what is the AS need for structure, rules, routines?

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I start becoming disorganized without rules structure and routine. Being disorganized leads to haviing anxiety.

My executive functioning ain't that great, either.

it's a coping mechanism. For example one might eat the same food everyday or do a certain pattern of things. Or drink the same kind of drink. It also is quite upsetting even to the point of meltdown if these rituals as you call them are disrupted. It also can increase the chance of
Meltdown.

Better than me Or the level 50 articuno that I just caught can explain, it. I gotta buy more poke balls I used 50.

I have some tendency toward routines, but nothing resembling a need for them. In fact, I prefer variety and not knowing exactly what to expect; I just tend naturally towards doing things the same way, in the same order, etc. unless I'm actively trying to do otherwise. I consider it (at least in my case, others may find their routines useful or necessary) a kind of laziness to be overcome for maximum enjoyment of life.

As for rules and structure, my view is that they should be taken in small doses, and only if there's clearly a good reason for them. Flexibility is more important to me than stability.

Okay -- thanks everyone who took the time to answer. I've read everything you guys wrote, followed all the links, and did some research.

I'm going to try organising/brainstorming my thoughts. Please consider this just making one pass at thinking out loud.

* Many people with autism/Aspergers express a connexion between routines and anxiety regulation. Collecting self reports: Lots of aspies find routines to be calming or comfortable. Lots of aspies find disorder (an environment which won't pattern?) to produce anxiety. Lots of aspies find the unknown to cause anxiety. Being able to prepare for situations eases anxiety. Having these preparations blown by the unexpected spikes anxiety.

* Adopting routines can compensate for executive function deficits by giving one a prepared subroutine to launch (In social situations, scripting functions as the subroutine) Okay, this makes sense. But I guess I kinda thought everyone did this. I have a get ready for work routine, a shower routine, a grocery shopping routine, but don't NTs do that too? It's like following a recipe to cook which you automate once you know the recipe. The "deficiency in acquiring new patterns" idea does ring a bell. I keep my hair, clothes, bedroom, diet in specific ways not so much from compulsion as a limit number of ways I know to make things work.

* #notallaspies have routines. Well that makes sense to me as I kinda assume every individual is different, everything's a spectrum & aspergers intersects with everything else in your life etc. etc. But still AS is clinically defined by repetitive behaviour and it shows up in all the literature. I distrust authority but it still seems likely theres some reason this is percieved as so salient? I personally thrive on trying new things, exploring new places, having new experiences.
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One tentative working hypothesis: the aspie/autistic need for a routines is a conflation of distinct aspects of autism with convergent consequences. Maybe I'm partially immune to anxiety issues but especially defenseless against executive function deficits and as a result show a lopsided expression of this aspect of AS.

"Go" means go. It doesn't stop. It just keeps going. Why doesn't it stop sometimes? Because it's "go". Therefore, it just goes. But why this routine? Why not change it up so that "go" stops sometimes? Don't you crave a little variety sometimes? What if "go" could be influenced by other factors that determined if "go" goes or stops? No, thanks. "Go" goes because it is "go". There is no reason for it to stop.

Okay -- Thank you Adamantium! I really appreciate you giving me a scientific grounded theory. And, yes, this does fairly well describe my personal experience. I have a stim toy and suck my thumb to get to sleep. It feels like a simple physical desire, like a craving for food, warmth, or water. Being prevented from doing these things would... make me unhappy, mainly because I'd have trouble sleeping. In that case, yes, I definitely show repetitive behaviours (and thank you -- that information will be materially useful to me). I was just previously classifying them under secondary issues or TBH just forgetting this isn't normal because it doesn't interfere with my life.

But why then are so many other aspies/autistics telling me that they like routine/structure/rituals as a means of controlling anxiety? (I honestly don't emotionally understand why 'order' makes people feel better for either AS people or neurotypicals) This is certainly not the only reason autistics give for routine behaviour patterns but it's a common theme expressed by many voices describing their felt experience. How would you explain this? Especially because I think I'm the atypical case here as (1) I seem to have lower vulnerability to anxiety changing how many AS traits express themselves and (2) I live a lifestyle Ive shaped to suit my psychological needs and I'm atypically insulated from conventional social expectation. Do you think it's just that most autistics experience immersion in a world hostile to perseverative behaviours as their normal frame of reference and thus engaging in perseverative behaviour feels like a special refuge from a generally anxiety-producing situation?

I rock my chair back sometimes. I just classified this as "fun" and one of the many, many things I could do whenever I wanted after telling my family and school to f**k off. I never thought twice about it since until a year or two ago when I realised it was an autistic thing and became conscious that doing anything typed as autistic will sink your social presentation

I have noticed in me that when I get into a routine, it's very difficult for me to get out of. I am always tired because I always need to go to bed at 2AM. I know I should be going to bed sooner but it's hard to quit doing it when it's become a routine and it was a habit I got into when I worked swingshift. I would come home at midnight and stay up until two with the computer and then go to sleep because I would be so tired. But that job broke me out of my 8 o clock shower routine. I am not sure why I am this way. I can't find a reason behind it and sometimes there is no reasons behind our routines.

Every ASD individual is different so the reason behind routines is different for each individual with it. For some it's due to executive functioning, for some it's for predictability because they find life in chaos and they always need to know what to expect, for some it seems to be about organization, for others it's the unknown, and for some it's about control and keeping away anxiety or else there will be anxiety if they don't have their routine. Sometimes for me if there is a change, I get all confused and have no idea what I am supposed to be doing and that is at work and I get anxious that way. There are other changes I don't mind like going out all of a sudden but if it happens too much, I just want to stay home and not go anywhere.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... -1.2003774
Zuckerberg wears the same shirt every day to avoid wasting time making silly decisions.

A routine can simplify the decision making process--quite useful if you only have the capability to make a few decisions each day.

A lot of the time I create routine out of a compulsion for efficiency. If I'm at work and I have a lot of tasks to do in no particular order, I sort them out mentally into coloured boxes, and then run through them (kind of like computer code) to discover the best order in which to do them. Once I've done that with a situation, I will stick to that routine every day that I have to do it. If the situation changes, for example if I get an additional task or an interruption, then I sort that into a new 'box' in my head, and run through the sequence again until it makes sense.

This is the main reason I don't like teamwork. Other people work so inefficiently and the social convention is to accommodate that.

I also appreciate routine in a broader sense because when I know what to expect in a day, I can prep myself for everything I'm going to experience. If I get a surprise, even a nice one, it throws me off because I simply wasn't mentally/emotionally/sensorially prepared; in such cases I am usually upset, quiet, hostile, and tired.