Liberatory Practice

In trauma theory, anti-oppressive practice, and disability justice, one truth keeps resurfacing: the body already knows what it needs, but culture keeps getting in the way. Stimming—rocking, flapping, tapping, humming, pacing, chewing, spinning, fidgeting—is one of the clearest examples. It is an act of self-regulation, expression, and sensory equilibrium, and yet it is one of the most policed behaviors in neurodivergent bodies. To understand why stimming is pathologized inst