Does anybody here have diffiulty with self help skills?

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I have a question to everybody here with autism or aspergers: do any of you struggle with living independently. Do you difficculty with life skills like cooking, shopping and getting about by yourself? I do, and I wonder how common this is among people on the higher end of the spectrum.

Hi AlexWelshman,

I also have simular difficulties.
It is very frustrating as it seems that the simple things in life I find difficult, and yet I find it easy to work out solutions to far more compex issues.
As an example, I find it very very difficult to complete standard daily/living activities, however I am able to give the NHS, local goverment, etc. logical solutions as a member of an advisory panel in how to reduce costs, be more efficient, reduce crime, solve the housing issue, etc..

In my self-help "toolbox" I have all the tools, but in my brain it is like they are all jumbled. Without support I am unable to break down tasks into the steps necessary to complete whatever it is.

Same here: cooking, cleaning, you name it. No problems shopping though, but I only eat cold unless I eat out. Unfortunately, I don't have any support with this problem.

I don't have problems with self-help skills for living independently.

I can cook, clean, shop, drive, since teenage years, when I learned self-help skills for living independently.

I have problems with cooking-I struggle to time the cooking of all the different foods so that they are ready at the same time. I usually get takeaways or eat at the staff canteen at work. Sometimes I will cook just one food so I know that it will be ready at a certain time. Cleaning I have no issues with but rarely feel motivated enough to do it. I can get around on public transport independently but can't drive.

I have a hard time
cooking.
because,
I can't remember the directions
on the recipe.
and,
I fall a lot so it is hard to use the oven.
however,
I do make ramen noodles.
they are easy:
you put them in a bowl,
put water in,
microwave them for five minutes.
but,
usually someone helps me get them out,
as the bowl is difficult to control.

For cleaning,
it is hard to wipe things
because,
my hands are not coordinated.

I do not shop alone.
I go shopping with my staff.

I can,
take the city bus.
but,
I do get lost often,
and
have to call someone on my cell phone.

I don't have any issues with those things. Sometimes I may go longer than I should without cleaning, or skip out on cooking in favor of take-out for a week or two, but that's less to do with me struggling with them and more to do with me just not feeling like doing those things lol.

Although shopping can be hard for me sometimes. I have a lot of trouble spending money on myself, unless I research all possible options and decide that the one I'm buying is the best. For example, I need to get a new piece of furniture, but I just can't bring myself to spend the money without seeing every version of it that I can find first lol. But I don't think that has anything to do with Aspergers or anything.

Yeah.

Bills, paperwork.... cleaning things... remembering to call people or mail people. I can't set a schedule. The only reason I don't have money troubles is that I just never spend any. I have never been able to make major purchases by myself. I often need help with new things. Can't cook anything complex; often leave the laundry in the machine for days... Don't drive (though I can) and have huge problems with getting to appointments and classes. Overloaded by shopping, travel, most social situations. I don't have a constant sleep schedule; I don't eat regular meals. Sometimes I only barely make it to the bathroom. On rare occasions, I don't. But I do my own laundry. So... Basic ADLs are okay; instrumental ADLs are mostly still patchy and barely-there, if I can do them at all.

My school is fighting for me to get an aide sometime soon. That would be nice. I could focus on the things I'm good at instead of muddling around trying to do the stuff I really suck at.

Replying to, "Yeah.

Bills, paperwork.... cleaning things... remembering to call people or mail people. I can't set a schedule. The only reason I don't have money troubles is that I just never spend any. I have never been able to make major purchases by myself. I often need help with new things. Can't cook anything complex; often leave the laundry in the machine for days... Don't drive (though I can) and have huge problems with getting to appointments and classes. Overloaded by shopping, travel, most social situations. I don't have a constant sleep schedule; I don't eat regular meals. Sometimes I only barely make it to the bathroom. On rare occasions, I don't. But I do my own laundry. So... Basic ADLs are okay; instrumental ADLs are mostly still patchy and barely-there, if I can do them at all.

My school is fighting for me to get an aide sometime soon. That would be nice. I could focus on the things I'm good at instead of muddling around trying to do the stuff I really suck at."


I can relate to a lot of what you've said. I do, do laundry, but left to myself I ofted leave the laundry in the machine for days.

I can have a big problem with self help at times. Not because I don't know the skills. But because I get depress and I start asking myself the question "Why am I doing this. What am I accomplishing by doing this.". I feel like I am in a redundant cycle like I am doing the same thing day after, day over and over and I eventually fall into a rut. Life can just get downright boring at times.

bills. opening my mail. making and keeping appointments. making phone calls and responding to emails. commuting anywhere i haven't been before. cooking (i can't do anything other than eggs although i make good use of my microwave). knowing how to deal with bureaucracy. changing clothes is a struggle because as soon as i acclimate to the textures of one outfit — i have to switch to another. i might go a couple days wearing the same thing. staying inside my room and ignoring all of the world while i watch 30-some episodes of full metal alchemist. staying inside my ignoring the world while i focus on my interests. i shop wearing headphones and a heavy backpack to keep me calm which means i'm able to go to the store and buy what i need. but i eat maybe five things total and tend to shop within a narrow range, without being mindful of nutritional needs.

I can do paperwork passably well, pay bills and such. but I can't seem to organize or clean up after myself to save my life.

I suck at paperwork and procrastinate paperwork.

For eggsample, I should have gotten university email account when I arrived at university in March, but I only got it today, because there was single-page form that I needed to open, print, fill, and turn in to computer office, and I procrastinated these simple steps until today.