Lack of daily routine

Yes definitely, I can be much happier and productive if I have a routine. Otherwise, I unintentionally end up doing nothing or very little because I have don’t have specified periods in my day to focus or motivate me. It’s because of autistic need for predictability, but also inertia and monotropism.

 If I am on holiday (which I really don’t like) it’s like I have too much time to be able to organise myself to achieve anything. I think it’s because I am monotropic, I need to be interested or focused on one or a few things to achieve something. This means that when I am out of routine there is too much that I could potentially do which means I find it difficult to focus my attention. People say that holidays should be relaxing, but usually for me they are the complete opposite. A holiday gives me too much time to ruminate or become anxious because I find it difficult to focus my attention.

Unknown said:

Does anyone have difficulty with having a lack of routine? I'm ok when I'm in work or have commitments but otherwise I seem to flim flam around.

Yes that’s  exactly what I do. I like your use of ‘flim flam’, great phrase. Be kind to yourself though, you don’t always need to be productive. Days of resting, doing nothing, or autistic self care are just as important to feel happy and replenish lost spoons (energy).

Ausomely Autistic said:

Days of resting, doing nothing, or autistic self care are just as important to feel happy and replenish lost spoons

I need to keep reminding myself of this! I feel so bad when I take whole days of doing nothing, or several to recover from something. I always feel better on a day when I have managed to do something I think is productive. That's one reason I took up language learning - I can always get a bit of a productive feeling just from revising some vocab or the like. But of course then I feel also bad if I haven't even managed that...

Yes it is so important. 

AuTriker said:

I feel so bad when I take whole days of doing nothing, or several to recover from something

Doing nothing is productive, it recharges spoons. Humans do not have endless energy, particularly us autistic humans! It is important to take time to recover, it helps us set boundaries, reflect on everything including how many spoons we have spent.

What language are you learning?

Yes the Mafia does go way back, not that I can remember much information. With the limited information that I can recall, we covered this:

https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/aldo-moro-found-dead

No need to  apologise, I can’t remember details about the Mafia.

‘I find it interesting that both Italy and Germany are relatively recent as actual united countries, having been small city states or principalities for much of history.’

Maybe this explains why there is such a marked North/South divide in Italy, certain regions wanted to exist independently. For your knowledge or interest, there are 20 regions in Italy.

 I have a Kindle although I don’t use it much now, I much prefer paper books.

I bet the origins of the mafia go way way back. I was reading something about Ancient Greece and some areas had cultures which reminded me of the mafia (not that I know anything beyond the most basic general knowledge as I don't like violence and don't watch violent movies) and they did have links with Sicily. I can't recall the details and it was a kindle book so I tried to look but one can't just flick through the pages and try to find a thing and the chapters only had numbers which is really unhelpful for me finding anything!

It is a bit frustrating when I can't recall details, sorry. I make connections but then can't follow them!

I find it interesting that both Italy and Germany are relatively recent as actual united countries, having been small city states or principalities for much of history. Except the Roman empire of course, which went way beyond just Italy.

‘Anything I don't know much about also attracts my attention, but there is so much to know and I am very much aware that I can barely scratch the surface, but still, it is a very satisfying itch to scratch!’

Yes there is so much to explore, we can learn so much from the past. Maybe you can delve a bit deeper into church history to satisfy your inquisitive autistic brain. Feed your curiosity! 

When I studied A Level Italian yes I did study history. There was much more content about the culture and history. I learnt about the period of Fascism before the World War and the Mussolini era as well as the origins of The Mafia and their influence on the country. I really enjoyed these topics, it was really interesting to learn about the country in more depth. I also learnt about the North/South divide and I read the book ‘Io non ho paura’ (I am not scared) for one of my exams. It was great!

Thanks for asking!

Yes, and the feminists wanting herstory, but that is not the actual etymology of course. As a Christian I rather like the idea that the whole of history is His story, Him being God!

I don't have a fave period any more, it was more a case of filling in the gaps and fitting things together. I am currently interested in church history and how that relates to political, social and cultural history, the development of theological ideas and how they interact with philosophical ideas. Also how the Old Testament relates with the Ancient Near East.

Anything I don't know much about also attracts my attention, but there is so much to know and I am very much aware that I can barely scratch the surface, but still, it is a very satisfying itch to scratch! And seeing different viewpoints and how the same events are experienced by different people. Trying to imagine alternate histories how things might have gone is also interesting.

Did you study Italian history as well as the language?

Have you ever realised that the subject of history is literally ‘his story?’

What periods of history interest you most now?

I have become more interested in other periods of history since, and how they fit together and tracing themes through time, but back then I was very much more into medieval stuff.

Cuneiform sounds really interesting, it was obviously a very intricate process that required lots of skill and attention to detail.

AuTriker said:

I did my medieval languages at degree level and yes it was much better learning languages in that environment. My Biblical languages I have had online tuition for which I have found even better for learning as I am not doing other degree modules as well which would exhaust me now. As my sole focus I was able to learn Greek really fast and well.

This type of learning suits our monotropic neurology so much better, we can become specialists (as you notably are). I think that is also why A Level Italian suited me better because there was so much more depth I could explore at this level.

AuTriker said:

I am now imagining if the education system was designed to suit us! What a pleasant idea. I think some subject might suit being devoured in big gulps, like studying just one period of history for a whole month, but languages do best with a little every day. I think for subject I enjoy, the thought of doing them in bigger blocks than an hour here and another there appeals, but for subjects I dislike maybe they would be better scattered in smaller chunks...

Yes it’s a great idea! Yes I would have much preferred devouring subjects in big gulps because by the time I was interested in a subject at school, the lesson was nearly finished. Yes if the education system was redesigned for autistic neurology we would be able to engage much better/passionately and be great autodidact learners. It would be so cool, this is our vision for autopia! 

Having a passionate teacher is so important, students can’t be interested if teachers are not enthusiastic. There is no such thing as a boring subject, it just depends on the way it is delivered.

AuTriker said:

Also within a subject having choice in topics - I was so frustrated that GCSE history had so much modern and virtually no medieval! I think the teacher had choice, but I had no choice of teacher...

It would be so much better if the curriculum was designed around interests, at least you had the pleasure of studying medieval languages at degree level. I personally enjoyed learning about more modern history, it felt much more relevant to our life today. 

Cuneiform is a writing method slightly older than hieroglyphic and may be the oldest writing system in the world. It is formed by pressing a wedge into wet clay. If a library of clay tablets burnt down, it had the effect of firing the clay so it survives, the opposite effect of other libraries! It was used to write the Sumerian language and Babylonian and a couple of others.

I did my medieval languages at degree level and yes it was much better learning languages in that environment. My Biblical languages I have had online tuition for which I have found even better for learning as I am not doing other degree modules as well which would exhaust me now. As my sole focus I was able to learn Greek really fast and well.

I am now imagining if the education system was designed to suit us! What a pleasant idea. I think some subject might suit being devoured in big gulps, like studying just one period of history for a whole month, but languages do best with a little every day. I think for subject I enjoy, the thought of doing them in bigger blocks than an hour here and another there appeals, but for subjects I dislike maybe they would be better scattered in smaller chunks... Although if taught well there didn't ought to be bad subjects. Also within a subject having choice in topics - I was so frustrated that GCSE history had so much modern and virtually no medieval! I think the teacher had choice, but I had no choice of teacher...

AuTriker said:

Ten weeks is not really long enough to learn to read all the hieroglyphics, but I understand the principles. Not all the signs are pictograms as such, some are phonetic and some show what category of thing a word means. The only two I remember are niwt as city and that cat sounds like miaow! But we also looked at some of the literature which was interesting.

I suppose ten weeks is not long enough, the courses sounds really interesting though. Understanding the principles of hieroglyphics is a really unique and cool skill to have.

What is  cuneiform? Never heard of that before.

‘Funny thing, I didn't totally enjoy language learning at school. I think I would have in a class with others who wanted to learn, but too many kids just want to muck around and not pronounce words properly so trying too hard at pronunciation would have drawn even more mockery than I already attracted.’

That why specialising in a language either at A Level or degree level is better because you are with a group of people who have chosen to study the subject and really enjoy it. I understand that other students can be quite mean or disinterested but I bet your teachers would have been impressed by your dedication and interest. You seem to have already educated yourself much more about languages through your dedicated interests, then what you were taught at school.

It would be so much better if the education system was built around students interests, it would suit our monotropic autistic/neurodivergent minds much better!

I might try Duolingo again since we are chatting about it. Yes some of the sentences are quite funny.

Thanks! Ten weeks is not really long enough to learn to read all the hieroglyphics, but I understand the principles. Not all the signs are pictograms as such, some are phonetic and some show what category of thing a word means. The only two I remember are niwt as city and that cat sounds like miaow! But we also looked at some of the literature which was interesting.

I am certainly attracted to obscure languages. I would rather like to learn cuneiform, but that would be really difficult.

Funny thing, I didn't totally enjoy language learning at school. I think I would have in a class with others who wanted to learn, but too many kids just want to muck around and not pronounce words properly so trying too hard at pronunciation would have drawn even more mockery than I already attracted. Oddly though it was actually the school trip to Germany that helped me be a little less unpopular. They got us to write a diary of the trip and I won the prize for it because I wrote loads and most people didn't, but on the bus trip back everyone wanted to read my winning diary and they seemed to enjoy my writing so I got a bit of respect after that.

I don't entirely dislike Duolingo's odd sentences, they are often amusing. 

I don't seem to gain spoons from enjoyable things, sadly. The best case is some don't seem to use any spoons as such.‘

That’s a shame.

I thought Greek might be one of your dedicated interests. You are very much a linguist! You seem like a very interesting person.

Your ten week course in Ancient Egyptian sounds really interesting, do you understand hieroglyphics? There is so much we can learn from foreign cultures both past and present.

Ancient Egyptian or Greek seems so much more exciting than the standard languages we learn in school. Having said that I studied Italian at GCSE and A Level and really enjoyed it.

‘I have used Duolingo, but I'm not sure I will ever need to tell a Spaniard that my turtle drinks milk...’

I doubt it too, like you say some of the example sentences Duolingo provides are rather odd and will never actually be useful.

I don't seem to gain spoons from enjoyable things, sadly. The best case is some don't seem to use any spoons as such.

Yes I could already read the Greek alphabet, writing systems having been one of my special interests since my teen years. Learning the Hebrew writing now is fun, as I haven't tried learning a new alphabet for many years now, and it's an interesting one with how it does vowels.

Add Old English, Middle English and Old Norse to the list, some French and German from school and a ten week course in Ancient Egyptian! I have used Duolingo, but I'm not sure I will ever need to tell a Spaniard that my turtle drinks milk...

AuTriker said:

I am so jealous of some people's spoons! Not so much the ones who actually use and enjoy them, but normal people who do nothing, they could give me their spoons if they don't want them! Haha.

It would be great if there was a spoons exchange service! It could work brilliantly for our community!

Unfortunately this doesn’t exist but you can obviously gain spoons from enjoyable activities.

AuTriker said:

I have studied Biblical Greek and still do a class to improve that. I have begun modern Greek and Biblical Hebrew. I'm considering improving my Norwegian as well. Thanks for asking!

Cool, can you read the Greek alphabet? A rather diverse range of languages you have listed.

Do you use the app Duolingo? I have used it before, I thought it was quite good.

AuTriker said:

I am so jealous of some people's spoons! Not so much the ones who actually use and enjoy them, but normal people who do nothing, they could give me their spoons if they don't want them! Haha.

It would be great if there was a spoons exchange service! It could work brilliantly for our community!

Unfortunately this doesn’t exist but you can obviously gain spoons from enjoyable activities.

AuTriker said:

I have studied Biblical Greek and still do a class to improve that. I have begun modern Greek and Biblical Hebrew. I'm considering improving my Norwegian as well. Thanks for asking!

Cool, can you read the Greek alphabet? A rather diverse range of languages you have listed.

Do you use the app Duolingo? I have used it before, I thought it was quite good.

Yes the Mafia does go way back, not that I can remember much information. With the limited information that I can recall, we covered this:

https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/aldo-moro-found-dead

No need to  apologise, I can’t remember details about the Mafia.

‘I find it interesting that both Italy and Germany are relatively recent as actual united countries, having been small city states or principalities for much of history.’

Maybe this explains why there is such a marked North/South divide in Italy, certain regions wanted to exist independently. For your knowledge or interest, there are 20 regions in Italy.

 I have a Kindle although I don’t use it much now, I much prefer paper books.

I bet the origins of the mafia go way way back. I was reading something about Ancient Greece and some areas had cultures which reminded me of the mafia (not that I know anything beyond the most basic general knowledge as I don't like violence and don't watch violent movies) and they did have links with Sicily. I can't recall the details and it was a kindle book so I tried to look but one can't just flick through the pages and try to find a thing and the chapters only had numbers which is really unhelpful for me finding anything!

It is a bit frustrating when I can't recall details, sorry. I make connections but then can't follow them!

I find it interesting that both Italy and Germany are relatively recent as actual united countries, having been small city states or principalities for much of history. Except the Roman empire of course, which went way beyond just Italy.

‘Anything I don't know much about also attracts my attention, but there is so much to know and I am very much aware that I can barely scratch the surface, but still, it is a very satisfying itch to scratch!’

Yes there is so much to explore, we can learn so much from the past. Maybe you can delve a bit deeper into church history to satisfy your inquisitive autistic brain. Feed your curiosity! 

When I studied A Level Italian yes I did study history. There was much more content about the culture and history. I learnt about the period of Fascism before the World War and the Mussolini era as well as the origins of The Mafia and their influence on the country. I really enjoyed these topics, it was really interesting to learn about the country in more depth. I also learnt about the North/South divide and I read the book ‘Io non ho paura’ (I am not scared) for one of my exams. It was great!

Thanks for asking!

Yes, and the feminists wanting herstory, but that is not the actual etymology of course. As a Christian I rather like the idea that the whole of history is His story, Him being God!

I don't have a fave period any more, it was more a case of filling in the gaps and fitting things together. I am currently interested in church history and how that relates to political, social and cultural history, the development of theological ideas and how they interact with philosophical ideas. Also how the Old Testament relates with the Ancient Near East.

Anything I don't know much about also attracts my attention, but there is so much to know and I am very much aware that I can barely scratch the surface, but still, it is a very satisfying itch to scratch! And seeing different viewpoints and how the same events are experienced by different people. Trying to imagine alternate histories how things might have gone is also interesting.

Did you study Italian history as well as the language?

Have you ever realised that the subject of history is literally ‘his story?’

What periods of history interest you most now?

I have become more interested in other periods of history since, and how they fit together and tracing themes through time, but back then I was very much more into medieval stuff.

Cuneiform sounds really interesting, it was obviously a very intricate process that required lots of skill and attention to detail.

AuTriker said:

I did my medieval languages at degree level and yes it was much better learning languages in that environment. My Biblical languages I have had online tuition for which I have found even better for learning as I am not doing other degree modules as well which would exhaust me now. As my sole focus I was able to learn Greek really fast and well.

This type of learning suits our monotropic neurology so much better, we can become specialists (as you notably are). I think that is also why A Level Italian suited me better because there was so much more depth I could explore at this level.

AuTriker said:

I am now imagining if the education system was designed to suit us! What a pleasant idea. I think some subject might suit being devoured in big gulps, like studying just one period of history for a whole month, but languages do best with a little every day. I think for subject I enjoy, the thought of doing them in bigger blocks than an hour here and another there appeals, but for subjects I dislike maybe they would be better scattered in smaller chunks...

Yes it’s a great idea! Yes I would have much preferred devouring subjects in big gulps because by the time I was interested in a subject at school, the lesson was nearly finished. Yes if the education system was redesigned for autistic neurology we would be able to engage much better/passionately and be great autodidact learners. It would be so cool, this is our vision for autopia! 

Having a passionate teacher is so important, students can’t be interested if teachers are not enthusiastic. There is no such thing as a boring subject, it just depends on the way it is delivered.

AuTriker said:

Also within a subject having choice in topics - I was so frustrated that GCSE history had so much modern and virtually no medieval! I think the teacher had choice, but I had no choice of teacher...

It would be so much better if the curriculum was designed around interests, at least you had the pleasure of studying medieval languages at degree level. I personally enjoyed learning about more modern history, it felt much more relevant to our life today. 

Cuneiform is a writing method slightly older than hieroglyphic and may be the oldest writing system in the world. It is formed by pressing a wedge into wet clay. If a library of clay tablets burnt down, it had the effect of firing the clay so it survives, the opposite effect of other libraries! It was used to write the Sumerian language and Babylonian and a couple of others.

I did my medieval languages at degree level and yes it was much better learning languages in that environment. My Biblical languages I have had online tuition for which I have found even better for learning as I am not doing other degree modules as well which would exhaust me now. As my sole focus I was able to learn Greek really fast and well.

I am now imagining if the education system was designed to suit us! What a pleasant idea. I think some subject might suit being devoured in big gulps, like studying just one period of history for a whole month, but languages do best with a little every day. I think for subject I enjoy, the thought of doing them in bigger blocks than an hour here and another there appeals, but for subjects I dislike maybe they would be better scattered in smaller chunks... Although if taught well there didn't ought to be bad subjects. Also within a subject having choice in topics - I was so frustrated that GCSE history had so much modern and virtually no medieval! I think the teacher had choice, but I had no choice of teacher...

AuTriker said:

Ten weeks is not really long enough to learn to read all the hieroglyphics, but I understand the principles. Not all the signs are pictograms as such, some are phonetic and some show what category of thing a word means. The only two I remember are niwt as city and that cat sounds like miaow! But we also looked at some of the literature which was interesting.

I suppose ten weeks is not long enough, the courses sounds really interesting though. Understanding the principles of hieroglyphics is a really unique and cool skill to have.

What is  cuneiform? Never heard of that before.

‘Funny thing, I didn't totally enjoy language learning at school. I think I would have in a class with others who wanted to learn, but too many kids just want to muck around and not pronounce words properly so trying too hard at pronunciation would have drawn even more mockery than I already attracted.’

That why specialising in a language either at A Level or degree level is better because you are with a group of people who have chosen to study the subject and really enjoy it. I understand that other students can be quite mean or disinterested but I bet your teachers would have been impressed by your dedication and interest. You seem to have already educated yourself much more about languages through your dedicated interests, then what you were taught at school.

It would be so much better if the education system was built around students interests, it would suit our monotropic autistic/neurodivergent minds much better!

I might try Duolingo again since we are chatting about it. Yes some of the sentences are quite funny.

Thanks! Ten weeks is not really long enough to learn to read all the hieroglyphics, but I understand the principles. Not all the signs are pictograms as such, some are phonetic and some show what category of thing a word means. The only two I remember are niwt as city and that cat sounds like miaow! But we also looked at some of the literature which was interesting.

I am certainly attracted to obscure languages. I would rather like to learn cuneiform, but that would be really difficult.

Funny thing, I didn't totally enjoy language learning at school. I think I would have in a class with others who wanted to learn, but too many kids just want to muck around and not pronounce words properly so trying too hard at pronunciation would have drawn even more mockery than I already attracted. Oddly though it was actually the school trip to Germany that helped me be a little less unpopular. They got us to write a diary of the trip and I won the prize for it because I wrote loads and most people didn't, but on the bus trip back everyone wanted to read my winning diary and they seemed to enjoy my writing so I got a bit of respect after that.

I don't entirely dislike Duolingo's odd sentences, they are often amusing. 

I don't seem to gain spoons from enjoyable things, sadly. The best case is some don't seem to use any spoons as such.‘

That’s a shame.

I thought Greek might be one of your dedicated interests. You are very much a linguist! You seem like a very interesting person.

Your ten week course in Ancient Egyptian sounds really interesting, do you understand hieroglyphics? There is so much we can learn from foreign cultures both past and present.

Ancient Egyptian or Greek seems so much more exciting than the standard languages we learn in school. Having said that I studied Italian at GCSE and A Level and really enjoyed it.

‘I have used Duolingo, but I'm not sure I will ever need to tell a Spaniard that my turtle drinks milk...’

I doubt it too, like you say some of the example sentences Duolingo provides are rather odd and will never actually be useful.

I don't seem to gain spoons from enjoyable things, sadly. The best case is some don't seem to use any spoons as such.

Yes I could already read the Greek alphabet, writing systems having been one of my special interests since my teen years. Learning the Hebrew writing now is fun, as I haven't tried learning a new alphabet for many years now, and it's an interesting one with how it does vowels.

Add Old English, Middle English and Old Norse to the list, some French and German from school and a ten week course in Ancient Egyptian! I have used Duolingo, but I'm not sure I will ever need to tell a Spaniard that my turtle drinks milk...