what is the AS need for structure, rules, routines?

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Hi everyone. Wanted to ask if anyone can explain the psychological logic behind the aspie/autistic need for structure, rules, routines, rituals, etc? This is the only major spectrum trait I don't think I get and I'm not sure I understand it. Or maybe I do have it and I don't recognise how it manifests in me?

Why do rules, structure, routine, ritual attract you? Ive heard people say "to predict social situations" and that makes sense to me but the need theyre talking about seems more pervasive and fundamental than that. I hear people say "to control anxiety" but I don't really understand how routines should make someone less anxious??

Could anyone describe their real life experience and how it feels to them and how they think it psychologically works?

I think this falls under the "restricted and Repetitive behavior and interests" category and has no psychological origin but is instead the product of neurobiology.

The single neucleotide polymorphism rs167771, for example, has been associated with various kinds of repetitive behavior, though it's just the beginning of this research.

I don't think it is productive to look for causation of these kinds of ASD behaviors in terms of traditional psychological frameworks centered in needs, intention, purpose and so on.

One might talk about the strategies people employ to manage the impact of their restricted and repetitive behavior and learn interesting things, but looking for causation in those sorts of processes seems unlikely to be fruitful.

Instead of thinking "routines make the individual less anxious" one might consider that not being able to follow a routine causes anxiety. If a person has a certain capacity for managing anxiety and part of that capacity is used in managing the anxiety generated by disrupted routines, then that person will have less capacity to handle anxiety from other sources than would otherwise be available, for example.

They help to make people feel safer. People who are neurodifferent are subject to many kinds of pressure and threat on top of the kind that everyone faces. This double whammy is related to coping techniques, and structure works as self support.

It helps me to feel more in control. I like knowing that I'm going to be doing something on a certain date in hopes that those plans aren't canceled.

I think it's because of a more "logical" thinking style where the person wants more control and prediction over their environment, versus a more "intuitive" style in which they tend to "go more with the flow".

I like to have a routine, but I don't get that upset if it changes, unless I feel uncomfortable with the change (but I think NTs feel like that too). Sometimes I feel quite happy at an unexpected change. It breaks the monotony of life.

I get more stressed out if I can't complete things on time. So change is fine, as long as I know that I will not be all behind schedule (this is more at work).

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This previous discussion is worth studying.

It would be interesting to know if there is a correlation between intelligence and the need for routines.

For me, it seems to be a combination of two factors.

1) Predictability helps me to know what's coming. I have to prepare for everything I do, and that's easier if I do the same thing frequently or, at least, if I know what's coming and when. It is exceptionally hard to have a conversation sprung upon me when I'm not expecting it. Alternatively, if I've spent ages preparing and something is cancelled or delayed, that's just as hard. I do feel anxious about every conversation I have - I need to script them - and if I'm expecting someone to show up at midday and they don't arrive until almost 1pm then I have been building up all of that nervousness and anxiety for an extra hour already, going over the script, wondering if they'll show, no longer having any clue when exactly they will appear outside the front door. I would have to go into 'action mode' at any moment. And it takes me a long time to get from any one mindset to another, so having to do it in a split second is extremely difficult.

2) There's also the 'black and white' thinking that I experience. With me, things are all or nothing. I don't like uncertainty. I like to have answers and plans. For example, we've recently discussed a change to our house. As soon as that change was put on the table as an option, I needed to know for sure whether or not it would happen. It didn't matter to me either way what the answer was, but it could not be 'wait and see'. I can't handle 'we might do this'. Then, I found out that the change would happen, but not for a while. That's hard, because I'm then in the mindset for the new situation and feel like I'm in limbo until it happens. In this case, that could have been for years. My husband has now set a specific date for the change, around a year from now. That's still not ideal - I'll still spend a year feeling like I'm in limbo and the house isn't 'right', but at least I know when to expect the change to happen. That structure makes the wait easier on me.

In my opinion, I think it's because of executive dysfunction. It took a lot of time for me to understand this autistic trait, too.
I'll try to explain myself. Executive function is the mechanism everybody uses to achieve a goal through different tasks. An example of exective dysfunction from my personal experience:
When I have to tidy my room, I never know where to start, i.e. I don't know what tasks I should do to achieve that goal. So I stay still for some minutes until I finally think: "Ok, I'll start with the clothes". Those minutes, of course, have been wasted doing nothing.
As an autistic person, I need schedules in order to follow a routine because, without them, my executive dysfunction would ruin everything I have to do during the day, and I would go to bed having done absolutely nothing.
I don't know if it makes sense, or if more people here feel identified.
And, as Joe90 said, I don't feel that upset if my routine changes. I do at the beginning, but then, I replan my day and everything makes sense again. I guess the tolerance to changes has to do to with the part of the spectrum where we are.

For me it was about what made me feel comfortable and what I was used to. Anything new made me anxious and I liked things the way they were. I also needed rules for every situation because I didn't know how to act and I would have been anxious and acting up because I didn't know the limits. Then in my teens it was about anxiety because I always got anxious if it changed. When I would get into a routine, I would get upset and feel anxious if it changed. That was my experience with this symptom.

I don't think I have routine except for evening routine (take a shower, watch anime while eating supper, read some manga, wash teeth, go to sleep - and in that order, thank you very much) and the fact I wake up about the same time everyday or at least have to know I will have to wake up earlier than usual in advance. Because I need my 7,5h of sleep or need to mentally prepare for sleeping less than 7,5h.

I definitely don't keep my life to the list and I actually like surprises and deal with small changes just fine.

But I will get upset when moms says we are going to grocery shop and instead takes me to clothes shop in neighbor city - because the shop always gives me sensory overload(due to loud music, lots of people and... clothes on racks without any order) so I have to be well feed, wear very comfortable clothes and have headphones handy when I am there or it gets really bad.
Today I was in the shop. I become tired but mom refused to go home yet so I ended up organizing the racks by colors. And the rainbow I created out of the previous chaos calmed me down. I wish they could organize racks by colors.

Also the unknown freaks me out. Today I experienced a small meltdown (didn't last long fortunately) because I suddenly got a call that tomorrow I have to go to unknown city 50kms away (1,5h away), find an unknown building and unknown office and met an unknown person there. I freaked out, gave the phone to mom and started crying. Mom talked it out and got all the info necessary for me to get there.
I am better now because I know exactly what to do and I put google map route to that place into my photographic memory as well as into my phone and on a piece of paper and I got info about what tram to take if I want to be faster (45 mins by walk -> 10 mins by tram). I am not sure if I take the tram though because I am afraid of using public transportation there (I rode a tram only once before and someone else was buying the tickets and choosing the tram) and I will definitely use the train to get to that city instead of a bus because I used the train a few times before and I never used the bus. But even with train it will be hard - because I will have to switch trains at one point. I never switched trains before. But I know the station where I have to switch trains so I try not to get anxious: by imagining how the station looks like, where my train will most possibly stop and where and how I will go to get to the next train. It scares me that maybe my train gets late and the other train escapes but mom says it won't happen because she used trains for many years to get to work and then a train gets late right this the other train waits because "the trains are connected - they know people are switching so they have to wait".

The fun part is I am not even afraid of the meting itself - I don't know the woman and I don't know what t will be all about exactly but I know she will be the one asking questions and I will just have to answer the best I can so it isn't scary. I am lucky I don't have social phobia and can talk to people despite being awkward. Active but odd subtype rules.

The unknown causes me anxiety. I fight anxiety using the known. I want to know what to expect because I can prepare. If I cannot prepare I am better of not knowing because the anxiety of the unknown ceases my functioning.
I am pretty happy I got the phone call today that I have to go there tomorrow because if they said "in a few days" I would wonder when, how and what. Today I don't have time. Plan is ready - I just need to play it out and hope no surprises happen. I just hope I will be able to fall asleep tonight because its possible anxiety will hit me then.

Last edited by Kiriae on 03 Oct 2016, 4:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

On that thread there is a suggestion that eating food in a certain way is type of routine. I laughed at the comment at eating the less tastier food first and saving the tastiest food till last - I am guilty of this for most meals.

Seems like a rational approach. Why not have the taste that brings pleasure as the lingering experience.

I agree with lisa_simpson about executive functioning. If I don't develop routines to do tasks, they don't happen.

I think it's more of a blending thing for me , I don't put more than 1 food type in mouth, not always though , I don't mind blending Indian & Chinese food , cooked breakfasts & roast dinners.

It's not really a psychological need. It's more a deficiency in acquiring new patterns, like what Lisa Simpson's post explains very well. It asks a lot of time and effort to create a new sequence.

For me, changes in my routine make me anxious because I don't know what to expect, and I lack the executive functioning skills to quickly assess a new situation and switch gears, or implement a strategy to successfully complete the new task or function in the new environment. It feels like having studied for weeks for a massive test and feeling really prepared, only to walk into the exam room and be handed a test written in Chinese. In a situation like that, most NT's I would imagine would feel anxious and confused, and unsure about what they're supposed to do. That's how I feel every time someone changes my routines suddenly.

As for routines reducing anxiety, they give me a sense of control and predictability, and a "bubble of sameness" that makes me feel secure and unthreatened. It's derived from the same reason I and many others here engage in repetitive behaviours; the sameness and predictability are comforting, and it creates a "loop" or a "bubble" of security, because we know that when we're finished lining up objects, counting things, or repeating certain phrases and dialogue, we can go back to the beginning and start over again. I'm sure most NTs would find it very boring, but I, along with many other aspies, find it very relaxing.