What is Inertia?

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I just saw a topic in the parent's discussion about intertia. I didn't know what it was, so i did a little reseach but I'm sitll a little confused. Could someone explain what this means in the context of Asperger's Syndrome?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inertia_%2 ... guation%29

Inertia is the tendency of an object to maintain its current state of motion. In the context of social situations it would the the tendency for someone with AS to not want to change their habits. It seems that people with AS tend to have a lot of mental inertia.

Perhaps we just don't want to change our habits.

Inertia is the tendency for an Aspie to remain at rest unless something pushes or acts upon him or her. Once in motion, intertia is the tendency for that Aspie to remain in motion.

In the context of autism/aspergers, I would say it refers to the tendency to remain rigid and unmoving as far as routines and obsessions go.

I would agree with this deffinition.I think it is a law of physics and many aspies feel compelled tofollow the law(unless it's really dumb)

I'd say it involves lethargy, too, but mostly difficulty initiating or getting started on something that requires any kind of activity.

Example, staying indoors and doing not much of anything or one thing for hours and hours rather than going out and about.

Staying in bed for 10-12 hours, then in pajamas for the next 10-12 hours is the kind of inertia that worries parents. Also, sitting and staring at something for great lengths of time, almost like old folks on a park bench.

Maybe "intertia" is a way of describing the way it takes a little effort to get us going, by giving us a little guidance and a little push. But once we get going, we tend to carry forward with some energy and zest.

I've done those things. My boyfriend cannot understand how i can be perfectly content just staring at a wall for a great length of time. Except, sometimes i'm not content doing nothing, like when i want to do something but can't, like start my homework. Another example is over the summer when i have great lengths of unstructured time, i do the pajama thing you mentioned, and it's almost painful, or at the least confusing, to try to break that cycle and actually do something constructive or fun. And i can't explain to people y i am not doing something, or y i feel "stuck," other than "i don't feel good."

Edit: is that kind of behavior, that "being stuck" common among aspies?

Being stuck desribes me quite well at this point in my life, for sure.

Let me see if I can explain this. I remember there being an experiment used to demonstrate inertia. It involves three coins, preferably of the same size, and a table. You stack two of the coins one on top of the other. Then you aim to slide the third coin to hit the bottom coin of the stack. The coin sliding will stop (if you're really good it will stop right under the top coin) and the bottom coin that is struck by the sliding coin will start moving in the direction that the sliding coin was moving in.

Aha, could this explain why

1) If something falls on the floor I'll leave it there for 6 to 8 months rather than reaching down and putting it back/throwing it away, even though I want to?

2) Even if I am doing something stupid like driving in the wrong direction I have to make an incredibly concerted effort to stop, pull in somewhere and turn around? (Or even when an action is likely to lead to something breaking or being destroyed in my quest to accomplish some simple act like pulling a dish out of the cabinet, I *do it anyway* even though I know I shouldn't? The amount of things I've broken...good grief)

3) If in my day-to-day life I've made a decision to do something a certain way, it would take the force of an earthquake to get me to change my way of operating or to change my mind about my decision? Even if it pisses off other people or is directly at odds with the way most people would operate

Or...is all that just my incredible stupidity/brain density/laziness? Frankly, looking at this list, I'm inclined to go with EXTREME STUPIDITY. Really. Argh.

Being unable to get anything started or being "stuck."