the need to be shown a rule in many different contexts

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Is the need to be shown a specific pattern or rule or procedure in many different contexts in order to remember it an ASD trait?

I recall this being addressed in Temple Grandin's books. But then you have people who memorize large amounts of seemingly arbitrary raw facts without any apparent context.

I memorize things better if there is a logical pattern, but brutal repetion also works.

Absolutely! It is most definitely an Autistic trait. Memorizing arbitrary facts is very different, because it is arbitrary.

The fact that certain rules apply in many different contexts seems arbitrary to us, because each context seems unrelated to us, but to the NT mind, they aren't arbitrary at all. In fact Autistics tend to refer to the various contexts as "confusing rules" because we may not see the relationship between one context and another. NT's don't have so much of a problem seeing the relationships.

The basic difference between the arbitrary fact Autistics "collect" and the seemingly arbitrary contexts within which certain rules apply, is that the collected facts are not social rules. The seemingly arbitrary contexts, are social contexts, not rote facts. They're much harder to process.

Yeah. I have this problem. If my Mum told me not to say something rude in public I would say it in the house and then she would get angry. I would be thinking 'What? But I'm not in public!'

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I have HFA, ADHD, OCD & Tourette syndrome. I love animals, especially my bunnies and hamster. I skate in a roller derby team (but I'll try not to bite )

Yes! This statement describes me. I guess maybe not so much nowadays as when I was a kid, but I think you guys get the point.