"Autistic" things you do.

I've been reading Iain M Banks "Culture" series. They're good so far.

No they are drivel. there was one book that takes place way when Ender is in his 50s or 60s that is not bad but it's not worth it.

You may like some of C J cherryh's work, perhaps?

Iain M Banks? Alastair Reynolds? I am most drawn to dystopian near future or space opera.

Uhane said:

I loved GOT as well and lamented his not finishing.

I was extremely into it some years ago, but I have now accepted he will never write The Winds of Winter and completely given up on it.

The grammar mistake which annoyed me was a minor character saying "would of" or "could of" in dialogue, which I reconciled in my mind as the character getting it wrong.

Uhane said:

I read the series of which "Ender's Game" is a part of by Orson Scott Card and those were also really bad except for that one book

I loved Ender's Game. I read it when I was a teenager and identified with Ender. But I didn't read any of the other books in the series, are they worth reading?

that was kind. if you like unusual protagonists, try "Motherless Brooklyn".

that was what I was trying to figure out with my friend: "why is it so hard, too much?" Some autistic people can do it more than others.

And for me, i can do it a bit if I feel really safe with the other person.

what was the book?

That was a nice way to get past the glitch. "Hodor!"

I loved GOT as well and lamented his not finishing. I also read a history of Westeros, his literary autobiography and the stories with the hedge knight.

I have actually amended a text on the page to move on once or twice. Once I was reading a library book and saw someone else had done the same thing.... say, was that you?..

Once I saw a continuity flaw in an Agatha Christie mystery, that was hard to take, at the reveal at the end I was outraged!

I read the series of which "Ender's Game" is a part of by Orson Scott Card and those were also really bad except for that one book. It was then that I knew myself to be a hopeless completest! slogging through to the dismal end.

I tried some eye contact videos on YouTube. For example, this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w3cYtJekpw

I think there might be something wrong with me because I just can't do it. It's horrible, horrible, horrible. I feel horrible, even though it's not real. I have to look away. It's too much. I've never made it more than 20 seconds in that video.

I'm hoping someone will tell me that this video isn't normal and this isn't how much eye contact people have. I feel ill from looking at this video again. I do want to look into people's eyes, it's just that it is not a very nice experience for me, so I have avoided doing it.

I tried an experiment with a friend of mine: I wanted to practice eye contact and she would help me.

It was very hard at first but I stared and saw into her iris at the way her cataract surgery implant set, how it made a sort of sparkle. and that the other one was going to need one. She was surprised that I could tell.

I asked her how long is the right amount of time, what percentage of time, which eye? It was scary. I felt scared but I trusted her and it got funny. She has pretty sky blue eyes.

I loved the Song of Ice and Fire books. I got really into them as a special interest (before the Game of Thrones TV show). Though I do concede all the foreshadowing and subtext went totally over my head, so I had to read multiple times.

There is one particular grammar mistake, and to be fair it's a very long series of books. But I really struggled to move past it. Eventually I managed to reconcile it in my mind with the idea that the person who was speaking at the time was stupid, and so the mistake was his, rather than the author's. But it still doesn't sit right with me, since it would be pronounced the same. And don't they have proofreaders and editors? And it's been published for decades and not corrected?

I'm the same with completing though, I feel like I have to complete a book, no matter how bad. There has only been one book I ever gave up on.

Uhane said:

Freeze in place in cacophony, overload or too much cognitive dissonance.

I've done this before - the freeze in place when overwhelmed. It's like there's a lag on my sensory processing.

Uhane said:

Noticing peoples new hair, nails, eyebrows, shoes, buttons, clothing etc hard pressed to remember their eye color.

I don't know what colour anyone's eyes are, but I point out other details that nobody else notices.

I am like as you describe with books. If there is a breach in continuity or a character or there a grammar blooper I get thrown right out of the world of the story. Add to that the need to finish a book (whole of a space opera world's opuses) once started, even if it's horrid. although L Ron Hubbard's work was SOOO bad I burned it so's not to have to finish it.

I love this quote. I so relate.

Roy said:

I don’t do meanwhile

see a sheet of paper, fold a piece of paper, origami or geometric toys.

slamming flat palm on hard surfaces when excited, surprised, If melting i do it very hard repeatedly.

Tapping tips of fingers on surfaces for punctuation, reassure, transitions.

dancing (I don't even know I'm dancing) when/wherever music is playing.

Freeze in place in cacophony, overload or too much cognitive dissonance. 

mapping small and large journeys before I take them. I have to know the whole route before the first connection and sometimes

keep a list in hand and mark off the progress, like tube stops, boarding area and times etc

Noticing peoples new hair, nails, eyebrows, shoes, buttons, clothing etc hard pressed to remember their eye color.

feeling following currents of energy in the air, water witching sorts of things.

foot to foot rocking while waiting conversing

Do not like putting my back against the backs of chairs, unless I am cross legged.

etc...

This reminds me a few years ago I met a woman and when talking to her she would meow occasionally. She would click her fingers and turn her head to the side and meow.

I didn't understand why it was happening as it was a totally new thing that nobody had ever done before so I ignored it and continued responding to whatever she had said before the meowing.

Some weeks later she told me she liked me because I didn't make fun of her meowing. She said she had Tourette's syndrome but that I was one of the only people not to react to it and make it a big deal. Rare autism win perhaps... I'm not sure. From my perspective I hadn't understood why she was meowing so I didn't know what to do.

I feel like there was a 50/50 chance that I just demanded "why are you meowing" but it landed on tails so I chose to continue as normal because there was a possibility I was missing some social cue.

Roy said:

That would have been my answer,  1912 - Titanic

I've said this one before. 

And if I get 1997 I get momentarily excited and go that's the year I was born lol. Always get looks of sheer confusion.

I do what I call ‘ape’ a lot, one arm will go over the top of my head, it’s like hugging my head. Pacing is something I seem to do when I need to process something, it can be in straight lines but often in a circle.

When I cook a meal I layout all the ingredients in order of use, all jars of spices are in order of use and spaced correctly with labels facing forward, nothing touches, the knives and saucepans are all in position. I just call it prepping, my wife thinks I take it to a different level.

I tried one of the delivery companies that delivers the ingredients for meals, the instructions drove me crazy, the instructions would give a task to do, the next word would always be… meanwhile, I don’t do meanwhile I’m fully focused on the institution I’ve been given.

I work on classic cars for a living, it’s like I’m constantly scanning a car, I can tell if something is minutely incorrect. As the saying goes, “The devil is in the detail.”

Unknown said:

Me = 1066 - the Battle of Hastings

That would have been my answer,  1912 - Titanic , 1953 - Coronation,  1812 - overture. 
If I’m in a playful mood I like to wait until a shop assistant has given me the total price on the till, I hand over the cash and then say, “ actually I’ve got the odd,” the amount of time I’ve been told, “it’s okay, the till has shown me the correct change.” Don’t normal people do mental arithmetic?

I constantly straighten and categorise things I own and if I hear something to do with something I'm really interested in then I will info dump; God help whoever is on the receiving end lol.

And when I'm really really happy I purr like a cat lol  it's nice around family but I've done it in front of people who don't know me and they give me the weirdest looks.

Thought I would add some more as my brain is in thinking mode right this sec.

There’s probably a few autistic things I do but didn’t realise until going through diagnosis. One is that when I’m watching TV alone I often have my hands up at shoulder height doing odd things with my fingers.

I didn’t realise what I was doing until I saw some YouTube videos of young autistic children. Guess I learned to hide it when very young.

I'm aware that I have OCD-like traits. One that is perhaps apt for this time of year is that if I decorate a Christmas tree and spot just one thing I'm not happy with, then I will take everything off and start again. 

There are sometimes things I like to do in a particular way. If someone else does those things differently, I have to resist the urge not to take over and do it myself, even though the way they may do something achieves the same result as my way.

During recent years, I have noticed that I can pace the floor. It's not necessarily because I feel anxious, but it's just something I seem to do.

I organise my vinyl collection which takes a good hour and then I do it all over again because I love organising things.

And if I'm out I'll just suddenly stop if I notice something that takes my interest, like a different flower amongst loads of flowers that are all the same.

During my assessment I saw a rainbow out the window and stood up and went "Wooow look at that!"

This is a very autistic thing to do I found out from others at autism groups last year.