Help please - trouble with imagination

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Hi

This is my first post here. I'm a 37yo woman and I suspect I fall somewhere on the spectrum. I've noticed an issue I have and I didn't know where to ask about it then realised it may be relevant to post here.

The problem is that I cannot properly imagine things. I can't imagine when I'm hot that perhaps I may get cold and therefore should take something else to wear when I go out. I'm overweight, and know it's because I eat too much, but when it comes to eating I just can't really link the two things properly in my head and so I eat more and then am upset because I keep gaining weight. I sometimes say outrageous/hurtful things to people when I am only being honest and genuinely have no idea that they will be so upset by what I've said.

Some of this is mitigated by my social conditioning, I am learning to think a bit more before I speak, but it's taken a long time. I leave a cardigan at the bottom of my bag because I know I'll never think to take one with me.

Has anyone else got this issue and if so do you have any strategies for dealing with it.

Thanks

I have trouble anticipating what I might need and/or remembering to bring stuff "just in case." I also often forget to bring what I *know* I need. It is part of my executive functioning difficulties.

As far as eating goes, I tend to eat too fast. I tend to be anxious when I eat, which contributes to eating too fast, then eating too much. Sometimes I eat past when I know I am full because I am still anxious. But, often I have eaten too much already when I feel full because I ate too fast. I'm still working on dealing with this.

i'm normally thinking about summat else, like my current special interest or any type of other thing than what's acutally happening
it normally falls to someone else to remind me about what i need to do like "lifulfur, do the washing up" or "shouldn't you bring a coat?
it's really raining out there" these things just don't naturally occur to me as they do not rank highly on my list of priorities,
"it's really raining out there" is a funny phrase because it implies that the rain isn't real some times.
(non-sequitur) i'm wheezing, head is aching and i'm hiccuping because i've just returned home (non-sequitur)

The things you describe are known characteristics of being on the spectrum. I also lack forethought as described, forgetting to take things I should know I will need. Funny, I never thought about that as being a lack of imagination, but I think you are right to call it that.

My own lack of imagination includes such features as I can not imagine the face of someone I have never met. I might be able to conjure another face that I do know, and then sort of change it a little to imagine a new face, but when I read a book I will not form a picture of what the charecters look like beyond a very vague description like, "older man", or if the author provides the description in detail.

Thanks for the replies.

I also can't picture faces as described in books.

I seem to be on a journey of discovery of various facets of my personality which are on the spectrum.

Have you taken any of the online screening tests? The Aspie Quiz by RDOS is a good one, in my opinion. They can not diagnose you, but if your score is high it can help you toward the decision about getting a formal assessment.

On the tests I have taken I am usually just over the border into Aspieness. However in some ways I have opposite characteristics to a typical Aspie so I don't know where I stand.

Hello and welcome to the forum sciencetweacher

Most Aspies don't have all the typical characteristics and this is especially true of females. Also I agree that lack of forethought is an Aspie trait. I'm similar to Lifulfur in that I'm usually preoccupied with a special interest or something else other than what I'm supposed to be focused on. It's a good idea to leave a cardigan in your bag or in your car if you have one. I also have this bag insert http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F ... UTF8&psc=1
I put in it all the bits and pieces I might need (painkillers, store loyalty cards, hand creme, hand sanitizer etc) and I put the insert into whatever bag I'm using. I have several bags so before I started using this I often forgot stuff when I changed bags.

Thanks for all the replies. It's good to know I'm not alone.

I need to work out a strategy for the eating thing. I have to stop eating when I'm bored, I need something that forces me to think of the consequences of eating rather than just mindlessly doing what I feel like in the moment.

I group my things into imaginary categories, for example:

Hygiene Category:

. Shampoo
. Hair brush
. Tooth brush
. Tooth paste
. Antiperspirant

It takes me a few minutes to think of everything in that category when it comes to it, but regardless of how overcautious I am, I always end up forgetting something crucial or anticipate something incorrectly, where other people never do.

I believe it is primarily an executive deficit with planning. From the example I've given, it may not seem to be executive dysfunction as it appears to be a simple issue, but extend the underlying problem to everything in life and you've got yourself a huge abnormality, and one that is never really positive.

I have OCD, and it's incredibly stressful when I'm literally obsessing over these things, and I end up screwing myself over anyway.

_________________
Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk

When I had to remember not to forget things sometimes I would take a mental 'walk thru' of what I what I was going to do and then make a list of what to bring as they occurred to me as I thought of them. To really really focus on it I would even slightly act out the movements, like turning the key to start the car, etc.

Thanks. I feel like I need to visualise myself suffering the consequences of what I do but my imagination is just not up to that. I can't really imagine it, and even if I try really hard to picture stuff I can't really feel the feelings that would go along with it, more just guess at them. Grr. It's frustrating.

You know I have never heard of this before, or at least not understood it.

Before I start my day I look at the weather on the computer. It gives some basic guidence on what to expect and how to dress.

I wonder also if you might find or look up other things as well. If you are going to a wedding for instance, look up the weather, and then maybe watch a short video of a wedding someone posted on Youtube, etc.

But that doesn't fix the core problem. On that I wonder if there is some mental exercises you might do to improve your brain's response.