Auditory Stimming

Written by Livia Farkas || First published: 26 March, 2025 | Last edited: 26 March, 2025 || 📚🕒 Reading Time: 6 minutes

Auditory stimming is a form of self-stimulatory behavior that involves making sounds with your voice, whether through non-word vocalizations (vocal stimming) or speech-based expressions (verbal stimming). This natural and beneficial form of self-expression helps with emotional regulation, sensory processing, and achieving a sense of comfort and focus. ³

As one autistic adult describes: “I start speaking to myself or groaning to block out other sounds and so that I know which thoughts are mine… I think anyone experiencing life this way would do the same.” ¹

Auditory stimming can include anything from humming and whistling to repeating favorite phrases or singing snippets of songs. While often associated with neurodivergent experiences, particularly autism and ADHD, making repetitive sounds for comfort or focus is a universal human behavior that serves important self-regulatory functions. ³

Vocal stims vs Verbal stims

Auditory stimming encompasses two main types: vocal stimming (non-word sounds) and verbal stimming (word-based expressions). While they might serve similar purposes, understanding the distinction can help in recognizing and validating these different forms of self-expression.

Vocal Stimming

Vocal stimming involves making sounds that aren’t words, using your mouth, lips, vocal cords, and sometimes ears. ² Common examples include:

• Humming or singing without words
• Making rhythmic sounds
• Whistling
• Tongue clicking
• Throat clearing
• Making animal noises
• Beatboxing
• Squealing or other joyful sounds

Verbal Stimming

Verbal stimming involves the use of actual words or phrases. ² This can include:

• Repeating favorite phrases or quotes
• Singing the same lines from songs
• Echoing words or phrases others have said (echolalia)
• Repeating your own words or phrases (palilalia)
• Speaking in particular rhythmic patterns
• Using specific words or phrases that feel satisfying to say

Both types of auditory stimming can be done quietly or loudly, consciously or unconsciously, and may vary depending on the environment and your current needs. ³

Why People Engage in Auditory Stimming

Auditory stimming serves many important purposes in our daily lives. Understanding these functions can help build self-acceptance and create more supportive environments for neurodivergent expressions.

Self-Regulation and Emotional Processing

• Helps manage stress and anxiety
• Provides comfort during overwhelming situations
• Assists in processing strong emotions
• Creates a sense of security and predictability ¹

Sensory Processing

• Can help block out overwhelming environmental sounds
• Provides a focusing point during sensory overload
• Helps distinguish between external input and internal thoughts
• Creates a predictable sensory experience you can control ³

Focus and Concentration

• Improves focus during challenging tasks
• Helps maintain attention
• Creates a rhythm that supports thinking and processing
• Can help with task initiation and completion ³

Joy and Self-Expression

• Expresses excitement and happiness
• Provides a natural outlet for energy
• Creates enjoyable sensory experiences
• Allows for creative expression ²

Environmental Adaptation

• Helps adjust to new or changing environments
• Provides consistency in unfamiliar situations
• Supports transition between different activities
• Helps create personal space in busy settings ²

Common Contexts and Situations

Auditory stimming occurs naturally in various situations throughout daily life. Understanding these contexts can help validate your experiences and recognize when and why you might need to stim.

In social situations, auditory stimming often emerges as a way to process and manage complex interactions. “I quickly become overwhelmed [in social situations]. Is it surprising that I then feel like blocking the world out and literally putting my thoughts back in order?” ¹ Whether during group conversations, meetings, or busy social gatherings, stimming can help create a sense of order and control while processing social information.

The workplace or other focus-demanding environments frequently call for auditory stimming. Many people find themselves humming or using verbal stims while concentrating on tasks, problem-solving, or transitioning between different activities. This can help maintain attention and create a productive rhythm, especially during detailed or repetitive work. ³Yes

Emotional experiences often trigger the need for auditory stimming. This could be during moments of joy and excitement, or when processing more challenging feelings like stress or anxiety. Stimming provides a natural outlet for these emotions and helps regulate our emotional state. ²

Sensory processing demands in our environment can also prompt auditory stimming. In noisy spaces, making our own sounds can help filter overwhelming external input. Similarly, during periods of under-stimulation, auditory stimming can provide needed sensory engagement. This self-regulation tool helps us navigate varying sensory environments throughout our day. ³.

Daily activities and routine tasks often incorporate auditory stimming naturally. Whether we’re thinking through a problem, engaged in reading or writing, or simply taking time to relax, these stims can become a comfortable part of our daily rhythm. ²

Understanding and Accepting Auditory Stims

Auditory stimming is a natural expression of human neurodiversity, representing one of many ways our brains process information and regulate our experiences. While particularly common among neurodivergent individuals, including autistic people and those with ADHD, making repetitive sounds for comfort or focus is part of the broader spectrum of human behaviour. ³

Understanding auditory stimming as a beneficial coping strategy rather than a behaviour that needs to be changed is crucial for both individual well-being and social acceptance. When we try to suppress natural stimming behaviors, it can lead to increased stress and difficulty with emotional regulation. Instead, recognizing these behaviours as valuable tools for self-regulation can help build self-acceptance and reduce unnecessary masking. ²

Creating accepting environments where auditory stimming is understood and welcomed benefits everyone. This might mean having designated spaces where people feel comfortable expressing themselves through sounds, or simply fostering an atmosphere where natural self-regulatory behaviors aren’t met with judgment or confusion. In professional settings, this understanding can lead to more inclusive practices that acknowledge and accommodate different ways of processing and being. ³

For those who engage in auditory stimming, self-advocacy might involve explaining to others how these behaviours help with focus, emotional regulation, or sensory processing. It’s important to remember that while some situations might require finding balance between personal needs and environmental considerations, the goal should never be to completely eliminate these helpful self-regulatory behaviours .¹

Stimming in Different Environments

While auditory stimming is natural and beneficial, different environments may call for different approaches to meeting our self-regulatory needs. Understanding how to navigate various settings while honouring our need to stim can help create more comfortable experiences across all areas of life.

In professional environments, many people find ways to incorporate auditory stimming that aligns with workplace dynamics. This might mean using quieter forms of vocal stimming while working, finding private spaces for more expressive moments, or being open with colleagues about how these behaviors support focus and productivity. Some workplaces are increasingly recognizing that allowing natural self-regulatory behaviors can enhance rather than hinder professional performance. ³

Social situations often present unique opportunities and challenges for auditory stimming. While some social contexts might allow for more open expression, others might require finding alternative ways to meet our regulatory needs. Remember that managing these situations isn’t about suppressing stimming entirely, but rather about finding comfortable ways to maintain our well-being while engaging with others. ¹

Home environments ideally serve as safe spaces where auditory stimming can happen freely and are crucial places for unmasking. Creating accepting household environments, especially in shared living situations, might involve having conversations about different comfort levels and needs. This could include establishing understanding about when and where more energetic vocal expression feels most appropriate for everyone. ²

Public spaces may require more conscious navigation, but this doesn’t mean suppressing our needs. Instead, it’s about finding comfortable ways to meet our regulatory requirements while moving through the world. This might involve having headphones available for music stimming, finding quiet spaces for more vocal expression, or simply being confident in our right to exist and self-regulate in public spaces.³

Related Concepts

Auditory stimming exists within a broader context of neurodivergent experiences and human self-regulatory behaviors. Understanding these connections can help deepen our appreciation of how different forms of stimming and self-expression interact and support our well-being.

General stimming encompasses a wide range of self-stimulatory behaviors beyond the auditory realm. This includes movement-based stims like rocking or hand-flapping, tactile experiences like touching specific textures, and visual stimming such as watching repetitive patterns. Many people engage in multiple forms of stimming, often combining auditory stims with other types to create comprehensive self-regulatory strategies. ¹ Learn more about stimming here.

Sensory processing plays a crucial role in understanding why and how we stim. Our brains constantly process information from our environment, and stimming helps manage this sensory input. Auditory stimming can be particularly effective in creating predictable sensory experiences that help filter or balance other sensory information we’re receiving. ³ Learn more about sensory processing and its differences here.

The relationship between stimming and emotional regulation highlights how these behaviors support our overall well-being. Whether through vocal sounds, verbal expressions, or other forms of stimming, these natural behaviors help us process emotions, maintain focus, and navigate challenging situations. Understanding this connection helps validate stimming as an important tool for emotional and sensory well-being. ² Learn more about emotional regulation here.

Autistic speech patterns share important connections with auditory stimming, particularly in how they relate to self-expression and processing. These patterns might include echolalia (repeating others’ words), using scripted phrases (scripting), or having unique prosody (rhythm and intonation of speech), aka flat effect. While distinct from stimming, these natural variations in communication can sometimes overlap with verbal stimming, especially when phrases are repeated for comfort or processing. Both autistic speech patterns and auditory stimming represent valid forms of communication and self-expression that deserve understanding and acceptance.²

Verbal and vocal stims are not something to “manage”

Within the broader context of neurodivergent experiences, stimming represents one of many natural variations in human behavior and processing. Like other aspects of neurodivergent expression, it reflects the diversity of human neurology and the various ways we interact with and make sense of our world. ³