Zoning out....

Post Reply New Topic

All the time, especially if I lose interest in what I'm doing and I can't go do something else.

That's a very good point! I never thought of it like that. It gives me more insight into why I behave like I do. So...we on the milder end of the spectrum aren't as far away from the "classic" autistic people as we'd like to believe.

As far as the amount of time I zone out, when I say "a couple of minutes", that's how long I might be gone before someone calls me out of it. When I'm alone, I might go off for MUCH longer than that and not be aware of it. I know there are times when I'm driving that I'll be so out of it that I won't be aware that the red pickup truck I was following has turned into a yellow moving van.



Another good point. My current living situation is such that I get almost NO time to myself! Maybe this zoning out of mine is my way of getting my desperately longed-for alone time.

Zoning out is one of those very common aspie things and it is why we sometimes stare at people unwittingly. I certainly zone out. Its mostly quite constructive because I concentrate on tasks while doing it. The type of zoning out where you just clutch out in mid-conversation is a little problematic. I have this problem.

When I zone out, which is all the time, I'm figuring out the mysteries of the universe

I used to zone out more as a child than I do now. I even had an EEG when I was four.

Zoning out for me is the only way I can apply any type of deep thought to a situation. I tend to stare off and rock, but I'm rotating things in my mind and seeing how pieces fit. If my attention is pulled away to an outside source, I can feel very disoriented and angry about the interruption to the train of thought because I can lose that thread so easily on my own. I can turn it off and interact with people okay, but then I will take those interactions later to replay them and catch up on some things that were probably very obvious, but that are easy for me to miss. More severe autistics may need to be brought out of their internal world , but I know in my case there has to be some kind of balance.

I zone out a lot, even at work. Often when I talk to some of the people there and they are giving me instructions I zone out and have to ask him what we were talking about. And also during meetings, but it' no wonder; meetings are boring.

Agreed. It's the best!

Isn't zoning out the same thing as daydreaming? And don't NTs daydream? Or maybe it's not?

A friend told me once that I was very introspective, that I think things out a lot. I said to her "doesn't everybody go inside their own head to figure out things, analyze their behaviors and motivations?" She said No, that most people don't spend that much time thinking about stuff. I find this very strange. No wonder this world is so screwed up if so many people are flying by the seat of their pants instead of planning their moves in advance. Go Team Aspie!

That happens to me quite a bit....especially when I am doing things. Like I've ended up doing things like putting milk in the cupboard on accident because I space out and don't realize what exactly I'm doing. Less often it can be to the point where I end up totally oblivious to every thing for a bit....like when time when I was at school in P.E class we where playing some game can't remember what. Anyways at the end of class I didn't realize it was over and everyone was getting ready to go and continued on before I realized I was the only one it was rather embarrassing.

These are the points I was going to make, I have noticed huge simulitys between me and LFA people in our actions when not having to do a preticular task. Makes me wonder what goes on in their minds and if some of these people may be the next Steven Hawking in terms of their abillity to work out stuff in their head over time.

I always zone out whenever my mind and brain is not needed to full capasity, board, tired or get frusterated/anxious. I spend like 80% of my wakeing day zoned out and I miss alot, maybe thats why I forget alot of little stuff and used to walk in front of moving cars and stuff like that. I often have to take written notes at work when given tasks to do to not zone out when I get overwelmed or board, I often have to ask people to repete stuff they already said. Its like my little head world is my default place to live in and the real world is just extra.

Indeed. Sometimes I "try" to zone out which ends up being slightly different from an accidental zone out but either way. I was in class today and we had to take a sheet and pass the stack along. I was zoned out and the girl sitting 2 seat away from me (empty seat between us) tapped my shoulder with the paper. I came back and grabbed a paper and passed it along but I heard her laugh a little after I woke back up. I guess it's just strange.

I tend to zone out while driving. I've done it for years. The earliest I can remember doing it was when I was 11. It came in handy, though, when bullies and such would torment me in class or in the hallways. I'd just retreat and not hear their stinging words and jabs.