Published on 12, July, 2020
Do you generally read or write fiction and/or fanfiction?
I spend my life reading and writing stories of various types, and I wondered if this is normal for autistic people. I thought we were supposed to have very limited imaginations and interests and that was how we got diagnosed. But my imagination is vast, I tend to live in a fantasy world rather than the real world because it is nicer tbh!
What is your imagination like?
Yes I spend at least 2-8 hours a day reading fiction, largely fanfiction as I like its predictability but also reading some favoured books and series over and over.
I think autistic people vary a lot. I do have two autistic friends who don't read any fiction as they really don't enjoy it and don't understand it. Although I have a very good imagination, I am not good at, nor have I ever been, 'social imagination' where you do stuff like play make believe with other people. That is because I find it very difficult to change my imaginary world/series of events to suit others added story lines. So while I play in my imaginary worlds a lot of the time, again over 3 hours a day most of the time, I struggled with that side of exhibiting imagination.
I used to be good at role play with others when I was younger, I am quite adaptable. But I like my own private fiction to go the way I want it.
Haha. That is where my stuff ends. I have no clue about real social interactions let alone fictional despite my very best efforts. Beautiful places that go unseen because there is nobody there to see it.