OCD and Asperger's.

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How much overlap is there between OCD and Asperger's? What traits are shared/similar?

People on the spectrum sometimes have rituals (that is,doing something the same way or in the same order every time). Usually these are so the person with ASD can compensate for poor executive functioning--the routines make sure everything gets done. People with OCD have rituals they feel compelled to do to alleviate stress or guilt or to superstitiously ward off something bad happening.

People on the spectrum sometimes hyperfocus on their special interests, and perseverate on them. This usually brings them pleasure. People with OCD perseverate on things they don't want to continue thinking about, but cannot stop doing so (even though they want to.)

If your Aspie routines and perseverations make you MORE functional instead of LESS functional, then it probably isn't OCD.

I was just wondering.

My OCD is centred around disinfecting/cleaning things, having multiple showers, handwashing, counting and obsessional thoughts.

I do have rituals though but I think they're a mixture of OCD and AS.

I have both and have difficulty telling between the two. Only thing I see about OCD is they lack other autistic traits and they only have the rituals and the routines and the obsessions. But that leaves me wondering what if someone with OCD liked their routines and all but it was still causing them impairments like it would with an ASD person. I am sure they still get diagnosed with it because it's the closest match for a diagnoses. Same as what if someone with OCD liked their obsessions and interests. Mine have been blamed on both AS and OCD.

I also have both of these. I don't know where one ends and the other begins. When I was diagnosed, the clinical psychologist who administered my testing told me the OCD was the "easier" of the two to diagnose for me. AS was more difficult because of my age and some of my learned social lubrication tactics as an adult as coping measures.

My OCD stuff revolves around repetitive thought patterns relating to safety concerns. Reliability of household utilities and transportation. Door locks. Making sure lights are turned off before I leave the house. Anxiety spikes when weather is stormy (i think electricity will go out, water heater will burst, refrigerator will break, the house will burn down).

I really believe that OCD behaviour is part of AS - although that's not the same as saying that everyone with AS has OCD behaviours, because as we know the balance of traits varies between Aspies. I have some OCD tendencies and so does my eldest child (obsessive hand washing), not sure yet about my youngest child. I have read that it's very common for people with AS to repeatedly go back and check they definitely did lock the door, that they turned off the cooker etc. and I am definitely one for this type of behaviour.

Generally,

the obsessions in AS are pleasurable
those in OCD aren't

Usually, the obsessions in OCD come with a compulsion that you do to alleviate anxiety (fear of germs = washing hands all day)

There's really no "routines" in OCD in the same way they're there in AS. The routines in AS are there to help you get through things, cognitively, whereas the "routines" in OCD (compulsions) are there to alleviate anxiety from your obsession. Breaking the routine of someone with AS can be anxiety inducing (it will be), but it's for a different reason.

There has been reported social deficits in OCD, but they're of a different manifestation than AS, and they're nowhere near as severe.

My daughter obsessively washing her hands, is largely because she was taught the reason we wash hands, and she took it very literally (AS). She doesn't feel something bad will happen if she doesn't do it per se. For instance she made her hands in such a state, really red and scaly from all the washing (she soaps up like a surgeon) which has been going on for a long time and she could see herself that it wasn't doing her hands any good, she is asking me if it's OK that she doesn't wash her hands so she is seeking reassurance, not thinking something bad will happen like in classic OCD. The AS mind is an obsessional one, otherwise where would special interests arise?

I also have a bit of OCD ..keeping things in order cleaning A LOT and double checking everything all the time.i hate these rituals but find it hard to stop the cycle...also love routine it makes me cope with stress in my life a lot better...all part of my AS i think!

Yes, this is an accurate synopsis of the two.

OCD repetitive behaviour, for me, would be, for example, checking my car door locks, gear shift, parking break, and headlights over and over before I can walk away from my car. I do this for fear that my car will be stolen, the battery will drain because i left the lights on, the car will roll down the street and crash because i forgot to set the parking brake.

Autism routine, again specifically in my case, is something like following the exact same procedure for taking off my shoes/coat/gloves when I get home from work, putting keys and wallet on my desk in their correct place, turning the lights on in a particular order, getting out a fresh set of clothes to wear after I take my shower, taking the shower etc. All in the same order because that makes the whole thing more comfortable for me. Less cognitively intensive than it would be if I did these tasks in more or less random order each day, constantly running through a mental checklist of items and queuing them up as each item is completed.

The only group of OCD people that tend to enjoy their obsession are hoarders. For this reason, as well as because most hoarders don't have any other obsessions besides hoarding (whereas the other OCD people usually have multiple obsessions), many researchers think hoarding should be considered a separate condition.

From what I have learned about hoarders, they usually don't like how they live but they are unable to stop their compulsion to collect and unable to get rid of things. There is usually an emotional attachment to it. Just something I have gotten out of the TV shows about it. I still don't understand it because I cannot imagine keep on getting stuff and living like that so that is why I don't bother buying much stuff anymore. But yet there are some who do actually like it and that be animal hoarders for example. They don't see anything wrong with how they are living and they are also too attached to their animals to get rid of them. But it pushes their friends and family away because their home is a health hazard due to all the urine and feces. What I don't get is why they don't clean up after their pets when they go.

Other people however who like it are considered collectors and their house isn't a huge obstacle course to get around in and it's all organized and put away, not thrown around and you can still get around in their home. They are not considered hoarders.

I suspect hoarder is also a misused word. People use that word as in they hang onto stuff and collect stuff they don't really need but they don't throw it all around or have their home be a huge dump like in the TV shows about hoarding. Just like how people will say they are addicted to something when they mean they are hooked on it. They don't mean real addiction. People will also say they are depressed when they mean they are having a bad day or are unhappy or feeling down about something. People also say they are OCD about having a clean home when they mean they like their home being clean but it's not the same as a person who truly has it. That is why addictions, depression, and OCD gets so misunderstood because people misuse those words.