Found a possible solution to Autistic Inertia

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Hey all, I was writing this to my friend and then I decided to post it.

For those who have autistic inertia...the hardest part, for me anyway, is getting moving on a project. I will be sitting on my chair knowing that I neeeeed to be doing dishes or something like that and I have the battle in my mind where I am internally yelling at myself with insults that would shy a drill sergent...ok. Do I move...no. I just sit there and take my own emotional abuse instead of fighting the inertia to get the dishes done.
I used to think I had a case of pathilogical procrassination before someone here told me about autistic inertia. I love WP!! !
I am not crazy...I am just awesomely autistic!!
Anyway, so I stumbled across an idea that I tried today...and it worked.
I convinced myself to just do alittle bit of what I need to do...not tackle that whole enchaldia at once...just 5 minutes I told myself.
So I did...I did it for 5 minutes...then 10, then 30 and before I knew it I was almost done. What I did was trick my mind into doing alittle which then initiated the other aspect of autistic inertia...once in motion, always in motion. The trick is to get past that threshold of once at rest, always at rest...then the penilum slides the other way.

I guess for those stuck in motion....forcing yourself to rest for 5-10 minutes could break that momentum.
For anyone with the problem with the motion part...let me know how that goes.

Anyway, I thought I would share that with ya'll and see if it would work for us with this problem.
It is basicly homopathic psychology...using the condition to treat it.

try it and see...and report back

Jojo

By doing a little part do you mean, say, moving one of your fingers?

i have tried this with getting out of bed in the morning but it usually ends with me back asleep. This is when I haven't slept enough, though, which is anytime I've slept less than a good 10 hours.

This sounds promising in other situations though. I will try this, thank you.

I do the same thing. It's getting over that first hurdle that's the hard part.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

The waking up problem is caused by something else. A recent study found that some autistics have lower levels of adrenalin.
Adrenalin is the highest in the morning right before the sun comes up which causes most people to wake up feeling rested and alert. It is the morning go-go juice.
With some of us, that go-go juice is low and getting out of bed is so hard because you dont have that jolt of adrenalin to end your sleep quickly. So it just becomes this waning out of sleep that seems to drag on half the morning.

However you can get a rush of adrenalin or whatever you have of it when someone dumps water on your head while you are sleeping. My family used to do that to me when it was real bad. At that point I was wide awake...but rather pissed off though.
I dont know if they have short acting adrenalin suppliments...might want to look into that though.

Jojo

Yeah, they sell adrenalin for people who have severe allergies to use if they're in danger of anaphylactic shock; but taking it regularly would probably be hard on your heart.

You could probably use a wet washcloth to get cold water on your face without the shock of having an entire bucket dumped on you. You'd have to keep it in a bowl of water or it'd just dry out, though.

I use that strategy to start things--breaking a task into tiny, tiny little pieces. And by "tiny", I DO mean things like moving a single finger.

I have a persistent cat who helps me get out of bed in the morning. He usually gets the job done within about twenty minutes.

The problem isn't starting on something, the problem is knowing when to quit doing something that I enjoy.

Thats hard too for me. Try directing yourself to somthing else for 5-10 minutes to see if the inertia takes hold that way instead. I need to try this myself...probably like now...well soon to get off the computer.

Now that I think about it, I've been on WP for 4 hours now. Yeah, I should probably go do something else now.

Before you go, just curious what is the black prophetcy??

I have also found that if I can get myself to do the first step, then the momentum kicks in and carries me through. If I can get the toothbrush stuck in my mouth, then I'm good -- and it even carries over to shaving and the rest of my "pre-leave the house" routine.

But getting out of my computer chair to get to the bathroom in the first place... uuggghhh.

I noticed the other day that when my cat comes over and meows at me to be let out, I get up out of my chair (not bed, so much) and do it with no trouble/thought/effort. Makes me wonder if that's what people mean by "external prompting." (Now, if I can just get my cat to tell me to brush my teeth, and go to the bank...)

(I've read some really interesting stuff about the basal ganglia (part of the brain) and inertia. There are various conditions of the BG that can lead to massive inertia (to where the person would starve if left alone). Yet, if prompted by someone else they do fine, even if it's a complex task. It's as if the brain has 2 separate circuits for external and internal, self-generated prompts. The BG seems like the interface between intentions and actions (though there may be more that I don't know about). The most dramatic example of BG-caused interna is a condition called "athymhormia." [/special interest lecture mode])

It's hard to start and to stop. The earlier I wake up in the morning, the later I go to bed.

If I can take a single step (like washing a dish), I will go all day. It's why I make my morning choice very carefully. I can have a spotless house, or work through a video game, or do a bunch of schoolwork. I have trouble changing pace and direction. And I actually like cleaning and organizing. So it is just choosing and executing a step.

It's a video game that I've been playing. It's really fun, but there a few major flaws, which, hopefully will be patched. I'm trying as hard as I can not to go on with a monologue here.

Jojobean:
I recognize getting stuck, but I have it the other way around. I cannot stop being in motion.
My morning jolt is very strong and I want to do more than I am physically capable of.
Heart tends to go too fast and have been given medication to slow it down.

While my heart is racing, my blood pressure is still low (doctor was concerned, said numbers I forgot and advised me to stay near bed/couch).
I am near fainting often and take the medicine only in emergencies because this lowers blood pressure even more and I turn into a zombie.

I use yoga-style exercises to calm down, they work most of the time.
Sometimes I lay on the mat and I just cannot stay there.
I feel too jumpy. My mind is still with the previous activity and I want to get back to that, not lay on a mat.

SammichEater: stopping something that is interesting is really difficult indeed.
I learnt to stop talking about my hobbies to other people after 2-3 sentences so they would keep liking me.
I run a continuous watchdog-thingie that prompts me "stop talking about the horse/car, ask person a question, eat, rest, move a bit, get back to original goal instead of sidetracks".

It is not easy!

Tips for overcoming autistic enertia
- Create a routine that is realistic and not too rigid (allow fliexibility such as being happy with doing 80% - dont be perfectionistic), tick off things as you do them, keep a record of what you did at the end of the day and praise your successes. Make sure you always give yourself credit for following through on things that are hard - do not compare yourself with NT's.
- Use visual schedules, lists
- Tell yourself mentally or outloud what you need to focus on next - or give yourself warning that you need to do something in 10 mins.
- Allow yourself enough time to recuperate after stressful days, a winding down routine is good - i go for a long walk each night, or do yoga in a darkened room and get plenty of sleep.
- Don't start watching TV if you cant stop - or do it after other more important things as a reward - same goes for computer games, internet time anything you can put down.
If you think there will be a chance that your plans will change or they are dependent on certain things such as the weather - factor that in to your plans that it may not turn out as you want it to and have back up strategies for what to do in case.
- Recognise that even the best laid plans do not always work out - expecially if you have ASD so keep trying and celebrate every small win.
- These tips do not work everytime - but they help alot.

I noticed the other day that when my cat comes over and meows at me to be let out, I get up out of my chair (not bed, so much) and do it with no trouble/thought/effort. Makes me wonder if that's what people mean by "external prompting." (Now, if I can just get my cat to tell me to brush my teeth, and go to the bank...)
[/quote]Dogs are more widely trainable than cats (note I did not say "smarter"; just more trainable)... A dog might be taught to do this, if you wanted to try it. It'd have to be a pretty perceptive dog, one that could be taught what "I'm stuck on this one thing" looked like, and how to get you out of it. My cat is a natural and self-taught.