Examples of Repetitive Behaviours / Insistence on Sameness that led to a positive diagnosis

Hi all,

I'm still digging around trying to understand what sorts of things are counted as meeting threshold for RRBs / IS in an autism diagnosis. Please note that I don't intend to fake any at my upcoming ADOS! What I'm after is some examples that allow me to settle the question in my mind that wonders if my clinical interview missed RRBs / IS that I *do* have, but aren't the stereotypical "obvious" ones.

I don't want a positive diagnosis if I'm not genuinely ASD, but neither do I want a negative diagnosis if I *am*.

Apart from the minor success I've had in discovering the RBQ2a, I'm drawing a blank in my internet based research.

Parents
  • I would like to point out some behaviours that people, especially neurotypical assessors, may not be aware of. Which are repetitive computer related tasks. I have been using a computer and internet since the early 1990s, and developed these obsessions as a child. Note: Most of which are crossed-over with my OCD, in systematizing.

    • Bookmarking and organising web pages into grouped folders. Many times rarely or never revisiting the them again.
    • Organising computer files in to folders (I hate random files in the root dir.), using seperate partitions, and using structured naming convensions.
    • Obsessive interest in downloading and cataloguing images -- variations of the same item (now replaced with Pinterest, prior to which was Tumblr).
    • Proudly maintaining a collection of my various interests (audiobooks, music, movies, TV shows -- legally purchased) :D
    • Can't start the morning until I eat cereal while watching an episode from a TV show I rewatch, religously.
    • Encylopedic obsession - Reading Wikipedia, research papers or any factual information (where one reference leads into another to form a compendium of knowledge). This can lead to reading into the early morning, by which point I have already amassed a new list of books to want to read. --- My caveat however, is that I exhibit working memory problems, so I can't remember a lot of what I read without using memory "tricks" (thus my bookmarking behaviour).
    • All time spent on computer or phone (internet).  ~ every hour of the day, then into the early morning. >10 hours. If and when I do eat meals it will be in front of a screen watching a video. I also only eat in my bedroom because it feels safe and away from disturbances. I find it very challenging to eat at a table with people, esp. if the people are prone to being talkative.
    • Repetitive changing of wallpaper, colour theme or LED lighting profile. Not just on PC, but also for phone (Android launcher settings).
    • Repetitive obsession with manually reinstalling operating system and reconfiguring everything in Linux using a terminal.
Reply
  • I would like to point out some behaviours that people, especially neurotypical assessors, may not be aware of. Which are repetitive computer related tasks. I have been using a computer and internet since the early 1990s, and developed these obsessions as a child. Note: Most of which are crossed-over with my OCD, in systematizing.

    • Bookmarking and organising web pages into grouped folders. Many times rarely or never revisiting the them again.
    • Organising computer files in to folders (I hate random files in the root dir.), using seperate partitions, and using structured naming convensions.
    • Obsessive interest in downloading and cataloguing images -- variations of the same item (now replaced with Pinterest, prior to which was Tumblr).
    • Proudly maintaining a collection of my various interests (audiobooks, music, movies, TV shows -- legally purchased) :D
    • Can't start the morning until I eat cereal while watching an episode from a TV show I rewatch, religously.
    • Encylopedic obsession - Reading Wikipedia, research papers or any factual information (where one reference leads into another to form a compendium of knowledge). This can lead to reading into the early morning, by which point I have already amassed a new list of books to want to read. --- My caveat however, is that I exhibit working memory problems, so I can't remember a lot of what I read without using memory "tricks" (thus my bookmarking behaviour).
    • All time spent on computer or phone (internet).  ~ every hour of the day, then into the early morning. >10 hours. If and when I do eat meals it will be in front of a screen watching a video. I also only eat in my bedroom because it feels safe and away from disturbances. I find it very challenging to eat at a table with people, esp. if the people are prone to being talkative.
    • Repetitive changing of wallpaper, colour theme or LED lighting profile. Not just on PC, but also for phone (Android launcher settings).
    • Repetitive obsession with manually reinstalling operating system and reconfiguring everything in Linux using a terminal.
Children
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