Hand flapping & wringing

I am 33 years old and have been wringing my hands and clicking my fingers together when I am excited for as long as I can remember. I never notice when it starts, but I find myself in a completely different world and then come back to my senses as it were. Both my brothers are the same, my older one not so much but my younger brother (28 years old) does it all the time.

I have 2 daughters now. My eldest (11) does it and I have just noticed my 9 month old starting. So I decided to look it up online because I want to stop cos it's embarrassing when I get caught (although I've only ever been caught as an adult by my older daughter) and I wanted to see if I could help my girls not to do it.

I have to say I am extremely distressed now that it seems to be an indication of autism or some related condition... for me I guess it's ok, but I am so distressed that I have passed this on to my little girls... Is that the only thing that this can be? Please help. Thank you.

[drewlevas]

Well yes it is seen often in people with autism, but it could also be just a  habit. Some people rub there hand together or jump up and down when they are exited. And it's most posible that your daughter learned it from you doing it without noticing it when they where little babies.

[Beaner1978]

Ive kind of calmed down a bit about this since I posted that thankfully... I don't think it's a habit tho cos of my brothers doing it too (one of whIch is older than me) and the fact that it's not something I have control over, much to my own dismay. I would love if it was a habit so then I could break it! I've broken plenty of others over the years! I know that the spectrum of autism is very wide and that some people never get diagnosed as it's not serious enough to effect their daily lives in a major way. Maybe we're in that category somewhere. Might be worth mentioning to my GP next time I'm there. Thanks for responding.