Mootoo
Phoenix
Joined: Oct 02, 2010
Age: 23
Posts: 668
Location: UK
|
 Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:14 am Post subject: Are aspies generally organized in their room, thoughts? |
 |
|
| I'm not sure if it's an AS thing, of course, but my room always seem to revert back to being war-torn soon after it's cleaned and organized, and I think it may be due to being psychologically disorganized. Any ideas on how to rectify that? |
|
| Back to top |
|
Tomasu
A Wandering Pixie
Joined: Jun 20, 2008
Age: 23
Posts: 3198
Location: West Yorkshire, England
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
^^ Yaye greetings Mootoo. I believe that I may be considered as very messy also. ^^ However, I believe that I enjoy this very much as I often become very confused when I tidy my happy bedroom as often I may not remember in which locations I placed many objects and also when my bedroom is considered as messy, many of my items including my studying books, reading books and also other items are sleeping on places where I may use them very quickly and this is useful for me.
^^ Perhaps this may be very nice to create a little routine for tidying and perhaps write this routine upon a little notice for yourself. I am very sorry if this is not very helpful however.
_________________
My Happy Blog: http://thoughtsofawanderingpixie.blogspot.com/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
sociable_hermit
Rabbit in the headlights
Joined: Aug 26, 2006
Posts: 1592
Location: Sussex, UK
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:39 am Post subject: |
|
|
I generally susbscribe to the "date last used" method of filing, i.e. stuff nearest to the top has been used recently, things near the bottom of the stack have been there a while.
Day to day I find this works really well, however eventually the accumulated mass becomes overwhelming. So then I have to spend a day or two sorting everything out, putting things away if needed or throwing them out if irrelevant, and then I start again with a spotless room.
I don't think it's a symptom of a disorganised mind, more a mind that is very focussed on one particular project at a time. Each little pile of stuff represents a different project, interest or workstream - possibly further broken down into stages or days. At the time they are essential and make perfect sense, but a fortnight later when I've moved onto something else they're suddenly an anachronism and I've forgotten what's in each heap, why I needed it, or which bits were important. Plus it all mounts up and what was previously familiar and comforting starts to become claustrophobic and messy. In particular I'm always scared of losing things, or forgetting something important, and I think it's mainly that anxiety that forces me to tidy up.
_________________
The Sociable Hermit says:
Rock'n'Roll... |
|
| Back to top |
|
Verdandi
Miss Kitty Fantastico
Joined: Dec 08, 2010
Posts: 10358
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
| It's often a sign of impaired executive function, whether due to autism, ADHD, depression, schizophrenia, etc. |
|
| Back to top |
|
kBillingsley
Sea Gull
Joined: Dec 23, 2010
Age: 19
Posts: 228
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 11:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
| My thoughts are disorganized with respect to normal thinking patterns. Though it is difficult to say exactly how I think, if put on a screen, it would look sort of like a terminator's memory sequence from TSCC. Sort of like this. |
|
| Back to top |
|
sociable_hermit
Rabbit in the headlights
Joined: Aug 26, 2006
Posts: 1592
Location: Sussex, UK
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Verdandi wrote: | | It's often a sign of impaired executive function, whether due to autism, ADHD, depression, schizophrenia, etc. |
Interesting.... do you have any more information about that?
I'm a bit taken aback by the term "impaired". Is it really a problem, or just a difference?
I always thought I was pretty normal like that, but maybe not.
_________________
The Sociable Hermit says:
Rock'n'Roll... |
|
| Back to top |
|
kirayng
Phoenix
Joined: Nov 13, 2011
Age: 36
Posts: 750
Location: Maine, USA
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sociable_hermit wrote: | | Verdandi wrote: | | It's often a sign of impaired executive function, whether due to autism, ADHD, depression, schizophrenia, etc. |
Interesting.... do you have any more information about that?
I'm a bit taken aback by the term "impaired". Is it really a problem, or just a difference?
I always thought I was pretty normal like that, but maybe not. |
I'd like more info too because try as I may I am victim to that cleaning thing too. Weekend I clean, organize, straighten, then over the course of the week it goes back to being messy as things get used then I don't want to put it away for good so I leave it out to remind me to do it again... and those piles grow around my desk until I realize the oldest thing is like a month old. 
Any info on the executive dysfunction part to this? If I get help with that will it get better? My hubby is also Aspie and cleans when I tell him to when I can't stand it anymore lol otherwise it's YEARS for things to get moved/cleaned. |
|
| Back to top |
|
Verdandi
Miss Kitty Fantastico
Joined: Dec 08, 2010
Posts: 10358
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| sociable_hermit wrote: | | Verdandi wrote: | | It's often a sign of impaired executive function, whether due to autism, ADHD, depression, schizophrenia, etc. |
Interesting.... do you have any more information about that?
I'm a bit taken aback by the term "impaired". Is it really a problem, or just a difference?
I always thought I was pretty normal like that, but maybe not. |
http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/challenging_behavior/activities_of_daily_living
http://www.geocities.com/growingjoel/ef.html
I would say it's really a problem. For me, the same difficulties that make it hard for me to clean also makes it hard for me to cook, to do laundry, to pay bills, to essentially function as an independent adult. I think some level of untidyness is probably a difference and not truly an impairment, but messes can cause problems such as vermin, fire hazards, hoarding, etc, and that goes beyond "just a difference." |
|
| Back to top |
|
Jtuk
Phoenix
Joined: Jan 22, 2012
Posts: 732
Location: Wales, UK
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 1:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I'm horrifically untidy when left to my own devices. My wife keeps me tidy now. At work my desk is almost legendary, but I do tidy it up completely once a month.
It used to be a real problem, but it is under control now. It is not cured though, I fall back into it the minute my wife is away for a night.
Jason |
|
| Back to top |
|
Jory
Always in the wrong place at the wrong time
Joined: Jun 03, 2011
Age: 29
Posts: 6406
Location: Tornado Alley
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 2:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Aside from my bookshelf, very disorganized, and even the bookshelf is in question since I was a weird "order" that everything goes in. |
|
| Back to top |
|
IdahoRose
Imaginary Friend
![]()
Joined: Feb 25, 2007
Age: 22
Posts: 18651
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 3:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| My room is always terribly messy. My mom helps me clean it on her days off, but by the time the next week rolls around, it's trashed again. To make matters worse, I also have hoarding tendencies since I hate throwing things away that could have sentimental value or use in the future, even though in most people's eyes those things are trash. |
|
| Back to top |
|
YellowBanana
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 15, 2011
Posts: 923
Location: mostly, in my head.
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I am naturally very very untidy. When I was growing up my room was a complete tip. When I was a student my room was a complete tip. When my husband and I moved in together ... the house was a complete tip (much to my husband's dismay, as he is naturally very tidy but that didn't balance it out). But I never liked being untidy. It was my natural state, but I didn't enjoy not being able to find things when I wanted them, or tripping over things, and it was an endless source of contention between my husband & I.
Then I realised that the key to being tidy was to have less stuff. And for all your stuff to have a home - a specific place where it lives. And to have a routine that means you pick up and put away at least once a week (but preferably a little every day). So with all that in place, my home is much tidier. And at work, I am held up by my colleagues as being a good example of organisation. Which I find amusing given how naturally untidy I am. But the reality is I am much calmer when my surroundings are not a mess, so this is why I continue to work hard on this. And it is work - it doesn't come naturally and when I don't follow my routines, or start buying things that don't have a place to live in our home, it all falls apart.
_________________
Female. Dx ASD in 2011 @ Age 38. Also Dx EDD/BPD
Last edited by YellowBanana on Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
bookworm285
Snowy Owl
Joined: Dec 28, 2010
Posts: 155
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I have a problem with Executive Function also. And for most my life, had problems hoarding/being chronically disorganized. Today I live in a clean, clutter-free home.
This book started it all: Organizing from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern. It was the best, practical advice, although I'd read other organizing books. Here's an article by her: http://www.oprah.com/home/Discover-Your-Clutter-Problem
There was probably 10 years between when I first read the book, and became this organized, but it's a process. Each step I took along the way lightened my load. Life is so much simpler now that I can actually find things! |
|
| Back to top |
|
Bun
Bunnymen
Joined: Jan 09, 2012
Posts: 3250
|
| Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 4:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Not per se for, but I always leave things the way they are, rather than rearrange them 'spontaneously'. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
