I do certain things in an inflexible, repetitive way.

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I often see this listed as a sign of having ASD but what does it mean in reality. Does anyone have an example? I'd like to understand.

Thanks

It's one of many things associated with Aspergers. There are however a lot of ex career military people who are inflexible and repetitive in their ways. Then you have creatures of habit and sticklers.

People with autism often have very disorganized minds. They are "absentminded" and "scatterbrained". Many have ADHD. Therefore people with autism adhere to routines as a compensator to create structure and maintain order. Without it a person with autism might forget to: pay bills, go to work, go grocery shopping, brush teeth, remember to put pants on before leaving, etc.

Being without structured routines is like piloting an airplane at night without instruments for *some* people with autism.

So, it's not a matter of people with autism being inflexible in a repetitive way.
But *why* they are inflexible in a repetitive way.

The way I understand it is that some people with autism have to have a certain routine in place or else they just can't do anything.

Perhaps an example is that someone always wants to eat their vegetables before they eat everything else on their plate. If this someone is at another person's house, and is served chicken before broccoli, this someone will become very unsettled.

It's often said that "special interests" are a form of rigid behavior, because some people with autism don't care for anything but these interests.

My work involves a lot of numbers, checking many details etc. I have a very strict sequence of actions to check that all details are correct. I regard this as my inflexible repetitive way. If I don't follow that sequence I feel very worried that I might have made a mistake somewhere. Although I do take a little longer than others do, I make far fewer mistakes and always fix others' mistakes. So it's more than compensating my disorganized mind.

I have to go to the toilet to urinate even if I don't really need to and also wash my hands before having a break at work. Otherwise I feel somewhat something is not right. This might be another one.

I think there are many other things of this kind that I do every day to the point where my days are highly structured. I feel very comfortable in that way.