Visiting all shops in town, could this be an autistic thing?

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Hey. Im just curious.

When i was around 11 my mom and i moved to a new place, pretty far away from where we used to live. Completely new place for me. It was on summer vacation, and shortly after we moved into our new place i went out to visit every store on town (not really a town, more of a rather small village, about 8000 people). Not only the stores i probably had to visit anyway like the supermarkets, i mean EVERY store. From the copyshop, over the supermarkets, the ice cream parlor, the flowermarket, the camerashop, the gas station, the restaurant and probably more, i dont remember all of them. I have a pretty vivid memory of going into some of them and while looking around the shopkeepers asked me if they can help. And i was like "No, im just looking at this place". My intention was never to buy something, but just to see all the shops and know where to find what. Never thought about it really, never talked about it either. But lately i figured that no one else i know did something like this ever. And now im asking myself - could that be an autistic thing or was i just beeing weird?

Peace
TK

Based on what you wrote, it seems to me that you like to window-shop.

Many people, neurotypical or otherwise, like to relax by window-shopping. I can't stand it myself.

My wife, who is not autistic, likes to visit most or all the shops in her neighborhood, too.

No, i dont. In fact i really hate anything related to "shopping".
If i need something, ill go out and buy it. If i dont, i dont go a store. I dont really get people who go "shopping" as a form of relaxation or something like that.

I have only done it this one time ever. Could be overcuriousity, but looking back now it seemed kinda strange. A 11y old walking up to a camera store only to know the place. I didnt really care for what the stores were actually selling, just wanted to know all the places and how they are set up.

Peace
TK

Whether it turns out you're autistic or not, you're still welcome in this Forum.

Are there any other indications that you might be autistic?

I don't know if it was necessarily an Autistic thing but I do think that if you were Autistic it could play a big part of it. It sounds to me that you were trying to make sense of your new surroundings and find a sense of security and safety and control by learning and knowing what every shop was and what every shop was about. If it was the first big move for you you would need to have some kind of control in this new place and that was a perfect way to get it.

It could be. After all, if you said you thought you were autistic because you sought out all the police and fire stations, bus stops and nearest train station because you obsess about them, then, sure. Makes sense. But, as others have asked, is there more evidence which suggests autism? If not, then you are an awesome surveyor of small communities, but probably not autistic based on this behavior alone.

Yeah, well. Alot of social problems, lack of understanding people and their intentions, clumsiness, bad motor coordination, stimming (alot less now than when i was a child), very detailfocussed, slow perfectionist, problems in executive functioning, strong problems with change, problems in fluent speech despite having a broad vocabulary, often not knowing how to react to people, lack of emphathy (at least i got told so), threw alot of tantrums in my entire childhood (mostly related to changes), played alongside rather than with other kids, problems in focussing on things (hyperfocus or no focus at all), extremely hard to focus on things i dont care for, missing social cues, lack of eyecontact, got told my face expression doesnt match what im saying, got told i look angry when im totally casual, got told i speak too loud or too silent very often, disassambled all the household electronics when i was in elementary school to know how they work (disconnected the TV wire in the appartment block one time, neighbors didnt like it ), got extremly interested in computers from very early on (To a point where my time invested in it heavily impacted my school life), realized i was somehow different by the age of 10, got told i always talk about my special interests, hated (and do to this day) any kind of roleplay, im a pretty logical person, difficulties summing something up because i think every bit of information is vital, rigid, black/white thinking, loyalalty in person, obsessed with fairness, very literal when in doubt, allways eat the same things, do most of the things i do the same way everytime, problems in organizing myself but the things i really like are ordered to perfection, got bullied my entire schooltime, could read, write and a little bit of math and english (im german) before i even got schooled-in, was and am extremely bad at sports other than bicycle riding and trampoline jumping, got expelled on first school day because i bit my teachers hand for ignoring me when i needed help, should skip 2nd grade because i was to good, didnt happen because of social problems, the list goes on. Ill just post it now because everytime i read it through for typos another thing to add comes to my mind...

Im on a waiting list for a professional assessment and because i dont have much sensory issues i still question myself alot if i really am on the spectrum, but i know that most of my problems date back to at least kindergarten days and from stories my mom told me i know some things were already different when i was a toddler so there has to be "something".

Peace
TK

It appears to me that there is something there. But, I dropped out of college, so don't go by me. Hehe! Good luck with your assessment. Let us know how it goes.

It seems, to my layman degree of knowledge, that you might be autistic.

As you know, we, who have not actually observed you in person over a few days, or given you a professional assessment, cannot really determine if you're autistic.

Obviously, you feel identification with autistic people--which is why you came to this Site in the first place.