Did you think things had feelings?

As a child did you think 'things's had feelings?

Like toy cars, buildings, roads, plants, cups, etc?

I keep reading how child autists see people as inanimate objects. But I'm unsure if that's true. I was terrified/bewildered by new people, but also I felt objects were animate and had feelings. So in a room with people it seemed fair I gave attention to the ignored. It's also why I felt some days we had to go on a certain road, because it wasn't fair to ignore it, or maybe if we always used one road it won't be upsetting for it if we used a different road. When I stimmed, I had to finish my stim before answering someone because it wouldn't be fair on the parts I hadn't done, and it was too much to stim and answer.

I can still sometimes feel bad when I get rid of something, that it'll now it's unloved. Is that why some of us hoard?

Is this a being a kid thing? Or an autism thing? Or me? I feel it's not that I lacked empathy, it's that it extended to everything and so dividing my empathy up meant there wasn't much for humans.

Parents
  • 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. 

  • 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.

Reply Children
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