How flexible are you?

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When it comes to your symptoms, are you flexible? Does the intensity of them ever fluctuate? For example; if giving hugs bothers you, does it always bother you the same amount or are you ok with giving hugs somedays?

I thought you meant body flexibility. I can bend my fingers far back like bananas, but I digress... to get back to your question, yeah, sometimes I do feel less "weird" to put it plainly.

sorry! I wasn't sure what to call my topic and that was the only thing that came to mind. I'm in the self-diagnosed phase ATM, but I feel like I have "on days" as opposed to an NT's "off days".

The will to routine accepts every gain and loathes to relinquish an inch. That said, evolving patterns keeps it human. I submit.

I do feel more normal somedays but I think it's more to do with the situations that I'm in rather than my symptoms fluctuating. Like I notice my symptoms more in certain situations, so if I'm say at home for a few days or so I feel more normal because I haven't had to experience my lack social skills.

My symptoms are always the same, very rigid. And I get extremely upset going into meltdowns sometimes when they are changed unexpectedly or against my will. To be more specific, I have always hated to be touched, hugged or kissed which is more extreme now. Some of my symptoms are more extreme now while others such as obsessions for subjects have become less extreme, where I have gotten much better to listening to others and what they have to say. I never did have much empathy for anyone or anything.

The more stressed I get, the more rigid I am.

My symptoms do seem to vary over time. Sometimes I can cope with being in a noisy place without covering my ears or running away, can make more eye contact, and don't mind changes to my routine or plan, sometimes I can't do these things. I feel like my brain is always just as autistic but my ability to compensate for it varies with my mood, energy level, concentration, stress and mental health. My special interests are more intense when I'm less depressed and I've been spending more time on them. I have mild AS.

Yup! It also depends on how ingrained I am in what I need to be flexible about. Driving routes, for me, seem to be particularly difficult...

I can be flexible if I have enough advanced notice. For instance, if me and my fiance are driving around and she suddenly asks me to drive a different way because she wants to go to some store, I'm going to freak out about it a lot more than if this is something we'd talked about that morning or (preferably) the night before!

Yeah, I can be flexible. The weather can affect how I feel about myself and my life. When it's hot (which has now become rare in this sh***y country), I feel really confident. I love to wear shorts because I have got nice legs, and sandals because I got nice feet, and for once I WANT people to look at me! Also I don't feel so anxious going to a crowded place like a market.
Then when it snows or becomes too windy I almost become a hermit.

I can be flexible most of the time, especially if I'm told something in advanced. But if it's a sudden change of plans (e.g., a traffic jam) I will feel stressed sometimes due to the bad timing.

Mine comes and goes. I am very flexible if I want to be open and I don't know what to do so I am open to anything. I just need someone to make the decisions for me and I am then very flexible because I am not sure what to do. When I am having a bad day or have had other things go on that same day that have upset me, I get inflexible because it's too much for me. The glass gets full. I still get upset if anyone interrupts me and my obsessions get intense and then I go through periods where I don't have it, same for stimming. I like to be hugged when I want it but never want it when I don't want it but I still allow it but want it to be quick.

I have learned over time to be more flexible like I used to freak out when my husband would all of a sudden want me to take him grocery shopping and I would tell him instead "Why can't you take the bus?" or when he would ask me to get him his medicine or something from the drug store. One time he forgot to return his keys so I had no choice but to take him or else he loses his job. So I did it wanting to make it quick and the quicker it goes, the sooner I can get back and go back to what I am doing I didn't even want to stop at McDonalds for a movie (they had a redbox there) or for a treat. The whole thing was exhausting and stressful and I just wanted to get home ASAP. I had gotten better at it then but it was still hard for me to do it.

I am not flexible at all by my own preferences, but I have trained myself to be as flexible as possible and not exhibit stress over it when in the company of others. This is so as not to make them feel like they're doing something rude or inconsiderate, which many people WILL feel if I (we the Autism community) were to show discomfort in changing routines or a sudden change in dinner plans, etc.

If it's up to me, I do the same routine 365 days/year (366 on leap years), without fail and in every detail

Charles

I am super-flexible when I initiate the change. Which is something my inner circle is very well aware of. I actively encourage them to 'manipulate' me into thinking it's my idea when they need to change a set date/time for an activity, since it's less stressful for me and it's a whole lot easier for them to handle me.
An example: We decide to go to the amysement park next town over. We figure out the train schedual and decide to meet at the train station at 9:00 AM two weeks from now. Two days before they realize they have to do something and need to push the meet-up to 10:00 AM. They'll call and say 'Hey, there is a direct train leaving an hour later', to which I'll naturally respond 'Let's take that one instead!', because it's less hassle for me to deal with strangers gallopping around on an off the train. For some reason I can't explain, that works a lot better with me than if they called up and said 'Hey, there is a direct train leaving an hour later, let's take that one instead'.

Also, for me it has to do with level of comfort. Some people I can hug, most I can't. Some people I can hug under certain circustances, but not always.

At work, I hate it when I get into the office and they tell me that so-and-so is sick, you need to do this instead of what you usually do. It is not about being able to do the work, it just shorts out my brain. On the other hand, I can deal with just about any contingency and not miss a beat (I work in aviation/transportation so tail swaps, technical issues, delays, re-routings, extra flights etc are quite common).

Maybe the vcommon denominator is, expected changes, or changes I feel in control of, I handle well. Changes sprung on me out of the blue, not so much.

Yes, in that sense my symptoms fluctuate. They are worse when I'm really upset or really stressed or in an aversive environment like a noisy, crowded place. If you asked my mum or psychologist whether I'm flexible or can be flexible though, they'd say no. I'm told that I'm very rigid.

I think flexible is maybe the wrong word, OP. If your symptoms fluctuate in a way that you don't control then that's not being flexible, it's just your symptoms fluctuating in severity. If you decide, for example, that you'll tolerate being hugged in certain situations where it would be offensive not to, that is being flexible. If sometimes you can't stand the feeling of it and sometimes it doesn't bother you that's just symptoms fluctuating and has nothing to do with you being flexible or rigid.

I get a little stressed, but I'm able to cope. Just take deep breaths and pretend there's no stress. When I was younger, I could be touched if I was warned or if there was clues. If there was none, I snapped.