Are we autistics better able to entertain ourselves?

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Barefoot_Boy
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31 May 2013, 10:22 pm

I can sit around and work on my interests without having to have the tv on or facebooking, or any of that other stuff. Others in my family have to have the tv on all the time and on top of that be facebooking too. I prefer a silent room where I can focus working with my interests. Do you think we autistics are better able to entertain ourselves without having to watch tv or do things like facebook?


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alpineglow
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31 May 2013, 10:28 pm

yes. indeed yes.

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AgentPalpatine
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31 May 2013, 11:02 pm

Barefoot_Boy wrote:
I can sit around and work on my interests without having to have the tv on or facebooking, or any of that other stuff. Others in my family have to have the tv on all the time and on top of that be facebooking too. I prefer a silent room where I can focus working with my interests. Do you think we autistics are better able to entertain ourselves without having to watch tv or do things like facebook?


If you go by the theory that Aspies have a different verbal processing style, then that would be a plausable arguement re: TV. I think there are different concepts in play re: Social Media.


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Noetic
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31 May 2013, 11:47 pm

Certainly as a kid I mostly was able to entertain myself for hours lining up wooden blocks, sorting through cards and then reading for hours.

I know of some autistics who are the opposite, who are restless and can't occupy themselves at all and need constant supervision so they can be guided towards something to entertain them.



Einfari
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01 Jun 2013, 12:07 am

When I was a toddler I could entertain myself for hours by playing with figurines. I would sit by myself the entire time and want no one else around me. Now I usually entertain myself with the computer or video games. I think autistics can entertain themselves longer because most of us require less time socializing than most NTs. Some autistics are entertained by their own world. they create.



Magnus_Rex
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01 Jun 2013, 12:58 am

WHen I was younger, I could entertain myself without even needing friends. In fact, I spent most of my childhood and teenage years without having friends or even missing having them. However, after some time I lost many of my interests, became more hyperactive and also self-aware about my lack of social skills (undoubtedly the result of my preference for solitude). Nowadays, I spend more time searching for things to do than doing them, but when I do find an interest, it keeps me entertained for some weeks.


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vanhalenkurtz
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01 Jun 2013, 4:20 am

Definitely. I remember creating my own culture as a child -- books, art, music -- and that has been a lifetime constant. Friends or lovers might occasionally enter into my latest whatever, but they will soon become exhausted, primarily because it's too disciplined an activity to be a hobby. I can remember my childhood room like yesterday, it was an infinite arena with a solitary spotlight; it's easy to recall because it never went away, that room the size of a universe.


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Grimdalus
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01 Jun 2013, 4:24 am

Not for me, I prefer to talk to other people and watch YouTube videos of epic people like Jesse Cox, Wowcrendor and Totalbiscuit.



marshall
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01 Jun 2013, 7:29 am

Noetic wrote:
Certainly as a kid I mostly was able to entertain myself for hours lining up wooden blocks, sorting through cards and then reading for hours.

I know of some autistics who are the opposite, who are restless and can't occupy themselves at all and need constant supervision so they can be guided towards something to entertain them.


I've always been both ways. When I can get really into something I can entertain myself for hours but when I can't I get restless and bored. I've struggled with both autistic-like hyper-focusing on a single activity at the expense of everything else and at other times being more ADHD-like, getting bored easily and constantly needing to shift attention. It always seemed to go in cycles. They can't be 180 opposites or I wouldn't have both characteristics together.

I notice even as an adult I'm fairly knowledgeable but have trouble actually sitting down and reading a book all the way through. All I ever do is read things online and skim through stuff. Also, when I'm on the computer I always have multiple browser tabs up and constantly go between 5 or 6 different sites I look at regularly.



Ettina
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01 Jun 2013, 10:19 am

I certainly am. Always have been, even as a child.



Anomiel
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01 Jun 2013, 12:13 pm

I am extremely good at it :)

There's the "innate cortical arousal"-theory of introversion, it was first proposed by Hans Eysenck. I think it's even more complex than that, but it's one explanation.
He said introverts have a higher degree of innate cortical arousal, which means we are entertained by a variety of things. He said extroverts have a low innate cortical arousal, which makes them require more extreme activities to get pleasure from them, so they have less activities to choose from.
This is of course when speaking of non-autistic people.