Do Nothing or Something?

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I'm just gonna rant & hope its clear in the end.

My parents came home to day & threw a fit b/c we (my sibs & I) forgot to do the laundry & get potatoes out of the basement. I am usually quite oblivious (& I admit it) I know its not an excuse I am trying to work on it (doesn't always work though). My stepmom freaked after the incident & declared we had to make our own dinners & stuff (which I was fine w/) but I have one problem. My problem is when I do stuff I tend to screw up & damage stuff or hurt myself. Last two times I tried to microwave a roll to heat it up & tried to melt chocolate I nearly set a fire in the microwave (my stepmom asked me why the kitchen smelled like something was/had been burning at least twice now)! Plus my knife skills are so bad (I stuck a knife in my finger while cutting cheese ) that my younger sibs are even scared to let me peel a carrot (I can do that though, geez ). I also can't judge what level to do my laundry on (regular, delicate, warm, cold , etc.) & have developed a paranoia about damaging mine & other people's clothes. I asked my parents whether I should try to do stuff & risk burning the something (seriously I think I might do that some day by accident) or do nothing & have them pissed at me for being lazy. My stepmom told me I would get in trouble for burning something but that I still need to do stuff. Help! If I lived alone (which I will in a dorm soon) I would risk doing "household stuff" that os risky for me in general b/c I have a lower chance of damaging someone else's stuff. This may sound pathetic but, should I risk doing stuff or not? Another question, how do you react to people getting pissed at you for crying (happened today b/c I can't control myself that well when frustrated, my case my eyes just filled up) .

Your rant is totally understandable. I had laundry duty among other household chores when growing up. Once my parents figured out that I needed very specific, detailed instructions and did not handle "exceptions" well at all, we eventually arrived at a procedure which I could use to complete the task successfully.

I agree these tasks are complex. Even now at age 40+ and living on my own, I keep my wardrobe sufficiently simple that everything can be washed together. I simply cannot tell what is "delicate", where "white" ends and "colors" begin. Kitchen activities are relatively difficult too because of sensory issues. I can cook a few things, but mostly rely on the microwave to heat items for me.

When growing up I was routinely "fined" from my allowance and otherwise punished for failure to complete assigned tasks appropriately. I was eventually thrown out of my father's home (my parents divorced when I was quite young), and lived with my mother, where I continued to demonstrate my inability to complete tasks appropriately.

I never got teary. As I said in a separate thread, my "emotional reaction time" is quite slow, so I become upset long after the event, if I become upset at all.

You'll probably find these problems fade as you gain control over how you run your life. Living alone may not be easy for Aspies (and is not necessarily the right choice), but it has many advantages.

I have the same problem, my brother always b*****s about how I am lazy and just "bunging it on". I hope he dies soon

Sounds like you have a confidence problem compounded by the fact that you've recently had a series of accidents that have made your problems worse.

If I were you, I'd start looking up how to do various practical things (laundry, microwaving, chopping food more safely, cleaning things, etc.) on the video site http://www.videojug.com as you can always play the tutorial videos again and again until you're comfortable putting the ideas in them into practice.

The more practice you get before college, the more natural and efficient you will seem/be at them when the time goes to start your life in the dorm and the less time you will have to worry about the duller side of things in the long run.

One good thing about such practice, is you'll learn what your realistic limits are, as well as tools and workarounds you can use so that you can get things done on a day to day basis.

A few examples:

I am definitely not someone who can be trusted with a large knife in the kitchen, so I either use small ones with non-slip handles that I can control better, or in the case of cutting cheese, I use a cheap box grater or hand grater over a bowl.

I've also learned to use a cheap clothes steamer instead of an iron when it comes to removing wrinkles from clothes. Additionally, I try to keep the clothes I own that tend to wrinkle to a minimum, because I don't want to spend all my time on household tasks.

When it comes to kitchenware, Oxo makes a line of tools that are ergonomically designed to help cut down on accidents, etc. that you might want to look into.

First of all i want to say there is nothing wrong with crying. you should not feel ashamed of crying . It is a really healthy thing.

There is a place that teaches you basic living skills like how to clean and cook for free. Here is the link
http://www.nepacil.org/

Its for people like you who have a hard time learning how to do them.

they give you hands on classes.

i hope this helps they have this throughout the country look for one near your collage.