What are your repetitive habits/behaviours?

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-buy the same shoes
-buy the same pants
-eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day
-double/triple check the locks every night
-double/triple check the stove every night
-always sit in the same seats wherever I can
-always order the same things at restaurants

Holy s**t OP are you my twin? Every single point you listed describes me perfectly!

Everyone, including NTs engage in at least some routine, and patterned behaviors, like getting dressed in the same order, or showering in the same order. However, people on the spectrum seem to engage in a lot more of it, although there are exceptions.

As another poster mentioned, on those days that I go online, I tend to spend too much time on WP. Hey! I don't have a lot of vices, and being an introverted hermit with Asperger's, I don't socialize in person much. WP is my main form of socializing. It is far easier to handle than the in person kind, so I am not about to give it up. It also beats everything I've heard about FB and Twitter, so I am not about to sign on with them, when I can hang out here.

I also eat the same breakfast and lunch every day. I ate one type of soup every day for 8 years until they changed it. I've found a new soup and so I will happily eat this one every day for 8 years or however long until they change or discontinue it.

I use certain bowls for certain foods, and certain cutlery. I never eat my food with the same cutlery item that I have stirred it with when it was cooking.

I use some dishes only for sweet food and some only for savoury.

I sit in the same chair at the table at my family home, and the same end of the sofa in my own house (we don't have a dining table).

I love to make lists: just now I am making a list of the clothes I have that I can wear again this winter so I have an idea of what (if anything) I will need to purchase.

My repetitive habits/behaviours are:

-Handwashing
-Wearing the same outfits
-Counting everything I do i.e. steps I walk, volume of television, how many seconds it takes for me to get home
-Shower routine
-The order that I put on clothing and footwear
-Sitting in the same seat on the bus
-I have to eat a freshly cooked meal everyday; NO leftovers

Last edited by KnarlyDUDE09 on 19 Jul 2012, 3:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

Same song, same album, same band. Air guitar in the usual spots. Stock phrases. Unvarying meals, chairs. The list goes to the center of the earth.

Love this post. Been looking for somewhere to post for awhile and find some understanding without judgement. Here it goes coming from an Aspie diagnosed at 16, now 24, has an Aspie father not diagnosed and a 4 year old autistic daughter and a 3 year old not thought to have autism, but developmentally delayed.

- I tend to repeat myself and mostly what I say to someone they done heard it already and tell me "how many times are you gonna tell me that?"

- I overanalyze everything. I take things the wrong way at times, have to have someone calm me and tell me what they meant or what someone else meant until I'm calm. I get stuck in my head "did they mean this, this, or this?" until I have a headache from stress and am at the point of about to have a meltdown and my boyfriend has to calm me down.

- I pace when stressed mostly, this is my big one I do a lot infront of people. My mother has told me prior "can you just sit down? Your driving me crazy with all that motion!"

- I flap my hands at the wrists when I'm stressed and agitated or upset about something bothering me. I try to do this one alone when other people aren't around or it's just me or my boyfriend and by the end of the night, when I can release my stims from a stressful day with the kids.

- I finger flick when stressed.

- I rub my hands and feet on the wall for the smooth texture to calm me when I'm stressed I also rub my feet on a fur blanket I have hanging from a window I have on my wall, I know weird but it calms me. I also rub the blanket with my hands a d squeeze it to release extra pent up energy or stress I have had that day. It's like a release, hard to describe really.

- I use a wolf heavy fur blanket to help me sleep.

- I keep my air conditioner on all night or a fan to help me sleep and block out any extra noise.

- I rock when upset - usually release this at the end of the night and have been told by my boyfriend I had went into my own little world as he calls it and he was trying to ask me questions but I didn't respond to him.

- My boyfriend will ask me if he notices im stressed if I need my own bubble and I'll usually let him know yes or no and if I say yes, he will give me my space. If I tell him no he will cuddle with me. Sometimes when I say yes, he has noticed me agitated and picking at myself (I'm trying to stop picking) but at the time I don't realize I'm doing it from agitation and he has been known to snap me out of it while I'm crying and upset and say "is everything ok?".,. "did the kids stress you out?" and all I have to do is say yes or no is what he told me if I go into one of those episodes and he will hug and cuddle with me and apply pressure until I'm calm or done crying. He also reminds me and asks me if I took my anxiety medicine that day. He is such a sweetheart, trying to understand aspergers, but it sometimes makes me feel like a burden to him. He tells me I'm not and that he only does it because he cares, loves me, and as he sees, he doesn't want me hurting myself. I do it mainly for deep pressure and sometimes I realize I'm doing it and sometimes I don't and he will tap my hand to snap me out of it or ask me what I want to listen to on the radio in the car. He has came to me and talked to me alone about it where no one knows about it but him and I and would tell me what I did prior and that be wants me to come to him and tell him I'm stressed and he will calm me in other ways (hugs, cuddling, rubbing my back, etc). He cooks for me since I'm not good at cooking to relieve my stress of overload with the children and does the dishes. He left me with doing the laundry. And he takes the trash out for me because sometimes I feel like going outside and other days I do not because im afraid neighbors might talk to me when some days im in overload.

- I need breaks and time alone when in overload, usually that's in my room, my own boyfriend created a lock on it so the kids don't disturb me if I need my space for a minute,

- Car rides calm me when stressed, we usually go to the lake, listen to some calming upbeat music, or we take the kids to the park - its a school park behind the school building and usually at night and we are all alone there. The kids benefit from it while I do as well swinging, listening to my headphones and calming down.

- I listen to my headphones if my children become too loud during the day.

- I take showers in the morning to help me "wake up" weird, but this helps me avoid some sensory overload.

- I take anxiety medicine Ativan 3x daily as needed its for panic and anxiety and is like Valium but lower in strength and has the lower addictive quality compared to Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, etc. I'm on a low dosage, but it's also in the same category as Valium, Xanax and Klonopin and a benzodiazepam.

- I clean my teeth constantly with my tongue,

- I scrape my teeth across my tongue.

- I talk really fast while other times I'm "blah" and don't feel like talking or am exhausted or just tired and feel like sleeping. I know I have kids so I push myself, and sometimes go to bed earlier those nights. Sometimes my boyfriend is nice enough to let me take a nap, other times if he needs my help with something he will tell me and then after something is done, he will watch the girls and let me take a nap.

- I bounce and shake my legs.

- I spin in chairs.

- when excited, sometimes my voice will get loud and I won't notice it if someone were to try to be sleeping and my boyfriend has had to tell me "shhhhh" and I've said "oops. Sorry!"

- I pull my hair and feel like screaming at times when stressed.

- I pop my knuckles and after doing this I have a tendency to wring my fingers. I didn't know what that was called until my boyfriend noticed one day and said "wringing your fingers?"... And I kinda looked at him with this weird look and said "yeah sorry. I'll stop"... And he told me "no it's ok... Do it. If it calms you do it I'd rather see you do that than picking at yourself".

- I love any kind of pressure, back rubs, someone laying on my back, tight hugs and squeezes. My boyfriend tends to hug me from behind to give me the pressure I need.

- I tend to bite my lip so bad when it's chap until its sore and hurts and it's a bad habit I can't stop when anxious.

- i bite my nails when anxious.

- I wiggle my toes when excited.

- I rub my hands together as if someone is cold really fast trying to warm up, when I'm anxious or excited about something.

- my boyfriend has told me when he has drive that when Im anxious or sitting in any seat or chair in general he has noticed, I will squirm and can't sit still, move my legs or butt, like I can't get comfortable where im sitting. I know it sounds kinda weird.

- I pick my nose excessively until I know it's clean. I try to do this one in private. Sorry if that's tmi, but another trait, I'm a very detailed person. Sometimes people tell me I tell too much. Oh well, that's just me.

Have a good night/morning!

Michelle

Once I became the music maker, I stopped listening repetitively. Although I'll listen to playbacks 3 or more times whenever I record a track

But I drive people barmy by latching onto words or phrases, or events and continuously bringing them up around them

I set down wallet, keys or phone somewhere in my room then a moment later it gets covered by a towel or a bag then I spend 20 minutes to an hour looking for my important item

I spit at red traffic lights and cars that threaten my physical and sensory well-being

I do the bath after shower thing most of the time

I don't leave my room until 9 AM

I start my surfing at 9 PM. Sites always in same sequence

Lights out at 1 AM

Favorite bands come up in the cycle again; I check for hidden material and rebuild albums

I avoid taking on any new work the same day someone calls me

I interpret voice messages as if they were real time calls

I become agitated when anyone in the house is up past their bedtime or not conforming to their normal patterns of behavior

I always get that.

I do this all the time, especially when there are too many people around, both familiar and unfamiliar, as well as when there's too much going on around me. Also, after a long day of school I do this.

i listen to the same songs/band over and over and over.
my special interest(obviously)
i have to wear the same shoes/socks on certain days.
my saturday and tuesday schedules have to be the same every week.

I read the same books over and over
I listen to the same songs over and over
I watch the same youtube videos over and over
I do my webkinz things in the same order
I brush my teeth in the same order
I make ANY powdered drink in the same order
I keep my icons on my phone in the exact right places
I keep my notes and doodles in the same order.
I doodle the same thing over and over
I write one word over and over during class *usually* it's a Latin word
I do my smileys the same way (I hate it when people do backwards ones)

I sometimes latch on to a song and repeat it over and over for days, although I don't do it so much since I started listening to Pandora. I come to associate certain events with the song I was repeating at the time.

I eat the same thing for breakfast and usually lunch every day. I change this every couple years or so, though.

I usually walk the exact same route to a particular destination (down to crossing roads and parking lots the same way) and sit at the same table in restaurants.

Not sure whether it's "repetitive", but someone else mentioned being calmed by riding in the car, and I am too, though I get very anxious when I see other cars approaching on side streets or merging, or go faster than I'm used to. I didn't used to get like this until I was in an accident (when a friend was driving - I can't drive).

I pace a lot and talk to myself when I'm alone.

I don't know if you mean stims or things we just do again and again.

- constant doodling
- I flex my big toes constantly, which usually results in the toes of my shoes wearing out before anywhere else.
- I obsessively shop for flutes and hoodies (I know, random right? It's a sickness)
- I cup my face with my left hand when I am working hard on something I really like
- I flex my toes so hard when I am happy that I sometimes destroy pairs of shoes
- I count things without thinking about it sometimes so It's become a game to me to arrive at the microwave 3 seconds exactly before a 5 min timer goes off. The same is true of alarm clocks and waking up. Three minutes ahead of time I wake up and turn off the alarm every morning.

My repetitive behaviours are limited. I do eat the same thing in my three favorite restaurants. At HT it's always the barbeque pork and roast duck lunch combo. At Pandasia it's usually the beef & broccoli lunch special with hot & sour soup, fried rice and spring roll. At Panda it's always a beef & broccoli and crispy chicken with fried rice and lo mein combo.

<--- wears different things every day.
<--- listens mostly to classical music while writing, but it's always different composers.
<--- Does look at a limited variety of TV shows (Judge Mathis, Criminal Minds).
<--- Has no real OCD's.

I have never ordered anything at Subway but a footlong cold cuts trio with American cheese and lettuce. I've had workers at three different Subways memorize my order because of this.

I like listening to the same song over and over, if it's one I particularly like (especially 80s songs; those seem to be really catchy - like The Four Tops "Loco in Acapulco" and Men At Work's "Who Can It Be Now")

I also pick at/bite my cuticles, pull my eyelashes out (because there are some that irritate me) and I also have a tendency to pick at dried - over scabs...I know, I know, it's totally gross.

Also, whenever I go to bed, I check the walls, ceilings, and ceiling corners in my room for spiders. I'm sort of scared of spiders. And when I'm in college and living in the dorms, I have a tendency to go to the same places to eat at the Student center and order the same thing every day (i.e., a pepperoni pizza at Papa Johns, and then a chocolate frosty at Wendy's)...but I've gotten better about changing it up every now and then.