Mr Methodical

Another day, another revelation! I was working on the garden today, mowing, re-seeding, cleaning fencing... and halfway through I noticed something. Everything I was doing was in an order, a logical order. Items were brought out into the garden in order of their use, placed in the right places, and each job was performed in a methodical, logical way. First this. Then that. Then this. Then that. Even at the end of the work (seven hours in total) all the items were cleaned in order of dirtiness, and size, and then put back in their home in the right place.

I stopped at regular intervals to have a drink of water, or a tea/coffee, cold drink, and that's when I caught myself mentally going through the order of business... and I saw how it relaxed and soothed me. I was relaxed. It was a relaxing day.  I was really quite happy to have noticed how I approached things in this methodical, step by step, way.  I can see now how and why I sometimes get stressed: it's because I'm called upon to do something out of order, or out of sequence, and it is creates an internal stress. 

I'm not going to look anything up on the internet about this. Not yet. I'm almost certain it's related to autism, but it might not be. Anyway, I'm not going to look just yet. I'll wait and (hopefully) be able to read some of your experiences.

Does any of this ring a bell? Are there other Mr, Mrs or Miss Methodicals out there?

Parents
  • Hello everyone, this sounds like planning to me and more about sequencing for order which all comes under executive functioning skills, right? and which people with ASD typically have difficulties with.

    I would really like to be able to do these things but my executive functioning skills are just to poor for this kind of planning! 

    Do you think it's possible for someone to have split executive functioning skills if that makes sense, for example, be good at planning and bad at sequencing, it just seems to me the two work in tandem along with being able to 'organise' which would also be part of the process I think.

    Just my experience.

    And a bit off topic, my aspirational movie character who's simplified lifestyle solves a lot of these problems I think is Ben Affleck who plays Christian Wolff in 'The Accountant'. That is how I would love my ASD to have affected me. 

  • There's that thing with autism that it's about extremes, extreme absence of executive function or completely the opposite makes perfect sense to me.

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