Listening to the same piece of music or radio show?

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Im in the process of being assessed for ASD and have been reading all about ASD and binging on this forum, its so helpful and full of great information. Anyway something I do I havnt seen that many posts on, since about 2002 I have listened to the same 120hours of radio shows on repeat on my ipod. I love listening to them and i know the shows basically word for word, i know all the jokes, all the quotes and still find it all very funny. I could resite a good chunk of it probably without any problems.

Is this a common thing in the ASD community?

I have aspergers and I listen to the same albums on my YouTube playlist, these are pretty much the only albums I listen to http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... nrkW0Y9Il7

I don't do this with listening to things but I definitely do it with books. I know everyone loves and rereads Harry Potter but I take it completely beyond what's considered normal and I easily reread the whole series 3-4 times a year. When I was little I used to do the same thing with Ronald Dahl's Witches and Matilda. I easily read those 10-15 times each. Definitely don't know anyone else who does this to this extent.

I've often thought the repeat function on CD players is there just for Aspies I often listen to the same song for hours at a time. Sometimes it's just a few bars that I need to hear over and over. My son can also recite verbatim, all the goon show episodes.

Repetitious behaviour is a very common side effect to those being diagnosed with ASD. It's what's known as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and it's a fundamental aspect of being Autistic.

There's OCD to what NTs think OCD is, and then there's OCD according to an Autistic which is 10 times more pronounced and rigidly reinforced without fail. I love it when NTs say they have OCD because then I laugh my butt off because they have no idea what real OCD is, that is, OCD according to an Autistic person.

I've been repeating behaviours and routines for months and years and I think most of us have much more repetitious behavior than we are aware of so have no fear, OCD and repetitious behavior is quite common amongst people like us.

I think I am guilty of not fully understanding OCD as I have never really looked it up but it does bug me when someone straightens a pencil and says "oh wow my OCD is kicking in"......that's not OCD!

I have been thinking about it and not only do i listen to the same 120 hours over and over and over but i listen to podcasts 10-15times each, i play songs on repeat for 2-3 weeks usually before i grow tired, i watch the same movie on repeat for weeks at a time, i watch the same TV series on repeat too, i watched The Office US on repeat for about 6months once, i couldnt stop. Is all this in line with the ASD stuff?

As far as I understand it, yes it is in line. Autistics like us have a Howard Hughes level of OCD that might even make him look tame. (And I have strong suspicions that he had High Functioning Asperger's Syndrome as well, instead of just OCD like everyone thinks) I been watching the Star Trek Next Generation TV series over and over again must be about 50 times each episode for the past 20 years. And I can watch them all again right now.

I've played the same song on auto repeat for several hours without stopping. I repeat the same routine as far as going to fast food joints every week for the past several years.

It never ends. Those routines are a fundamental aspect of being Autistic and have been classified as having true blue OCD. And I don't really care what NT's think about it but it feels very comfortable and natural to me. And us.

Being a bit pedantic, I just wanted to mention, OCD is an anxiety disorder. It's different to autism although you can definitely have both. Rituals and Routines in OCD are performed to neutralise intrusive, anxiety-provoking thoughts "obsessions". Not the case of coming home from work and listening to same song 20 times to relax/unwind before going to bed, in OCD there would be some anxious thought behind it, e.g. "if I don't listen to this song 20 times, my mum might die".

Hmmmm... not exactly sure what your point is. I merely pointed out only a couple of 100 examples of repetitious behavior that I engage in on a regular basis. I certainly didn't name all of them so I think your single example of mine was a bit unfair and quite incomplete to say the least.

And yes I do think something extremely bad will happen if I do not engage in this behaviour. A sort of do or die reaction if you will.

As far as OCD is concerned it is definitely a hand in hand and coexisting condition with Autism. Absolutely and without a doubt. Although as I pointed out our Autistic version of OCD is a much much greater example and a more extreme version of it. If I had to call this typically Autistic repititious behaviour anything it would be OCD.

And of course it is an accepted fact that anxiety is an overwhelming attribute to Autism and OCD so the two are strongly linked through that. Especially with the High Functioning Asperger's like I have.

Believe me I've had 42 years to examine this behaviour and two therapists to confirm Autism and OCD so I do have a very good idea of what I'm talking about.

Sorry, didn't mean to offend. Just wanted to point out the difference between OCD and autism.

... I was probably being overly explain-y.

Anyway, back to OP. I don't think I listen to the same song over and over all that much but my dad does.
Am sure I've read repetitious song-listening in a list of common ASD traits.

Undeniably OCD is frequently comorbid with ASD. As are a number of other things like Tourette's and ADHD. So, while common, having ASD does not automatically mean you have OCD.

Repetitive behavior, as BumbleMe noted, is part of ASD. Listening to a song, or the same playlist, etc, on loop is repetitive behavior. How you feel about not being able to do it is different depending on whether or not you actually have OCD as a comorbid.

I listen to one particular so on loop for hours at a time, and that song is part of a 19 song playlist that I also frequently set on loop. I also like to line things up and have them in a very particular order. But my comorbid cocktail is ASD, Tourettes, and ADHD. During more than one evaluation it was very clear that OCD was not part of that. I never feel compelled to loop my songs. It is not an obsession. When I cannot I'm perfectly fine with it. I just find it comforting.

Short version: engaging in repetitive behaviors a behavior that is both part of ASD and OCD. What differentiates the two is what drives the behavior and how you feel when you cannot do it.

Yes, I definitely do this. If I find a favorite video, I'm inclined to watch it often.

I have HFA and OCD. I have life affirming repetitive behaviours that bring me joy. I also have life diminishing repetitive behaviours that cause me to suffer. My life challenge is simply make the choices that can bring joy not suffering. This is an ongoing work in process.

No need to apologize.

I also get annoyed when folks get the two kinds of "obsessions" confused, and how folks will say "I must be OCD" when they mean something like "I find doing this thing to be addictively pleasurable" (nothing to do with "obsession" in the OCD sense which is fueled by anxiety, and not by positive fascination).

The way I explain it is this: if you are "obsessed" with doorknobs because you cleanand disinfect them constantly because you are afraid of "getting germs" from them, then that could well be a 'obsession compulsion' because its fueled by anxiety, and not be fascination.

But if you collect doorknobs, are a conneisuer of doorknobs, buy coffee table picture books about doorknobs, and bore folks to tears as you monologue about the history, evolution, and the endless fascinating variety of....doorknobs, then your "obsession" is probably not OCD, and could well be the aspie type of obsession. Lol!

^^^^^I agree

I don’t even think negative and positive obsessions involve the same parts of the brain, since people with OCD (but not autism) don’t have positive obsessions and vice versa. In order to have true OCD, the obsessions must cause marked anxiety or distress, which is something not seen in people who just have autism and not OCD. That doesn’t mean that autistic people can’t have obsessive/compulsive behavior- it just means that they don’t have OCD unless there is anxiety/distress surrounding those behaviors.