Do you try and avoid cracks/lines in side walk?

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as a kid I did. Now I just effortlessly avoid the cracks in the sidewalk without thinking about it. I would notice if I did step on it though.

I don't avoid cracks. I don't take a lot of notice of them when I'm walking along, and it doesn't bother me whether I step on a crack or not, never has done.

When I was a little kid (about 5) I used to play a game with my brother - trying to walk without stepping on the cracks. But that is a normal child thing - I've seen lots of little kids doing that. That's just playing.

Otherwise, stepping on cracks don't enter my mind.

that's so awesome! i never thought there would be other adults doing this so i never thought to ask, thanks so much for that thread!!
i'm like flyingkittycat, i tend to adjust my stride to the patterns on the floor, but i was already doing it as a kid, trying to walk normally AND leave the patterns intact.
i line up the joints between bricks on the wall and those between the ones bordering the sidewalk too, and if they are not parallel, i will draw a line between them and step over that. just to align stuff that is not aligned.
as a kid i used to make the car i was riding in "jump over"the gaps between the white lines on the road. i don't know if they are the same in all of your countries but i'm sure you can relate to that :p why did the car have to jump? no idea.

This literally explains me. I am also 21, though under your name it says your 30 xD.
It depends on the pattern. Bricks and small tiles are okay. Bigger spaces between the lines then I have to avoid them. If I do step on a line, I feel it where I stepped on it, like it left a print. I have to step on another line in the exact spot on my other foot to make it even, balanced. I would also speed up or slow down and modify distance between steps to avoid upcoming lines. I know, it's weird :p

Other than that I am also more interested in buildings and it's architecture, applying maths to them that I have just learnt, rather than other humans (unless it's a hot guy of course)

I also feel like I am a child in a adult body though I still look my mental age (~15-16). It is like I am immature but responsible.

This all could be because I am an INTP, with some sort of OCD. I would like to know what mbti types you all are too, if this weird uncomfortable and/or fascination with patterns is more common with some types than others.

It's something I did between the ages of 15 - 17. I tried to be subtle about it but it didn't go unnoticed by my peers. What did go unnoticed (by me) for about another 12 years, was the massive amount of piss-taking (by them) that persisted behind my back for doing this, along with many other observations they made about me.

Here, things are mostly irregular. I watch for tripping hazards when the ground is bare, but half the time I I'm being very careful about ice and snow. I get tense from walking where it is very slippery, and have to remember to relax and stretch ASAP. After years of living on rugged terrain, it took me years to notice the minor irregularities here - I had been picking my feet up enough that I never tripped until I got used to pavement again.

i hafta watch the ground where i walk as i trip and fall easily, last time almost put me back in the hospital. irregular terrain and me don't make a good mixture.

One of the many things I've always done but never realized were somewhat ASD until I explored ASD. Thinking about why I do it, I realize it keeps my mind occupied and comforted.

When walking any distance and bored, I take deep breaths synchronized with my steps. Until recently, it was always four steps breathing in, and four out. This turned out to be not only feasible on any surface, but also a valuable form of meditation.

Only if I pay attention to them and as a game.

I do not remember when I started to turn attention on cracks and lines. But in early childhood I had not such a behavior (avoiding them). Now I may have OCD symptoms like these often. I am diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder since above 11 years. I may avoid lines or, oppositely, step on them due to oathing obsession for example now. It was not associated with need of sameness or predictability in my case, in fact, I have not such a need, which is often present in individuals with ASD. I have no fear of change or unpredicatability, but I experience fear of large evil, like greater suffering.

It is something I did for most of my life and it took years and years to overcome. Avoiding stepping on cracks or the compulsion to step on drain covers.

It is only the last decade I have oversome these habbits but on occasions the compulsion returns and I need to ignore it.

At one point I would be crossing the street a few times to ensure I was stepping on the drain covers, and even trying to step on the ones on the road.

Avoiding the cracks on the pavements requires some tricky footwork on occasions!

Mom passed away some years ago.

So "breaking your mother's back" aint much of a relevant worry for me anymore.

I met one old NT guy who was phobic about stepping on extension cords, but he had lived in Army boots.

I don't avoid cracks in the pavement, but I do have a couple of maybe related things.

Firstly, any kind of geometric pattern of flooring really sets off my synaesthesia - I can feel the pattern moving over and through my body, and it can distort my sense of my body's shape and size. Those pavements with the house-brick sized stones set in herring-bone patterns are particularly strange to walk over, as I can lose all sense of whether my feet will touch the floor or not (anyone who has worn spectacles with a new prescription of lenses will have some idea what I mean). It can make me feel a bit self-conscious, as I feel like I'm "walking on the moon" with very unsure steps.

Secondly, I often feel compelled to follow lines and curves that I create in my head - rather like a racing car driver trying to find the most efficient "racing line" to get around corners etc. I often get a strong urge to make street-furniture like lamp-posts etc. into "chicanes" to maneouvre around. This may be partly because I always walk so fast and find it very frustrating to have to slow down; and when I'm doing my pacing-around stimming, I often like to do it in a very tight circle that gives me a kind of "centrifugal force" feeling.

As a kid I played that game the opposite way. I had to step on them all, but I also had to step on them evenly, so if I stepped on thick crack with my left foot, right had to step on one too or two thin ones, but it wasn't even again until right had stepped on a thick one and left two thin ones. It had to be balance! That led me to walk and jump very awkwardly when I played I still occasionally catch myself playing a very low key version of it.


I hadn't heard the break your mom's back verse until I came to WP. I can confirm it isn't true