Questions. Imagination and escaping into your own world

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In normal time. Good point though, I guess there are different rules of time in the worlds. I can build a character, say from birth to age 20, but will skip years of play, so he's been around for 20 years, but in normal time I've only been in that world for 7 years. I try to move my worlds forward everyday, but often find myself going back in time to edit or play some scenes in their past.

At college, it can be easiest if you get your own room or live with a person you know very well. I understand many colleges will work with Aspies to get them single rooms now. For me, I actually kind of preferred living with another person or two that I knew well and was comfortable with. The one time I had my own room, it felt more like a prison cell (mainly because it kind of looked like one - a tiny concrete rectangle). But when I had to room with people I didn't know, particularly super-NT types, it was not pretty. So I'd suggest asking for your own room until or unless you know somebody you would like to room with.

-would you describe it as being "your other world" that you escape to?
Yes, althought it would be "worlds" since there are several.

-Are there people in the world?
Yes, and talking things out with them helps me cope with stress and emotion. Sometimes they even do things I don't expect, or tell me things I couldn't possibly have know, which on more than one occassion has made me wonder how much I'm really making up. That gets into the whole existential thing, though, so I try not to think about that usually.

-If there are people, have you developed them to have separate characteristics from yourself?
Yes, see above.

-Do you make yourself as a character in the other world?
Yes, an elven child. How old that child appears depends on how I'm feeling at the time.

-What point of view do you see the world? are you seeing it from the characters point of view OR watching over the characters.
Both.

-Do your worlds follow the same laws of nature/physics etc. as earth?
Yes, but certain types of energy are visible in that world that aren't visible on earth.

-How much time do you spend each day in your other world?
Part of me is usually there, or sometimes my friends from that world walk with me in this world, so there really isn't much of a segregation between the worlds.

-Does stimming and movement (ex. pacing around the house) help you to get into the other world?
No need, I just think about it.

-If there is more than one character in your world, do you create them to have a wide variety of different personality types?
Yes. Sometimes they even argue or get jealous of each other. Nothing serious, just the kinds of ineractions that often have.

-If you have come forward to someone about your world, do they often assume it might be a multiple personality disorder?
No.

-If you've told people about it, how do they react?
I mentioned it to my mom once, it made her very uncomfortable. She was afraid I was being visited by demons, but she didn't want to come right out and say it.
I also mentioned it to a doctor once when one of the medications I was on started making me hallucinate. He made me get a psych evaluation, but the psychiatrist said it was no big deal as long as I could tell the difference and as long as my "invisible friends" weren't telling me to hurt myself or others.

-How long have you been in your other world? years, months?
Years.

-Do you have more than one other world?
Several. I can kind of relate to Jenny Everywhere. (click the name)

Fascinating threat. I only discovered lately that most people do not live in several worlds of their own and I do pity them for not having the option to escape there.

-would you describe it as being "your other world" that you escape to?

Yes, there are several worlds. Five of them exist for years (10+). I am quite sure I never spend a single day without visiting one of these worlds.

-Are there people in the world?

Yes, there are several people with individual character traits, histories, experiences, friends, etc.

-If there are people, have you developed them to have separate characteristics from yourself?

Definitely, most of them are NTs ^^

-Do you make yourself as a character in the other world?

Not exactly, but there is one main character that is very much like me.

-What point of view do you see the world? are you seeing it from the characters point of view OR watching over the characters.

Both, depends on the specific world.

-If your world does not have people in it, what is in it?

Some of them don't. They consist of a specific environment I would enjoy. One is a perfect city, another a beautiful peninsula and one of the first and most sophisticated was a school with a specific architectural design and teaching system.

-Do your worlds follow the same laws of nature/physics etc. as earth?

Not all of them do. Especially the climate is rather unusual in some areas...

-How much time do you spend each day in your other world?

I guess 5 to 15 hours a day. It is not always possible to separate being in reality and being in another world. I can do something for real and concentrate on what I am doing and at the same time follow a different activity in another world or combine what I am doing for real with what I am doing in my daydreams.

-Does stimming and movement (ex. pacing around the house) help you to get into the other world?

Stimming of any kind helps a lot. Pacing is most effective. As soon as I start walking I am off. I cannot walk for more than maybe one minute without escaping. It is like starting a movie as soon as I get up.

-If there is more than one character in your world, do you create them to have a wide variety of different personality types?

I do not actively create them. They are just like they are and what their experiences and education made them. (That sounds kind of crazy...)

-If you have come forward to someone about your world, do they often assume it might be a multiple personality disorder?

Nobody knows the real extent of my "daydreams".

-If you have not told anyone about it, why not?

It is kind of personal. I don't want to share them with anyone. However, I did tell people about the worlds without the characters, only I make it sound like ideas rather than daydreams. In truth, it is a lot like in the movie Inception.

-How long have you been in your other world? years, months?

As long as I can remember.

-Do you have more than one other world?

Yep... several. Interesting that many Aspies experience the same.

little black sheep

I am so excited to see this post! My son is almost 8 and while reading this post I realized this must be exactly what he does! He has always 'played pretend' as I call it and he will constantly talk to himself during these times. I've always felt like he seems to act as if there is this invisible force field around him when he plays like this and he kind of blocks out others and me and he is so immersed in his play. He talks to himself he will be the voices of all of the other characters and he will respond to them and converse out loud and be all characters sometimes.

I love hearing this because he can't describe things to me since he is so young. I would also like to say that while some people may not accept your different view of things and the world etc...I think its very fascinating and nothing to be ashamed of. Temple Grandin is so right that the world needs all kinds of minds and even if you don't feel like it, many NTs out there agree! I do! :)

I am so excited to see this post! My son is almost 8 and while reading this post I realized this must be exactly what he does! He has always 'played pretend' as I call it and he will constantly talk to himself during these times. I've always felt like he seems to act as if there is this invisible force field around him when he plays like this and he kind of blocks out others and me and he is so immersed in his play. He talks to himself he will be the voices of all of the other characters and he will respond to them and converse out loud and be all characters sometimes.

I love hearing this because he can't describe things to me since he is so young. I would also like to say that while some people may not accept your different view of things and the world etc...I think its very fascinating and nothing to be ashamed of. Temple Grandin is so right that the world needs all kinds of minds and even if you don't feel like it, many NTs out there agree! I do! :)

Reading about the Sims, I had another memory. I love playing the Sims BTW.

We moved to North Carolina close to the beach when I was around 8 years old. I had no friend so I played by myself. My favorite game was to draw diagrams of houses in the sand, kinda like a blueprint. My houses had kitchens w/ bathrooms, living rooms w/ sofa's etc. I could play like that for hours. I enjoyed going int the differen room, and imagining the things in my imaginary world, probably chatering the whole time.

Also, there was a closed down putt putt golf place close by, I spent hours playing there, pretending that each areas where different rooms in a home, or different buildings in my imaginary world.

Oh how those were pleasant worry free times.

Thank you for your post. Your son sounds like he does exactly, what I did. Keep him focused on "that special interest" what ever it is, and help him make it into a career one day.

would you describe it as being "your other world" that you escape to?
Not my "other world" but just a fantasy land that I go to that helps me drift off to sleep

Are there people in the world?
Yes. Sometimes I focus on a film, book or TV series, sometimes it's real life and what I would like to happen.

If there are people, have you developed them to have separate characteristics from yourself?
Yes and no.

Do you make yourself as a character in the other world?
Yes, sometimes I'm me, sometimes I'm someone else but still me if that makes sense?

What point of view do you see the world? are you seeing it from the characters point of view OR watching over the characters.
Sometimes I'm involved, sometimes I'm just watching, like watching a movie.

Do your worlds follow the same laws of nature/physics etc. as earth?
Yes...well most of the time, a few nights ago after watching harry potter 4 or 5?...can't remember which I daydreamed about that when going to sleep. Just things like going into that world and telling people stuff like "for goodness sake every flippin year it's the dark arts teacher, when will you learn" and then it just goes from there. Obviously in those sorts of daydreams things like magic / flying / talking animals etc exist.

How much time do you spend each day in your other world?
Every night at least 30 minutes, sometimes hours if I can't sleep. I don't go into the world for extended periods of time during the day but if I'm watching something I may have a "moment" when I will imagine being in that particular scene and changing it or just interacting in some way.

Does stimming and movement (ex. pacing around the house) help you to get into the other world?
No. I have to lay still / sit still, music can instantly take me there so sometimes when I need to relax I will take my ipod and go lay down for an hour.

If there is more than one character in your world, do you create them to have a wide variety of different personality types?
I don't create the personalities, they are real people and / or characters from films/TV so they have their own personality, I do sometimes change them slightly not alot, just a little.

If you have come forward to someone about your world, do they often assume it might be a multiple personality disorder?
This is the first time I've talked about it, like you I thought everyone did /could do it. When my husband was having trouble sleeping I told him to watch a movie in his head to help relax him but he couldn't.

If you have not told anyone about it, why not?
I just didn't, it never really occured to me to say, I just assumed everyone fantasises in some way.

How long have you been in your other world? years, months?
I've always done this for as long as I can remember, obviously when I was a child I could physically act out the dream world with my toys. My dream worlds were a little different back then but still focused mainly on film / tv.

Do you have more than one other world?
Yes they change often, they tend to gravitate around whatever I'm watching and / or things that are happening in my life.

This is almost exactly how I played as a child, I would spend hours playing in my fantasy world and that is primarily why I didn't like to play with other kids when I was at home because they were not part of my world. My daughter also plays in this way but she is very strict with rules, things have to be played right or she gets upset. It's probably why when we play together it can be so immersive and detailed and I help her dream up new ideas.

Yesterday for example we had all of her monster high dolls out and we were re-creating the hairstyles from the dawn of the dead dance in the cartoon. She has a monster high car but it only fits 2 dolls, we managed to squeeze 5 in but had a further 5 dolls to get to the dance so between us we came up with the idea that this doll could fly because she's a ghost so she can carry 2 friends(one holding each arm) and then 2 other dolls could just run to the dance because they are keeping fit and one of them is a cat so that makes sense, she could just leap from building to building like catwoman. We then had over an hour of the 5 dolls making there way to the dance, obstacles to overcome, meeting friends on the way and by the time we'd driven the other 5 dolls.... which included miles and miles around the house, through tunnels, over bridges, traffic lights, breakdowns, calling the AA (roadside pickup), oh and we had to stop off at the animal shelter and pick up pets for them all, by the time all of the dolls were at the dance it was time for bed so we had to tidy away.

I've recently found my ability to make up characters, worlds, stories etc a gift as it's enabled me to write a series of books. I can literally play out the whole story in my head and then I just write down what I'm seeing, smelling, feeling, how the characters feel, what they say etc. I basically watch a movie and just write down the subtitles so to speak with an audio descriptive too

AZ 29,
You mentioning subtitles reminds me of a few years ago, I had gotten a cam corder. I decided to make a bunch of funny things and make a video out of it. One part was me showing parts of movies in which I dubbed in them saying funnt things. It was a blast and hillarious. The tape was a Christmas present and everyone seemed to love it.

Thanks kickingbird, actually he is in drama club now, yesterday was his first day and he said twice he loves it. He is nervous about putting a play on in front of parents but I think he will do it.

Oh and I forgot, he usually is running around during all of this play but if he doesn't have his medicine he will often play with objects like cars or army men and rock back and forth pretty fast and constantly while talking and playing. Just mentioning that..

Also, from an NT perspective I believe this type of imaginative play is an Aspie trait especially after about 8 years old. I think most NT kids have a very active imagination and play pretend like this but normally by about 8 or ealier they are more interested in playing with other kids and often not so much pretend but specific games or activities or sports. I think these descriptions of very imaginative worlds with characters and it providing an escape or solace and continuing through adulthood is very very uncommon in NTs and more of an Aspie thing.

Just from my perspective.

I remember back when I was around 8-10, during recess, a couple friends and I would rather imitate our favorite shows or animes(particularly Dragon Ball Z at the time), maybe even make up our own characters to be, than to play with any of the old boring jungle gym equipment. I also recall being told it was too violent(we would sort of play fight, never actually hitting each other but pretending well enough), but let us do as we please so long as we kept away from the other kids.

So I don't know whether any of them were really NT for sure - it seems there's a lot of people here who only get diagnosed later in life - but I don't think it's too uncommon. Nothing to worry about.

Yes, I remember being sad and confused when slowly everyone I used to "play" with (at least I assigned them a role that fit in my imaginary world) grew too old for that kind of thing. I could not understand why they were not sad because they lost their access to our dreams. I could never live without my other worlds, but my friends developed other interests - all related to the real world. I guess this was when the first uninhabitated worlds developed. I also remember being told by my mother that I am too old for that kind of playing and that I should not propose it to other children my age, because they will think me weired and childish if I do. This made me feel ashamed and sad.

i once dreamed i escaped into my inner world, but then i woke up.
when i woke up i realized i did not escape from anywhere else and i realized i was always here.

-would you describe it as being "your other world" that you escape to?
Yes.

-Are there people in the world?
Yes, though I give equal focus to the animals, plants, other creatures, and the terrain itself.

-If there are people, have you developed them to have separate characteristics from yourself?
Yes they are all separate people, though they all share at least something in common with me.

-Do you make yourself as a character in the other world?
Occasionally.

-What point of view do you see the world? are you seeing it from the characters point of view OR watching over the characters.
I see it from a third-person perspective, as if I'm watching a movie.

-Do your worlds follow the same laws of nature/physics etc. as earth?
There are multiple kinds of magic, mythical creatures, etc. Other than that...

-How much time do you spend each day in your other world?
Not much anymore, but when I was younger (6-13 or so) I used to spend hours there.

-Does stimming and movement (ex. pacing around the house) help you to get into the other world?
I've never tried that.

-If there is more than one character in your world, do you create them to have a wide variety of different personality types?
Yes, there's a little bit of everything.

-If you have come forward to someone about your world, do they often assume it might be a multiple personality disorder?
No, but they have thought I was a bit eccentric.

-If you've told people about it, how do they react?
Everyone was either weirded out, intrigued, or both.

-How long have you been in your other world? years, months?
Never longer than a day continuously. I created it about 10 years ago.

-Do you have more than one other world?
No, but you could argue that my world is made up of many smaller worlds.