Do you try and avoid cracks/lines in side walk?
I avoid the circle ones still, and the square ones as well but I stop to look down them.
I also have a wierd phobia if you can all it that, where I am repulsed/disqusted with the side of rocks where it is jagged and strange patterns in it like you might see when you are driving and there is a rock wall on the side of you. Ever since I was a kid certain textures repulse me....
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“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
― George Washington
I never step on cracks in the sidewalk. I'm 30. Not too long ago I decided to force myself to step on the cracks, because it is a bit silly. But that didn't last long. Walking is something I do that is calming. Stepping on the cracks was making me feel, not quite anxious. But it seemed wrong. Out of place. I decided that my weird way of walking wasn't really a problem.
I swear when I started avoiding cracks as a kid it was just a game to keep my mind occupied. Who knows when it turned into an obsessive compulsion.
I also refuse to walk over grates. I'm sure that my shoe will get caught in one and I'll end up tripping. Considering what a klutz I am, I don't think this one is irrational.
Funny, I do that too except I usually start with my right foot and sometimes I change. I come up with patterns for matching my steps to the squares and sometimes it results in very strange walking rhythm, especially if the squares are different sizes. I have often walked into tree branches and signposts because I was so focused on the way my steps went together with the pavement pattern.
I avoided cracks in sidewalks as a kid, but I largely grew out of it. I think I did it by making myself not look at the ground as I was walking. I wonder now, so many years later, if my main obsession was making myself seem like every one else around me. I can remember putting so much effort into changing my habits up until I was in my early twenties.
But here are a few habits I have successfully grown out of:
-Not stepping on cracks.
-Repeatedly rubbing the palms of my hands on my pants at the dinner table when I was moments away from eating a meal, to the point where the friction built up would almost feel like burning on the palms of my hands (is this an example of stimming? I'm not sure).
-Counting the number of steps between seams in the concrete sidewalk, and attempting to keep the number of steps even between left and right foot, either two or four steps total, always starting with the left foot in the square and ending with the right foot in a given square.
-Staring at the ground when walking.
-Slouching when walking (I get comments, typically positive, on my posture when standing or walking. I wonder if I'm taking it a little too far now? It seems to draw more than average attention).
Some habits I have not broken, or see no need to break:
-When there is more than one type of food on my plate, I must eat one to completion, then move on to the next. Even though I know it's all going to the same place, there must be no mixing of foods!
-When chewing, I space the food out so the left and right molars are used in equal amounts. At first, as with other habits, I start with the left side, then the right side on the next bite of food. I figured this would look weird, so I started taking a bite, surreptitiously divided the bite in half in my mouth, then chewed on both sides at the same time, thus ensuring both sides are used equally before swallowing my food. No less weird, but I feel like it's less noticeable.
-I count the steps when taking the stairs. This is an absolute must. If I know the number of steps, I'll always make sure I end on the right foot. Odd number of steps, I start with the right foot, and left foot with even. I can't break this one for some reason.
But here are a few habits I have successfully grown out of:
-Not stepping on cracks.
-Repeatedly rubbing the palms of my hands on my pants at the dinner table when I was moments away from eating a meal, to the point where the friction built up would almost feel like burning on the palms of my hands (is this an example of stimming? I'm not sure).
-Counting the number of steps between seams in the concrete sidewalk, and attempting to keep the number of steps even between left and right foot, either two or four steps total, always starting with the left foot in the square and ending with the right foot in a given square.
-Staring at the ground when walking.
-Slouching when walking (I get comments, typically positive, on my posture when standing or walking. I wonder if I'm taking it a little too far now? It seems to draw more than average attention).
Some habits I have not broken, or see no need to break:
-When there is more than one type of food on my plate, I must eat one to completion, then move on to the next. Even though I know it's all going to the same place, there must be no mixing of foods!
-When chewing, I space the food out so the left and right molars are used in equal amounts. At first, as with other habits, I start with the left side, then the right side on the next bite of food. I figured this would look weird, so I started taking a bite, surreptitiously divided the bite in half in my mouth, then chewed on both sides at the same time, thus ensuring both sides are used equally before swallowing my food. No less weird, but I feel like it's less noticeable.
-I count the steps when taking the stairs. This is an absolute must. If I know the number of steps, I'll always make sure I end on the right foot. Odd number of steps, I start with the right foot, and left foot with even. I can't break this one for some reason.
I have to eat foods in entirety to move onto something else as well..never really thought about it before though...
When I am eating a burger or anything like that I typically eat around the outside then eat the inside.
I pretty much only use my molars...partly because that is how my teeth are aligned and the only place my teeth meet up closely and also before this was the case I always used these 4 teeth only to chew. I worry they will get so worn down that they will have so many cavities or simply fall out. I am supposed to have jaw surgery, but it is very expensive (15-20k) and I would be out of commission mouth wise for about 6 months....plus i'd probably get addicted to pain pills.
I also used to do that palm rubbing thing though I no longer do that anymore.
I am going to try and not look at the ground more...I just worry I am going to trip though if I do not look at the ground....how do you over come this? or is it just like nike...just do it? oO
_________________
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
― George Washington
It's amazing how similar we all can be sometimes without even knowing each other. I was expecting people to say they avoid cracks sometimes. I'm so relieved to know that others take it as far as doing it compulsively. Also I never expected other people to also step over imaginary intersecting lines created from smaller cracks in the sidewalk. Like if there is a diagonal crack that doesn't go over the entire length of the square. I'll keep tracing the direction and step over where it would've been. This gets very tricky when there are a lot of cracks. Also it can result in me looking not so normal. I also sometimes have to clear each square in a certain number of steps. It's like you all are inside my head, writing my answers before I can even think of them.
Yeah, but it not because of the "step on a crack, break your mother's back" thing. I just always had that habit. Also on tilled floors, I'll sometimes skip a tile wile leaping.
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"If you're lost you can look and you will find me, time after time" - Cyndi Lauper
When I eat, I make sure to consume each part of the meal evenly. If I notice Ive got too much burger and not enough fries, I have to ignore the fries until Ive achieved a balance. Then as I approach the end of the meal I make sure my favorite part is the last bite. haha it seems so ridiculous all typed out.
I was never diagnosed, and was basically led to the belief by my family that there was nothing different about me, and that I should stop making excuses about my differences and basic inability to understand people and get my head on straight. All I can say is I devoted a significant portion of my attention for many years to just trying to fit in.
I guess I just did it, like you said. When you're stuck in a corner like that, it's easy to develop some focus.
If you want some basic advice, I would say practice by scanning the room you're in, close your eyes then try to navigate around the furniture and obstacles. Now that I'm typing this, I remember that I used to pretend I was blind almost every day as a kid. Not all day, but when I was alone I'd take a shower with my eyes closed, or get ready for bed, never opening my eyes the whole time. I guess I was training for stuff like this, decreasing my dependence on my eyes and focusing on memory and my other senses. How weird is it that I had forgotten that until just now? Wow.
Having said that, if you can train yourself to scan the distance and make a quick mental note of any obstacles in your path, you can look up from the ground while walking. There's nothing wrong with quickly looking down and checking out the next five feet or so every few seconds. But you can train yourself to look up while walking if you try hard enough.
I was never diagnosed, and was basically led to the belief by my family that there was nothing different about me, and that I should stop making excuses about my differences and basic inability to understand people and get my head on straight. All I can say is I devoted a significant portion of my attention for many years to just trying to fit in.
I guess I just did it, like you said. When you're stuck in a corner like that, it's easy to develop some focus.
If you want some basic advice, I would say practice by scanning the room you're in, close your eyes then try to navigate around the furniture and obstacles. Now that I'm typing this, I remember that I used to pretend I was blind almost every day as a kid. Not all day, but when I was alone I'd take a shower with my eyes closed, or get ready for bed, never opening my eyes the whole time. I guess I was training for stuff like this, decreasing my dependence on my eyes and focusing on memory and my other senses. How weird is it that I had forgotten that until just now? Wow.
Having said that, if you can train yourself to scan the distance and make a quick mental note of any obstacles in your path, you can look up from the ground while walking. There's nothing wrong with quickly looking down and checking out the next five feet or so every few seconds. But you can train yourself to look up while walking if you try hard enough.
thanks for the advice =) I will try and image I am blind in my current house...
I just tend to get sucked into the lines and when I try and do the scanning thing I start to worry I am looking crazy scanning everything around me (which is what i do if I am not looking at the cracks) so then I go back to looking at the cracks..I just need a balance between looking straight ahead, around and at the cracks....
_________________
“It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.”
― George Washington
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