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TWThis is Harley.
She’s been flapping her arms since she was about one year old and was always obsessed with her hands as a baby.
We were told it was “just a phase.”
That she’d grow out of it.
That it would stop.
I knew something was different from around 12 months.
But she was born at 22 weeks, so of course I held that gently -
extreme prematurity comes with its own timelines, its own rhythms, and a lot of “wait and see.”
She was officially diagnosed with autism at 2½ years old.
And suddenly, everything made sense.
Because it isn’t a habit.
It isn’t something to correct.
And it isn’t something to hide.
It’s stimming.
Stimming is how her brain communicates with her body.
It’s how her nervous system finds balance.
It’s how joy, excitement, comfort, anxiety and overwhelm move through her - especially in a world that asks a lot.
Autistic brains don’t work wrong.
They work differently.
They feel deeply.
They notice more.
They process the world in rich, intense, beautiful ways.
And sometimes that shows up as movement.
Harley didn’t grow out of it.
She grew into herself.
Not broken.
Not behind.
Just wired in her own unique way.
Different brains aren’t something to fix.
They’re something to understand. 💖💜
#autism #autismmom #stimming #asd #autismacceptance
@twins22weeks










