I really enjoy staring at clouds and nature...

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I'm wondering if such things are correlated with ASD at all, like it's a sensory sensitivity thing. I actually find it very relaxing and pleasing to stare at clouds (with sunglasses on!) and examine the fine fluffs and curves. I like to do this with other things such as mountains, trees, even a dirt road surrounded by green grass. While I know plenty of people who like nature, I don't seem to know anyone who appreciates this stuff like I do. Is it just me?

I have my bedroom in an attic under a sloping roof with a Velux window. The bed is positioned so that I can just lie there looking straight up at the sky, watching the clouds (or the stars at night). People wonder why I would choose the tiniest, coldest little room in the house for my bedroom, but I think it's wonderful.

I'm also really into close-up photography, and often carry a pocket microscope when I'm out walking. The textures of tree bark, lichens and mosses fascinate me - I can lose myself for hours in the little miniature worlds that I find, every bit as beautiful as sweeping landscapes.

I believe this is a characteristic of poetic people of all neurological stripes.

I think you're probably right Kraftiekortie. Maybe autistic folk are a little more pre-disposed to it, I don't know, but I've known far too many cloud watchers and star gazers to believe that they could possibly all be on the spectrum.

OTOH, I do definitely get a form of visual-proprioceptive synaesthesia with some patterns - though it's usually associated with regular geometric patterns, so I very rarely experience it from natural phenomena. Maybe others have more of sensory connection in that way?

I do this quite a lot; almost without awareness, I'll find myself staring at the veins in tree leaves or watching river water trickle over a particular stone. I do this to non-natural aspects of my environment as well, and it feels like I've entered my own little world which no one can interrupt. I definitely have a feeling of having left a very special place every time I pull away and become aware of the rest of the environment again.

I do it all day long.

I can see right across the Greater Manchester from my office window all the way to the hills (I think its the Penines).

I find it relaxes me quite a lot. The clouds are amazing seeing as I can see them for miles and miles in to the distance and with the changes in weather over different areas it can be quite incredible.

As it starts to go dark and the light changes and reflects on the houses it can look like little watch towers in the distance. I love it because it helps me to have a bit of an imagination and I can dream.

And on a clear day i can see all the wind turbines as well.

and the buildings on the horizon can create images of ships in the mist on the horizon when there's a bit of a haze.

Most people at my works gaze out of the window all day as well, so either we're all on the spectrum or it's not an asd thing in particular.