Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I have my assessment in about a month, and I'm worried as most descriptions of ASD include having a rigid routine. I don't and never really have had a particular routine. I'm not working at the moment, which means I don't have to have a routine, and I pretty much eat, sleep, go out, do chores etc whenever I feel like it. I can be very organised in some respects, and very chaotic in others. In an ideal world I would like to have more routine in my life (nothing too rigid though), in order to get things done, but never seem to be able to make this happen.
I don't like it when someone/something interrupts my plans, or when sudden changes are thrust upon me, but I'm not sure if that's the same thing.
Has anyone else been diagnosed with ASD who hasn't got a strict routine?
In my opinion regarding rigid routines I also feel that you can have one and then let it go and end up finding out you have another one.
For example from the age of 11 I used to get my hair cut at this particular barbers until I was about 28. This also ment taking a 30 mins drive when I moved from living close by because I needed the same person to cut my hair the same way.
After 17 years I met a new girlfriend and she was a barber and I decided to let her cut my hair even though I was anxious. After this it made me realise what was I worrying about all along?
I now can use a different barbers but obviously I still get my same haircut.
I hope it makes sense.
Hmm, I didn't think of going to the same supermarket/hairdressers etc as being part of a routine. I find myself unthinkingly going to the same shops/supermarkets, but don't most people? I do usually go to the same High Street for shopping, even though I moved a couple of years ago, so it's now a 20 minute drive, rather than 5 minutes, but that's more because it has a good selection of shops and I know where I can park, and like the area.
However, every now and then, when I think about it, I do try and go somewhere different, but I find navigating my way around a big supermarket stressful, until I get used to it. Plus I get stressed driving somewhere new, and not being totally sure where to park. But once I get used to somewhere new I do use it as another option, as I can get different products at different supermarkets.
As for hairdressers, I haven't been to one for about 25 years, as I hate the chemical smells, enforced small talk and having a stranger touch me/be in my personal space. Plus, most hairdressers never listened properly on how I wanted my hair cut, so I'd often go home and cry!
Yes I get that. I've been at the same dentist's practice for about 25 years, really liked it there & found a kind of pleasure in accruing 25 years! Now my old dentist has retired and there's really no reason to stay, and if I joined the practice my wife goes to we would get a small discount. But my old dentist is near work and, ironically, I *do* go on the way home! But, can I move? No. I've been trying to get the courage to ask for a "leaver's letter" for about 5 years but a) I'd feel disloyal, b) I'd worry that I'd lose out on something, c) I'd have to go to a new place on the way home. Sounds so trivial, but there's such a mental effort needed to do it. And yet at work, one of my mainstay skills is - if it isn't working, change it! Courage people!