Recently, I went to the doctors to try and find out about if it's possible for me to be tested for an official diagnosis of aspergers syndrome. Mostly, it went reasonably well - I could barely talk because of stress (unfamilar person, unfamiliar situation, etc etc) but I had mainly expected that, and brought a printout of what I wanted to say and ask. For the most part, the doctor seemed to agree with my self-assessment, but one area which she kept coming back to was patterns.
As far as I'm aware, patterns arent a major issue to me - when I do something, I like to do it as efficiently as I can (in terms of effort, not speed), but I've never really noticed any particular patterns of behaviour in my life. The doctor did suggest that I may simply not notice something like that, but it's worrying me - when I do get to see the psychiatrist for diagnosis, how is this going to factor in?
So, this seemed like a sensible place to ask -
How important are patterns to you? And, also, what type of things do you make behavioural patterns around?
I'd like it if as many people as possible responded with their personal take on the matter- what sort of things you build patterns around, how strictly you try and keep to them, how much it botheres you if that's not possible, any information or personal experiences on this theme.
(updated to add final poll option)