Did you think things had feelings?

I'm going to have to survey some NTs. One issue is I'm not sure how many of my NT friends are actually NT or undiagnosed ASs; then I'll have to be brave enough to ask!

This is so interesting! I have always done this too. I was never sure if typical people do this or just autists. One thing I noticed was it followed me into adulthood. I still catch myself feeling bad for choosing one object over another.  To the point that if no one is around, I will tell the object out loud "don't worry, you will have a turn next time"

I absolutely agree with you here, I had no idea that readiing car number plates was an autism thing until I had my assessment.  I've been reading them since childhood and was an OAP when assessed. 

I'm still learning about ASD and guess I always will be. 

Yep, I'm sure you're right.  I was just having fun exploring the idea.

Me too! I was encouraging it in the snow today but sometimes I call it names :-( when I get frustrated

It's funny how reading posts or books on autism i can think "that's not me," then slowly realise it is. I didn't think I had any inusual interest in car number plates and said so in the AQ test. Then reading how autists see number plates before the car i realised that was exactly me, I just thought that was the same for everyone.

I don't think this will change things. You were either already worried about offending them or not.

I'm finding this question rather interesting the more I think about it.. My first thought was no, I don't think they have feelings. However, when I'm cross with something I usually start calling it all sorts of foul and offensive names, uttering dire threats to its very existence. So, when I'm doing that, am I just venting my spleen, or am I trying to offend the thing, hurt its feelings and make it feel guilty? Well, I'm beginning to think it could be the latter. So yes, maybe they do have feelings.

So now that I have that in my mind, when I'm next having a rant at something will I start to feel guilty lest I've offended it?  Will I apologise to it when I've calmed down?  Will that mean the 'thing' has won and maybe got the better of me?

I'm not sure I like that possibility.

For me, it has nothing to do with my childhood. At the age of 36, when choosing vegetables in the store, I apologize to every vegetable that I do not take with me and grieve for them, knowing that they can simply be thrown away because no one needs them. I can not throw away 1 rice if after washing it stuck to the mug, it seems to me that this will be a betrayal and I peel it off and put it to the rest asking for forgiveness. Probably needless to say that I have an excessive body weight because of this attitude to products.

the amazing thing is I was given the car because the person who inherited it was too big to get into it. I had it for 10 years but the maintenance on the sub frames became a yearly battle and any accident as likely to be fatal.

But for driving fun OMG ..... if i won the lotto I swear I would have 7 of them, a different colour for each day of the week .  The engine in them was awesome it was like you where flying your own wee wasp.

Very popular with Women, Parisians and Italians in Rome.

I still talk to my car when I'm driving alone. 

This might explain it, "Anthropomorphism can also function as a strategy to cope with loneliness when other human connections are not available" in  Waytz, Adam (2013). "Social Connection and Seeing Human – Oxford Handbooks". The Oxford Handbook of Social Exclusion. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195398700.013.0023.

Thanks for that, I'll save it somewhere.

I'll def go gentle with him. For now he doesn't think there's a problem, even revels in it as part of his contrarian identity. I'm curious though if he anthropormophises objects like me. (I've only heard that word used wrt animals.)

Glad to be of help! Hoarding can be a very tricky issue to tackle. I've helped 2 friends clear a hoard, and 1 has since relapsed and only recently reached out for help again. Often people will be in denial, and if pushed by circumstances (threat of eviction for example) they might deal with the hoard itself only to re-hoard once the threat is gone. The hoarding behaviour is often a reaction to past trauma, particularly relating to loss.

I was fortunate enough to train with Clouds End as part of my work in mental health, so I had some info going in. Generally speaking, there are 3 components to hoarding:

1) The acquisition of objects
2) Attachment to the objects and not wanting to throw them out
3) Struggling with organising objects to manage a cleanup, even when they choose to discard items

I can see the anthropomorphism of objects as playing a part in both 1 and 2 - buying the last item on the shelf because "I felt sorry for it!" and then also not wanting to throw it out because it feels "cruel" to do so.

If your friend is open to help, acknowledging those feelings might be helpful on his journey. It's not easy and I've seen the very real struggle faced by those trying to clear their hoard and deal with associated emotions. I'm very lucky in that I only deal with these emotions on the low end of the scale, but someone with hoarding compulsion may well feel a very intense loss when objects are discarded. Proceed with care, and best of luck on your quest! I hope you are able to help your friend. Do feel free to ask any further questions - I have my 'mental health worker' hat on now and am happy to help!

Yeah, I had to be fair to all my toys. I can relate to being upset about the pepper. I go around feeling bad towards trees cos i've got wooden furniture in the house and thought about being a woodworker.

Thanks for adding such a full reply. It's given me a bit of confidence, or at least impulse, to talk to one of my mates about this. He's undiagnosed AS and hoards and I've started to wonder if he might feel similarly.

Yes I definitely did this as a kid. I used to get very stressed about making sure that every single one of my teddies were arranged around the edge of my bed, I didn't even like all of them but I felt like they would be upset at being left out if I didn't put them there. And I couldn't sleep because I was worried about rolling over and squishing them.

Once I broke down crying because I couldn't bring myself to cut up a pepper that I had grown in a pot, it felt like murdering my baby. Haha I think I cared more about objects' emotions than people's emotions. 

What a neat looking car! I'm glad you have pictures so you can remember it.

Thank you! :) I haven't done an intro post but I lurk sometimes and might occasionally start to comment when I feel brave!

I believe u are new - so Welcome