Asperger Syndrome's symptom of repetitive behavior

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Hi again, I'd like to talk to you this time, about Asperger's Syndrome symptom of repetitive behavior.

To be honest, this repetitive behavior isnt exactly repetitive as it claims to be, as it can be much more wide than that. It can also be repetitive in a much more complicated way. I was hoping to hear what you all think about it, if you can share. For example, this symptom can sometimes be quite diverse, like when I perform the same action over and over, or place things the same way/place/order, or listen to the same type of songs/music, these are all repetitive behaviors - but its not like I CANT change the way I do these things if I wanted to. I just am used to the way it is now, but that doesnt mean if i had to change something about it, I wouldnt be able to, or struggle to do so. I think, if I would struggle to do so, it would only be that, and nothing more, and the struggle wouldn't be so big. It might take time to get used to a change, but not that long. I think, repetitive behavior isnt the accurate way to define this symptom of Asperger Syndrome. The more accurate way is, its a behavior that tend to dislike changes, hence things tend to be more repetitive, or remain the same with no changes. The fact I tend to dislike changes in life in generally, doesnt necessarily mean I would dislike every single change I would have to do or consider to do, or struggle to do it. I think its more realizing if the change is good or necessary, or not. Thats one of, if not the most, important thing to realize about it. Can you guys also share what you think about all this?

You are right in this. Many of us can change the behavior but we don't. That is because the repetitive behavior serves an important purpose. It gives us a sense of grounding and a sense of safety and order and calm. These are extremely important. That is why many of us do these repetitive behaviors. They allow our brains and even our bodies to rest in a way. That is why changing them can be a struggle. Your brain is trying to recover but if you change the behavior your brain now has to use energy that it does not have in order to create the change.

I Am a runner. I like to run the same ways over and over. Some of it is because I can directly compare the times to see how I’m improving over time but some of it is comforting as well. There’ll be days when I’ll think about running differently and I start getting anxious and I have to tell myself to just take the same course but maybe run it in reverse or something. Then there are times when my brain genuinely gets bored and tells me it time to change. That’s when I can make a change and not have it be stressful. I have more behaviors but that’s the most noticeable one.