Strange habit of.... walking arround endlessly.

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TristahK
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03 Oct 2016, 3:37 pm

Sometimes I find myself strangely and semi-consciously walking arround my house in a cyclical course. Sometimes arround my room, sometimes between the living room and kitchen, sometimes in the school during breaktime. By the time I notice I am doing it, I already gave a few turns in the cycle. It just feels so natural. It usually starts when I fall into deep philosophical or mathematical thoughts, or when I get bored of computer activity. I find it incredibly relaxing, its kinda like I was meditating or something. In fact I get most of my ideas when I am locked into these walking&thinking cycles.
Problem is, the noise of my steps bothers the people I live with, they just go mad and command me to sit down. But when I sit down, it bothers me and I lose emphasis and focus on what I was thinking. In fact sometimes I'm so locked into my mind that it is incredibly difficult to simply stop and return to normal activity.

Not sure why it happens or if it has anything to do with having AS, but I wanted to share it since its one of my most bizzare traits.


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BirdInFlight
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03 Oct 2016, 4:44 pm

Sounds like pacing, at least that's what I call it -- I find myself doing this when I'm agitated.

I don't set out to do it deliberately, and with me I'm not so sure it actually relaxes me, so much as it's a product of my stress, since I only seem to do it when I'm in a bad place emotionally, feeling agitated, stressed, tense and frustrated. I mostly seem to pace around while simultaneously monologuing out loud because I can't get an issue out of my head, something that didn't go right in a conversation I just had, or rehearsing what I want to say better next time.

When I catch myself pacing it's always my wake-up call that I'm really not in a good state of mind.



Trekkie83
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04 Oct 2016, 9:23 pm

I do this as well. I tend to pace a lot, but I do it even more when I have something on my mind. I spend quite a bit of time just wandering aimlessly around the house. I don't know why but it feels good to do it.



Jozie
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04 Oct 2016, 9:37 pm

My son does this (he's 13) especially when he is talking about something. I find it a bit annoying because I have to concentrate on what he is saying and visually follow him around the room at the same time. I don't hassle him about it, though because I know it helps him concentrate and I think its the mum's job to make things easier for the child.



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04 Oct 2016, 9:39 pm

I have done that a lot. Not so much now, but if I'm in a place where I easily get bored and restless, like in a big hall during some kind of celebration, I will just wander around, daydreaming, looking at mildly interesting objects, and go anywhere as long as it's away from people. They don't care anyway, they don't even notice it and it's like I don't exist.

I think in the past I may have done this because of side effects from certain drugs I was put on. I believe they gave me "restless leg syndrome", which would be quite awful. You can't sleep or lie still, you walk around constantly until your legs cramp up but when you sit down and try to keep still it's like small creatures are wriggling under the skin of your thighs, and you are forced to get up again even though you're ready to collapse. They would feel tense and I would try to make it stop by rubbing them, and no one knows what it's like or even gives a rat's tail about it unless they've been through it themselves. :x



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05 Oct 2016, 12:41 pm

Jozie wrote:
My son does this (he's 13) especially when he is talking about something. I find it a bit annoying because I have to concentrate on what he is saying and visually follow him around the room at the same time. I don't hassle him about it, though because I know it helps him concentrate and I think its the mum's job to make things easier for the child.

I do it to not while talking. Though, I don't really see why you have to. For a few reasons.
1. I find it disturbing for people to look at me.
2. People with autism often don't really express anything in their eyes.


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xile123
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05 Dec 2016, 10:28 pm

I do this a lot and I'll usually repeat quotes/phrases/words over and over again until I'm out of breath or feel I've had enough. It feels a lot like Autistic inertia to me, I'll pace around for an hour and I'll keep telling myself over and over to snap out of it but I can't it seems.



Knofskia
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05 Dec 2016, 10:49 pm

I love pacing and wandering! :heart: :heart: :heart:


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crystaltermination
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05 Dec 2016, 11:16 pm

I'm a terrible pacer; it's a wonder there aren't runnels carved into my carpet and everything. :D There's never any destination. It seems to be the body's way of ridding itself of nervous leftover energy from certain mental activities.


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mathiebrungrand
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06 Dec 2016, 3:10 pm

I don't think that this is uncommon. Do you feel better before/during/after? I know that people find it uncomfortable to watch, but to me it is very soothing. I talk to myself a lot. A lot. Sometimes if I have had a hard day I will pace from one end of my apartment to the other, make a left, walk back to the other side of the apartment, repeat. I have had downstairs neighbors complain about it in the past, but it really does seem to help me think through issues or problems I have. It can be a bad loop though, sometimes.


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Lunella
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06 Dec 2016, 3:17 pm

I do it too when I have a lot on my mind, it helps a lot. I figure it's just an odd trait.


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06 Dec 2016, 3:31 pm

I pace all the time, I think it's basically stimming.



SH90
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06 Dec 2016, 4:04 pm

I pace allot also, usually while deep in thought.



AbuB
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17 Dec 2016, 3:58 am

I have turned this into one of my favorite hobbies and acts as an almost daily physical/mental health exercise. I love to find a secluded area outside, preferably some sort of trail/path, put on some headphones and listen to my favorite tunes while walking back and forth along the scouted area for hours at a time. This has become my #1 stress reliever, allowing me to not only enjoy quality alone time in my "happy zone" but also works as pretty much my only physical work out routine. Since I will NEVER set foot in a gym or common workout areas, I have recently incorporated a weighted vest into my music walks and I find the extra physical excursion adds an extra stimulating effect along with my music to really get my mind centered in my "happy zone" :)



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17 Dec 2016, 4:41 am

Alright so this is going to be a bit difficult to explain but here I go:
(WARNING: I assume this is not the case for everyone, just me, but I would appreciate it if anyone is able to relate to this)
So with AS, there is typically (at least in my case) a very noticeable situation where your brain tends to block thoughts, almost like chords or strings of thought, as opposed to the more fluid dynamic thoughts of our neurotypical counterparts. As a result of this, it is very easy to get entranced in specific thoughts or sequences of thoughts, feelings, emotions, intuitions, etc. For example, I become fascinated with one specific component of a vehicle, such as a plane turbine or even the wings, their function both in their respective fields and in the engineering phase. Another example is the government of specific nations. Sometimes I'm fascinated by a medieval setting, others by a communist or capitalist, it's infinite how many different things I can become attached to like this. But basically this occurs as a result of these "blocked" thoughts, not literally blocked but more like each thought is in a box, and your brain will pick that box until it runs out then it will move to a new box. Some of these boxes last for years while others last for minutes. It is quite brilliant really, and it is what makes us unique and gives the world a reason to see what we have to offer, as we typically become very good at specific things due to our ability to "box" certain skills or ideas.



pontyrogof
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17 Dec 2016, 8:32 am

I get more than a little angry when people who think better on their feet are told to sit down, causing blood and lymph stagnation and the shortening of muscles and tendons, so that when they do walk they are bent like a chair is still stuck to their arse.

The OP mentioned making bothersome noises. I used to have this problem. It went away when I went back to walking on my toes. I adopted the toe, also known as fox walking, to reverse faciitis, which it did, while also making me much stronger and more coordinated.


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