within the Autism Spectrum; it expresses the legitimate right to contain oneself, reflect, and return to a safe place, which should be a right for every autistic person. Based on its knowledge of human body movement, body image, corporality, and corporeality, physiotherapy has an emerging field of action in the interaction with people on the autism spectrum since it could facilitate the processes of exploration and body awareness of people with autism, helping them not only to identify and recognize their stimming but also to enhance and redefine them, and as the women in this research, clam it as more than an act without meaning, resulting in greater self-awareness and a better quality of life.
Stimming
Resignification
