Thread by @AlexandraErin

Hey, so, as somebody who gets the idea of stim toys but has never found much use from the old standbys, I want to share one that REALLY worked for me in case anybody else is having the same problem. Affiliate link below: amzn.to/3ih5fcE

If you don't want to use Amazon (and I don't blame anyone who doesn't, nor do I judge anyone who does; I am more reliant on it than I'd like to be, for both income and accessibility), it's the ONO Roller and you can find it elseweb by searching for that.

Background: the first thing that worked for me as a stim toy (aside from picking up small objects with moving parts and fiddling with them until they break) was the bola-style balls that came with a "ladderball" set my family had.

(Also affiliate link)

amzn.to/3kv9Iey

I like them because one of my idle animation processes when I'm thinking is what I call lazy juggling, which is juggling with only one or two objects (it's not "proper" juggling unless you have more objects than hands) as I walk around in circles.

With the ladderball bola I can make juggling-like manipulations with much less risk of dropping the ball or having it go flying or rolling away from me, but it's inconvenient and sometimes dangerous to do that inside.

And the ONO Roller hits a lot of the same satisfaction spots as manipulating the bola does. It's also very discreet, fits well in a pocket or purse and isn't too bulky in the hand.

I wanted quite, slim profile stim toys this weekend because I was seeing a member of my birth family for the first time in two years and I didn't want to be fiddling with my phone the whole time.

Now, I am not at all on the "phones ruin social interaction" train at all...

...and other different circumstances I wouldn't have thought as much about having my phone out, but I kind of wanted to maximize the amount of engagement as it was a short visit after a long absence.

Yes! Very much! I was once gifted a pair of those chime balls by someone who knew my habit of absentmindedly doing juggling-style manipulations, and I like them, but they're heavy, noisy, and can get away from you.

https://twitter.com/sciendere/status/1416946465461637120

Anyway. So I wanted to have my phone put away, but I can engage with a person or a piece of media more if I have something to engage my hands and a part of my brain, and I didn't want it to be my phone.

By the way, if you need a stim toy to be with you always? Put a pop socket on your phone. Even if you don't much need one for holding it, it makes a very satisfying clicky noise, and also when it's extended you can manipulate it a bit like an analog stick.

The back of my phone actually has a pop socket and two ring stands, attached to magnets mounted on metallic plates so they're movable, removable, and swappable, in part so I have things to fiddle with.

But I felt like having my phone on the table in the restaurant, even face down, might make it look like I was antsy to check it if I kept fiddling with the accessories the whole time.

On the other hand, I could keep the roller in my pocket and pull it out under the table. If anyone sees it, it probably just looks like a stress ball type thing or maybe I'm doing physical therapy. I did not feel self conscious at all using it.

The other thing I got for this weekend, because I didn't know how the roller would hit for me and I knew that the "reusable bubble wrap" ones did work for me apart from being too bulky, was this set of keychain toys (yet another affiliate link).

amzn.to/2UsB8qR

The two things in that set that have different colored bubbles in the light gray frame are basically smaller versions of the "bubble wrap" toy, with larger "bubbles", which works for me so much better than the bigger ones did.

I did not end up using them while out and about, though I had one with me, because the roller was good. The metal is a smooth and pleasing texture and, being metal, can be very cool to the touch if it sits out in A/C or whatever.

And that last observation just prompted me to try touching the base of my neck with the (cool) roller and ooh, did that feel nice. Like, it's not something you could just keep sitting there on its own and it would warm up pretty quickly, but nice jolt of instant relief.

Absolutely they do! And if you want the fun shapes, they also have pocket-sized/keychain/clippy ones shaped like unicorns, Baby Yodas, Among Uses, etc. One more affiliate link. amzn.to/3Bf6Ybb

https://twitter.com/ClarissaJ97/status/1416949671822602240

I had absolutely the same experience of thinking the big ones were neat but too big to be practical. I have a big rainbow butterfly one at my desk but it's not something I can take with me.

Absolutely. And I do have bags the big ones would fit in but I'd have a hard time gracefully pulling them out or stowing them in the odd moments when they would be useful, in between things while I'm out and about.

https://twitter.com/ClarissaJ97/status/1416951382540791811

Anyway, this has been a series of fidgets/stim toys that work for me and might work for you. Hope it's helpful to someone.