Attention span

Yes I think its an issue, but maybe its more personal to people as to where they struggle to maintain attention.

For example I can watch TV or movies, draw or play games with almost total immersion - my brain quietens down and I can blink and easily find 3-4 hours have passed.  But on other things I totally struggle to maintain attention, at school, or reading anything which I don't consider "stimulating".

Agree with the impulsive "message" element - when I'm speaking to people I often find it hard to not talk over them if I feel I have something relevant or important to say - almost like an excitement that I can't control.  I do wonder sometimes if it might be a symptom of ADHD and not just autism.

Do you find there are specific things which hold your attention really well?

Yes I know exactly what you mean

You're really engrossed in something and then literally you're just like was that a squirrel outside guess I'll go and check :–) 

I was watching a movie the other day and abandoned it lol it's still on my list of things to watch ^^

Yeah... finishing things is an issue for me..

I can be full on into it, be there, very intensely....

Then - something else attracts my attention and off I go. 

I'm probably going to come back to whatever I've Abandoned at some point, with renewed interest- but it could take a while. 

NAS88712 said:

I can’t watch tv or a film with out my iPad as I find it impossible to sit still and relax

It is a pretty common issue and one that you are perpetuating by repeating the habits unfortunately.

A way some of us use to quieten the thoughts is through practicing meditation, but not the whole sitting cross legged chanting "ommmm" type stuff.

It is more a mental relaxation technique where you start by closing your eyes and focus on an image of yourself in a relaxing place (I use sunbathing by the pool) and you shift that focus to your toes then feet, legs etc, basically relaxing them and moving up the body to your neck eventually.

That is in the early days -  you do this to relax your body and mind and with practice you can switch this sort of relaxation on fairly quickly without the need for all the visualisation. Great for when you need to calm down from a high stress situation.

Used when the mind is spinning it lets you re-focus to a single thing for a while, shutting out the static and letting you refocus on the film. Taking away the tempting distractions from easy reach and try to relax yourself and you may find it much easier to focus the film.

NAS88712 said:

I find it really hard to listen to people in a conversation and find myself interrupting people all the time.

Why do you interrupt them? This may be key to work out the mechanism driving you to do this.

I think it is yeah

Short attention span is something I've always had. When I read and try to watch stuff I lose interest fast and go and do something else. I've got so many unfinished things because of it!