Hyper Focused on Special Objects

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I am diagnosed with autism and I have a question for you all.

I get really, really focused on certain kinds of objects. Bouncy balls, playing cards, checkers, mahjong tiles, dice, poker chips, etcetera. Sometimes, it's like nothing else exists but these special items. I can't take my eyes off of them, I keep moving them around in my hands, and I especially like large piles of them. I used to throw them all over the floor and just leave them there. But it got really messy.

It is a problem at times when I will sit down for very long periods and simply focus on organizing objects. For example, Perler Beads into containers by colour. I will not move, I will not take a break, I will not stop, and when I finally do, I will continue doing the same thing the next day. I become totally absorbed in this activity and will do it as long as possible. Say, I might get really tired and no longer have the energy for it.

I have been told that it is completely pointless and I have been strongly discouraged from doing such things.

Does anyone else do this? Do you know someone who does? Do you have any advice for finding a way to stop these urges and prevent these kinds of problems from reoccurring? It's like being irresistibly drawn to a magnet.

Is casinos your Special interest. Sometimes I do that.

No, I do not have a special interest in casinos.

How does it differ from playing video games? It's pleasant, it's addicting, it kills time...
Do you actually have anything else to do in that time?
If you have to do something else are you able to stop (not suddenly but according to a plan) and do what you are supposed to do? If so - then there is no problem. But if it prevents you from other activities... The only suggestion I have is setting a time limit. "I am going to finish the play in 10 minutes and help my mom".

You can also do something useful with the trait of yours. I am not that into objects (although as a kid I loved organizing Lego by colors and my collection of cards by random categories I thought up) but some time ago I found old photo albums (about 2000 photos) and had fun fro 10hours while organizing them. I stopped after midnight, suddenly realizing my parents are sleeping and I am about to collapse of hunger because I ate nothing since breakfast.

Hyperfocus can be a good thing, if used right.

BTW. Recently I sent my CV to a company that organizes and checks device parts. I am pretty sure I will have a lot of fun if they hire me and I think you would have fun too. It's all about organizing objects all day long!
So don't worry when people say it is pointless - it is useful in some jobs.

No, I don't consider this anything like video games. A video game is a changing, flowing experience that is not monotonous, and presents an entertaining challenge. This is a completely black and white activity with no point. It's simply doing the same physical actions again and again over a very long period of time. It makes me feel completely out of control. I don't want to just sit there and organize, for example, beads all day long. I want the irresistibility to go away so that I can feel like I have more power over my life and my decisions.



I don't work. I'm too disabled. But that doesn't mean that I want to spend my time doing these things. I no longer find it interesting or fun. And even if it was, it's not healthy to just sit down and do the same thing for such a long period of time. A healthy life requires psychological balance. This is not something I should be doing.



You may feel that way about your photographs and I respect that, but I personally do not see such activities as healthy. I really do believe my therapist when he says that this is not a good activity to engage in. There's nothing wrong with organizing for a short period, however, once it becomes an obsession that devours my time and becomes an irresistible habit that I can't manage, it's a big problem. I don't want to be this way. I don't want to give into my autistic problems and let them control my life. I want to be as normal as possible. I'm done thinking that such things are somehow special to me.



I would not want to turn this kind of thing into a job. I feel like that would be encouraging my problems when I want them to stop. There may not be a "cure" for autism, but I still want to get better as much as possible.

Please understand that I am not judging you. I just don't feel like this is right for me.

If it isn't like a game - why don't you make game out of it?
As I child I loved playing gaps solitaire: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/brainga ... itaire.htm or match 3 games http://www.gamesgames.com/games/match-3 , it is about organizing objects but is pretty random and it exercises your brain and observation abilities.

And if you want to stop sitting in one position doing one thing whole day you can buy some stuff for psychical exercises, like yoga ball and weight lifting. It will be good for your body.

Anyway - my only suggestion is finding something else to keep your brain and body busy.
You probably do those stuff because nothing else interests you enough to beat the urge and you dont really have to do anything else.
I am like this too but fortunately my "magnets" are more productive and if I try I can use hyperfocus to do things I don't otherwise like. I just start doing what I am supposed to do and hope hyperfocus ticks while I am at it. And I don't let myself to even start doing the stuff that would be a waste of time in case hyperfocus ticks. Unless they are fun/challenging - fun and challenges makes it worth to waste hours on an activity.

If you can't work how about you go to some school for adults? Or simply focus on cleaning your house? Or doing some creative work?(for example knitting or making jewelry using beads)
Find yourself some productive activity and you won't feel like you waste time anymore.

The beads I mentioned are Perler Beads. I make video game sprites with them.

Here's an example of someone else's work:
http://in2.ccio.co/i3/45/0F/8ad124dc7c5 ... 279a55.jpg

The reason I posted here is because I can't find another way to direct this energy. I don't know how to break away, switch interests, or find something better to do. It's a big mental block for me. My therapist helps a lot, but I still find myself struggling at times.

Well, this is pretty much one of the defining behaviors associated with autism. I do this often, too. When I have little to do, I'll pick up some object and start fiddling with it. There's usually something attractive and stimulating with the object, like the shape, how it feels when I touch it, or sounds it makes when I rub it, which is what makes me focus on it and play with it. I do this most with battery covers on things like TV remotes, those ones that have this clip-like protrusion that snaps in when closed. There's an extremely satisfying click that I feel and hear when the cover is closed, which causes me to open and close it over and over again, even subconsciously. I think this may be part of the abnormal sensory processing many autistic people have, since most NTs get annoyed or bored with things like this, while I find it pleasurable.

I don't know if it's the same but I'm doing something similar at the moment with a certain object. Just feel the need to look at and touch it every few minutes. I think it may be that the object is representitive of a certain concept, and my mind is acquainting itself with this concept, a kind of acclimatisation. Related at all?

for me this doesn't happen so much with objects, but usually with something like a music video instead. and then i'll watch it over and over again. or, lately, my own posts here. i read them again and again, and it's compulsive. i have things i should be doing. i mean... right now

i think it sort of feels like i'm "going to lose a little bit of my soul" if i start doing what i'm supposed to be doing (because i don't want to do it), so i keep compulsively focusing on things that reaffirm my identity. sometimes it also happens when i should be going to sleep. it can be a problem. but ignoring the urge is worse, because then i simply don't fall asleep, period

i see it as a sign of stress or tiredness, and i think the only thing i can do to reduce the time spent on compulsive repetitive things is reduce general stress and get some rest if i can (except it can be complicated sometimes when i'm wasting so much time on compulsive things and i still have things to do). by now i'm used to it as a fact of life that i need to work around and be used to, and one of the reasons why i believe i am simply not fit for regular employment arrangements

there's also my trusty little plastic case (it looks like this one) that i can't live without, but it's a different thing. if i'm behind a desk and i'm reading or looking at something on the screen and not typing or anything, i need to keep my fingers busy, or else i get antsy and i can't focus

I have a bouncy ball, and two dice on my desk right now, plus six rubber pencil grips, but no pen or pencil. I feel just fine with them there.

I hyper focus on topics I admit are boring. It can be something like "Eye colour" or "autism", for example. I cope with it because my interest changes every few weeks, so I'll get a more interesting one eventually. But I can think of a couple of things that might help you.

Find a therapist who is respectful towards Autistic adults, who's more on the 'helping you live the best life you can' side, rather than the 'trying to fix you' side. (If you don't already have one,) and ask them to work with you on this.

Research how to break a habit; ask a family member to distract you when you start doing it. Set up some other exciting reward for yourself to do instead. This will only work if you actually do have the willpower to stop.

Then, there also may be medicines that could help you regulate your obsessions. Talk to a therapist.

Hope you find a way to change (:

Thank you for all the replies.

Sometimes, I focus on things because they help me connect my thoughts together. However, I'm not really sure just how much that has to do with what I'm currently talking about. I do feel like I learn at the same time, but it can be a very repetitive activity that isn't always very conscious.



I have a therapist. He's the one that initially got me to try to stop doing such things.



I have thought and thought about it until I just can't think about it any more. My personal research into the subject helps a lot, but I hit walls at some point. I have the willpower to stop. I am a very strong willed person. But that only gets me so far.

When it comes to rewards, how would you suggest going about that? I'm not familiar with reward systems.



I would say that it's pretty much psychological.

Maybe it's just a stim.

Possible.

However my stims don't usually make me forget about whole world and I can do other things at the same tim. They work in the background - I am unaware of them unless they interfere with something else, someone points them out to me or I am intentionally using them to deal with sensory overload.

My example of stim: just a moment ago I was fidgeting with some empty coffee creamer containers(this type) without being aware of it (I realized when I had to put them away to be able to type) and while I was rereading what I wrote I unknowingly started fidgeting with them again.

What RabidFox describes sounds more like my hyperfocus than my stimming.
But maybe severely disabled people experience hyperfocus on stims? I can't know.

lol, why is Hitler included in the pic of creamer container. If let alone too long, I can lose myself in stimming to the point I'd probably starve to death. Then again, I am on the moderate range of the spectrum and brain damage doesn't help.