NTs like to stick to routines more than aspies do?

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i find that NTs prefer to stick to routines more than aspies do even though i heard it is the other way round. i find that NTs around me prefer to stick to routines more than i do.

A lot of times on this forum I've seen people write ''NTs dislike routine''. I think that's a bit extreme to say, because I know a lot of NTs who like to stick to routine. I don't think they like routine more than Aspies do, I think it's the way Aspies deal with it which can be the real difference. Like I get anxious or distressed if my routine is changed, and I start getting muddled up with remembering what day it is, and the day feels like it's ''neither here nor there'' type of thing. When my jobcentre appointment was changed from a Thursday to a Tuesday, I was all put out for a few weeks, and an NT asked, ''what is the difference between a Tuesday and a Thursday?'' and I was like, ''I don't know, it's just made me distressed for some reason.''

But nearly every NT I know has some sort of a routine they like to stick to. I know one who goes to the pub every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings, and on Tuesday evenings he does his ironing and Thursdays and Sundays he just relaxes. He works every weekday. My mum is NT but she has a set dinner for each day of the week, for example Mondays is fish and chips, Tuesdays is spaghetti bolognaise, Wednesdays is pancakes....etc etc. And Tesco seems to get really busy on Fridays and Saturdays, so obviously it looks like most people do their shopping on these days. And children need routine too. I've actually heard a conversation between 3 NTs about this a few days ago. They all have small children and were saying that sticking to routine makes it easier for them as parents and the children, and keeps the children more secure and happy. I don't know many people who are all over the place every day. I only know very few who don't have any structure, like my uncle for example, but he suffers from depression and sometimes goes days without eating and other days he would eat dinner at all random hours.

So not sure if NTs need more routine than Aspies, maybe it is the other way round - Aspies do like a routine to feel secure and prepared for the next day without feeling anxious, but that doesn't mean NTs are the opposite and hate routine. NTs may like routines for different reasons to Aspies.

Now that's interesting. I do find that too which is, as I understand, unusual.
Maybe it's b/c I was brought up by a mother who insisted on various small details which I thought were extremely irrational, unreasonable and was so frustrated with that. She just couldn't be reasoned with. And then from that on I always found myself around people doing functionless stuff only because that's 'the routine'. I'm very intolerant of other people's routines. And it seems that it's always riddled with superstitions, nostalgia, comfort.. Something I don't quite understand.
And yet it seems I do something similar to it..

OCD can also make schedules. But I have yet to meet a NT who had a routine like I do.

In school, I went to lunch in the same two lunch lines, ate my food (generally the same food depending on the day), went pee in the same restroom, and than made my way into the library to read science books.

At home I would wake up at 5:30 or 6:00, go pee, take my medicine, go back to the restroom to do whatever else i needed to do, went back downstairs, got dressed in one of 5 outfits I have worn all year long, checked my bag, slipped on my shoes, and walked out the door at 6;40

When I got home from school I would put down my bag, use the restroom, go downstairs and change my outfit into something more comfortable, turn on the computer, go back upstairs and get something to eat, go back downstairs and play on my computer

Now i don't have a fixed routine and my life feels like a scattered jigsaw puzzle. I need my routines to function!

But NT's have them sometimes, but they can live without them. I can't function without them due to my inability to preceive how much time has passed. It can be a minute yet feel like a hour, or a week and feel like a day.

no one else in my family has routines besides my autistic little brother.

It is normal for people to live by routine to a certain extent, otherwise you wouldnt be able to do anything properly, life would just be one big muddle all the time, and nobody would be able to keep in a job if they all disliked routine. Some jobs are strict on routine, and write out set rotas for each individual worker.

I prefer routine and I'm neurotypical. Every morning I like to wash my hair then eat my breakfast, I just hate eating breakfast before washing my hair. It's just something I've always done that way. My autistic brother, however, needs to be told in advance if his routine is going to change otherwise he will get anxious and has had a meltdown before. I don't react like that, if my routine is changed I just moan a bit then move on. Crying won't help anything, but you can't tell my brother that.

I disagree with this. I think that Aspies and NTs are equally likely to follow routines. It entirely depends on the individual. Some people love routines while others don't. I'm and Aspie and I go insane if I'm not on some kind of routine. Some of my NT fiends like routines more than others as well. I don't really see liking routines as a difference between Aspies and NTs.

Yeah, I hate changes in my routine. The longer I go without doing something in my routine, the more anxious I get.

2 meals before dinner usually, today I am trying for one. Always in bed by 4 am, unless I have school the next day, than it is bed by 12. I also cannot have people touching my stuff, because it will then get misplaced or lost, or they may move it somewhere else, and if I don't know where something of mine is when I am looking for it I get anxious by the second to the point of tears. Like one i time I put my stuffed pikachu in a drawer so I would not misplace her, and since i never put it in the drawer before I did not know where it was. And I cried and the whole family did not go to bed until I found the pikachu... I later stopped sleeping with her because she was falling apart and I was afraid she will turn into scraps and stuffing. I still own the stuffed animal on my drawer.

So I fall to peices if I am left without my routine for too long...

i just started college so I need to rework a new schedule. My life right now is in shambles...

If there are too many changes in my routine, I get anxious and stressed out and have anxiety and I get very cranky and irritable. I get very short tempered and more things annoy me. Sometimes I am not sure what the difference is between aspies and NTs reacting to change. I have known lot of aspies who seem to do fine with change but I may not realize they are stressed out and panicking inside and on the outside they seem all cheerful and happy. But I know NTs also don't get meltdowns when there is a change and aspies do. I still have meet an NT who freaks out over change. If I do, I might assume they probably have AS if they have enough traits. Same as if they say they don't do well with change.

not true, i have many NT friends and all of them are less routine-minded(?) than I am. And I'm not even a routine based person to begin with..

I dont actually think routines are something that come with being Aspie, ASD, or NT..... I think they're a coping mechinism for trying to do more then one would be able to do without the routine, IE a Time/Stress Saving Device.

Aspie's have a hard time dealing with the world as a result of a # of possible issues, from Sensory overload (So we might "routinely walk a different way home then most because of bright lights or really loud noise) to Hand Flapping (So we might routinely carry things with us to fidget/fiddle with) to Socail phobia (So routinely staying in places where we can be alone or not have to deal with people). NTs can get overloaded as well, but instead of being overloaded by Lights or Noises, or avoiding social situations, they might routinely drink coffee every morning so they can work 10 hours a day, or do their work in a certain way because they find it easier to do it that way thereby creating less stress for themselves.......

Further, I think Autism has been stigmatized with the Behvorial pattern of Routines, merely because short of really expensive Genetic Testing (Which To the best of my knowledge isn't even that reliable yet anyway), there is no way to recognize someone as being autistic or Aspie short of Behavioral Diagnosis. And since the world isn't designed for Aut/Asp people, the routines we "routinely" fall into are one of the easiest ways to recognize us..... This could easily get into a discussion of Systems Engineering, and Natural Biochemical systems but Ill avoid that for now.

Though along that thought process, I could point out that Clown Fish "Routinely" peek their heads out of the w/e anemone they're currently inhabiting before leaving it, which is directly a survival Mechanism...... So no, I don't believe ASD's or NT are particularly any more or less routine then each other, just all people trying to cope with, and live, their lives in the easiest/best ways possible as they view themselves.....

Ta,
Aldran

I hate hate hate hate being tide to the clock so don't have any routines based on that really. I generally also like to do things when I feel like doing them. However, I still have some things I do in the same way on the same day. For example I always have the same flavoured ice cream every Saturday night. This is one routine I enjoy lol and it can throw my whole day out if I can't get the right flavour. I have been known to burst into tears over it when the supermarket has been sold out!

Apparently this is considered to be most strange.

I would have more routines but I tend to get lost in my hobbies most days and am not good at sticking to them anyway...ie if I had a set bedtime and I wanted to carry on studying when it arrived, I am not going to put my books down just to go to bed, especially if I am not tired. Hate having the clock govern my entire day!

so are u an aspie?