Aspergers and Hoarding

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I don't think that there is a direct link between Autism and Hoarding. But, there seems to be a common thread of behaviors listed here in the responses. I also have kept what I explain to my wife as a backup computer, a 2nd back up ,3rd, etc., a collection of "omni" magazines, readers digest, computer magazines, that I might reference later (Google took care of this), sound receivers, TV's, an acoustic piano although I only use an electronic one, horrible time getting rid of cars I had a long time that I took meticulous care of, video game consoles and associated games, saving MRE's for the next hurricane, etc.

For me the common thing was they were all part of special interests that I became obssessed with. I don't know how anyone else feels, but there have been times in my life that I have been so focused on special interests that it seems like the special interests are part of my identity, and letting go of them feels like letting go of a part of me. I would never hold on to anything if it wasn't part of a special interest pursuit.

My wife had a family member that was a hoarder and often expresssed concern that my obsession with special interest related items might turn into hoarding, but I assured her this was not the case because my collected items were neatly stored away and well taken care of.

Here is a quote from this link: http://www.autism-help.org/comorbid-obsessive-compulsive.htm

My wife has OCD: germaphobe, towels have to be straight, etc. and she readily admits it, but she will never be a hoarder. This is clearly the kind of thing that I have associated with OCD, but since I didn't have the common traits, I didn't think I had any form of it. But now that I am older and some of the coping mechanisms I used in life no longer work, I realize I was obsessed with my coping mechanisms (strict routines to exercise, certain fabrics in clothes, certain brands of clothes that had a comfortable fit, etc.). I thought life was kind of like science, you experiment, find the things that work, and keep doing them, change was to be avoided because it might mess up the experiment.

I know my wife was afraid it was hoarding, so others might mislabel it as such. While I'm not suggesting that anyone posting has "OCD" or is a "Hoarder". I think the common behaviors people are describing are associated with Autism. While there are common elements of some of the behavior in the general population; they seem to be more prevalent with folks on the AS.

Yes, same here.


"Neatly stored away and well taken care of" is actually consistent with an accurate definition and understanding of responsible hoarding, and there is absolutely nothing categorically-wrong with responsible hoarding. Hoarding is only a "bad" thing when people do so in irrational, troubling or harmful ways (such as typically seen on TV).

My autistic uncle hoards shoe insoles, tiles, plastic toys and cans. His room got so crowded, he had to start hiding his collection under bushes.

I collect things related to my special interests and since I have a lot of interests, the interests are always in flux, and most would not seem worthy of my level of involvement to the average person, I must appear to be a hoarder. However, I don't keep ordinary things that can be easily replaced.

Also, I find that owning unique and meaningful objects helps me create a personal environment where I feel comfortable and validated, and to some extent replaces problematic social interaction.

Hoarding is a subgroup of OCD/OCPD. Those can be comorbid in people with Aspergers.

I think the issue would be attributing an emotional bond to objects.

I have *slight* hoarding tendencies - I do a good job throwing things out and don't really feel that compelled to hang on to things or to collect stuff, but then things tend to sit in my closet for years unused and really unneeded. I think my tendencies are more of a learned behavior rather than anything inherently aspie, as my mom is not an aspie as far as I can tell, but is a pretty major hoarder and has been all my life - and I think she got it from her parents.

My whole family has hoarding tendencies, but I'm the worst. I don't hoard trash, but my doll and action figure collection has gotten out of hand.

I dont hoard anything at all.

I know that my grand father, hoarded cars. From what i remember one of the few times ive seen him, There was this backyard as in it was supposed to be a normal back yard but it was full of cars. Old junk cars.

I hoard dolls. As Kiseki said, I attribute emotional bonds to objects, especially dolls.

I definitely have hoarding tendencies. The thing is, I know I could live without a lot of the things I've hoarded, and I actually want to pare down or at least organize all of the things that I have, but at the same time I have a hard time simply getting rid of things because I own a lot of things that have sentimental value, or that may serve some use for me in the future, or that are too worthless to sell, but not worthless enough to throw/give away.

I actually started a thread about this myself just yesterday, but I felt like posting in this one as well.

would selecting a desktop icon for every game I buy off steam even though I activate the games through big picture mode count as hoarding

I don't think so, but digital hoarding is definitely a thing. I know this as I have a horde of all these (mostly downloaded) files going back several years on my desktop at home. The way they're organized is a complete mess too.

A liiiittle bit, but I'm getting much better. I've downsized a lot of junk and still have a ways to go donating things I haven't even unpacked since the last time I moved.

My very aspie uncle, on the other hand, is a major hoarder.. his room is stacked floor to ceiling with junk and books, he has 2 cars and 2 trucks, and storage unit somewhere loaded with junk & car parts. Almost none of it has any monetary value. It's just his "stuff," and he's attached to it and refuses to get rid of it because it's all he has. Bizarre since if he'd have not spent the money on the storage locker for the last 15+ years he'd have a lot more money for better "stuff," if he wanted it.