Do you talk with your hands?

If you have been around for awhile, you probably already know I talk with my hands, a lot, and this week I’m going to share why.

If you’re new, welcome, I hope you stay tuned.

Transcript:

Happy Flappy Hands – Autism & Hand Movements – I Talk with My Hands

Hey, internet humans. If you have been around for awhile, you probably already know I talk with my hands, a lot, and this week I’m going to share why.

[00:00:15] If you’re new, welcome, I hope you stay tuned.

[00:00:47] All right everyone, those new people don’t forget to hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss a new video, because I do put out new content each and every Wednesday.

[00:01:04] Welcome back to everyone who has been following the Neuro blog for, gosh, however long you’ve been following it for. We’ve been doing this for four and a half years now.

[00:01:14] I’m really grateful for each and every one of you being here. Thank you.

[00:01:17] The topic today: talking with your hands. Why do some people do it?  I know why I do it.

[00:01:27]I am a multiply Neurodivergent adult. This blog started when I was diagnosed Autistic at the age of 29 and started to re-examine the way I look at the world.

[00:01:39] One of those things, because I have always, throughout my entire life, been driven by the question and finding the answers to “why?”  I like to ask… why do we do the things we do? And one of those things people ask me or point out a lot is the fact that I talk with my hands and so I thought this week, it’d be a little bit fun to share what’s going on when I am talking with my hands.

[00:02:08] Hi, Rocky.

[00:02:12] Would you like to be in this video? Rocky doesn’t usually make an appearance in my videos. That’s a little bit different.

[00:02:19] Do you talk with your hands?

[00:02:22] No, nevermind. You’re out of here. Okay. Bye.

[00:02:25] One reason I talk with my hands is because it is almost a stim.

[00:02:33] Autistic People, they flap and do different things with their hands.

[00:02:36] Stimming is a way that we neurodivergent humans regulate our energy. We get excited and there is a burst of energy and it comes out  -happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy.

[00:02:49] Or even if we are startled suddenly, and that’s a burst of energy and energy is expelled through movement of the hands.

[00:03:01] When I am talking, my hands are moving and painting and the energy is flowing and I am telling a story. That is one reason.

[00:03:11] Like with other things, I am constantly in motion regulating my Neurodivergent energy.

[00:03:20] The other reason that I talk with my hands is because I am a very detailed visual thinker. Often when I am telling someone a story, I may be acting out the story I am telling with my hands.

[00:03:46] That is because say, if I’m telling a story about driving a car, I am seeing driving a car or if I am saying, “Oh, I pet the fluffy dog, and they were really soft”. I am seeing a fluffy dog, so I am trying to draw what I am seeing in my visual processing visual minds eye, trying to come out in my hands as if my hands were my paintbrush to share with you what I am trying to express with my words, because I often feel as this, my words do not do the experience of what it is in my mind justice. 

[00:04:29] A lot of the talking, I do with my hands, I do involuntarily. I can force myself to keep my hands still and be still. Sometimes I may sit on my hands and grab my legs, or if I’m on camera, I may keep them under the table, so they are not distracting to other people.

[00:04:52] Over the years I have learned that all of this movement of my hands, depending on who I was around, was sometimes something I was mocked for and told to be ashamed of, but it’s just the way my body moves.

[00:05:09] Under the table. Even now, my hands are still moving.

[00:05:15] I’m done being ashamed of my happy flappy hands. They do what they want to do and I don’t think it’s fair for me to have to try, very hard, focusing my energy to be something I’m not. Contain myself, contain my stims, contain my flaps, contain my gestures.

[00:05:39] I do not need to be contained. I need to be free. I need to be let out.

[00:05:46] I need to be allowed to move with my natural Autistic stimmy body language. 

[00:05:52] Ooh.

[00:05:54] I spent enough of my life hiding before I knew I was Autistic, being called out for being a weirdo, or being called a cartoon, for being overly animated.

[00:06:09] I’m done hiding. I’m done masking. I’m done pretending to be something I’m not.

[00:06:19] I’m ready to finally embrace myself, even the little parts of me, the little quirks and things, that were a lot of years in my life have been things that people teased and even mocked or made fun of me for.

[00:06:37] These happy, happy hands. They’re a part of me. They are an extension of my expression and my emotion.

[00:06:47] When I am feeling joy, they radiate joy.

[00:06:50] When I am afraid. And when I am in sorrow, my hands convey my feelings in ways that other parts of my body cannot.

[00:07:02] I love these hands because they let me do great things.

[00:07:09] So that’s it, the answer to the question: “Why do I talk with my hands?”

[00:07:18] Let me know.

[00:07:20] Do you talk with your hands? Does anyone else talk with their hands?

[00:07:25]Why do you talk with your hands, hand talkers? Why do you do it?

[00:07:32] Is it for the same reasons that I’m speaking with my hands or is it for different reasons that you speak with your hands?

[00:07:41] I would love to know the insights here because, with Autism, and Autistic people, each and every single Autistic person is different, and has their own experience of what it means to be an Autistic person.

[00:07:58] Not all Autistic people talk with their hands. Some may, some may not.

[00:08:03] This has just been a little insight onto why I, personally, talk with my hands.

[00:08:09] I hope this has been helpful or interesting, or  entertaining to you.

[00:08:14] If so, don’t forget to hit that thumbs up button. Hit that like button.  Please don’t forget to subscribe.

[00:08:20] I put out new videos each and every Wednesday.

[00:08:23] A very, very huge, and special thank you to The Subscribers on Patreon, The Facebook Supporters, and also now YouTube Channel Subscribers. Wherever you subscribe and pay that little extra to help support the Neurodivergent Blog. I am extremely grateful.

[00:08:47] You helped me do what I do. I couldn’t continue to put out this quality content without you.

[00:08:53] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

[00:08:55] As  a very small, thank you for all of the help you give, I do put out videos like this one early to those of you who are subscribed.

[00:09:02] Whether you’re liking, following subscribing sharing, or just existing and submitting your questions, I am so grateful for you.

[00:09:14] Keep on sending your questions. If you have an idea for a future video, drop it in the comments below, and I will talk to you next Wednesday.

[00:09:22] Bye humans!

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