Fantasy thinking versus delusional thinking among Aspies

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I'm hoping to get some more direction and understanding on this issue. I work with many child and teenage aspies and I've learned that quite a few have developed an imaginary world- some of which are quite complex- and the aspie is always the central "hero". These kids acknowledge that this world is imaginary. They enjoy thinking about it, adding to it (often from video games and tv shows)- and they might use it to escape from stress from "this" world. However, Ive met a 11 year old who insists that his fantasy world is real and that he is not really human- he is a character in a world derived from a video game. His parents are not really his parents- they also are from this other world. He does not go by his human name, etc. He will not agree that this world is imaginary. He is quite bright, highly anxious, and school phobic. He has little interest in humans and has no friends. I am quite concerned about him. Does anyone have experience with this?

Not to that degree. When I was a young teenager my fantasy world was drawn by Arthur Rackham but I knew it was a fantasy.

I've gotten very caught up with my "Angnix" character and I created a world and everything in the form of a very complex story I wrote, but I never thought it was real.

I would try to talk to the 11 year old boy more about this imaginary world. Try to find out when he started believing that he came from this world and if there was any outside event that might have caused him to start completely rejecting the real world.

I myself have an imaginary world called Aspergeria, named so because I feel that I wouldn't have developed it if I hadn't been on the spectrum. In this world, all of my favorite movie characters (there are many) live there and have relationships and families with each other. I am the main character/"hero" of this world and together with my imaginary movie friends, we defend my world from evil forces. There are also two Alternate Universes of Aspergeria, one where everyone is the opposite sex and another where everyone is a cat.

However, I do realize that this world is completely fictional and I just "go there" for my own entertainment.

My daughter has had a very vivid imaginary world for as long as I can remember. There have been times where that world "bled over" into reality and she would say things or do things that made it seem as if it were very real to her. Sometimes in talking to her she might stop you, turn around, and talk to an imaginary person behind her or tell that "person" to be quiet or leave her alone. Prior to a year ago she would make statements that they were as real as this world but she slowly started to learn that it wasn't "appropriate" for her to say these things. That has led to her stating that it "isn't real" however, there are still times I think it is still "bleeding into" this world. I don't know if this is some sort of coping mechanism gone haywire-that's what it seems like to me. I don't know if this is what you would call "obsessive" thoughts as in OCD as she does have some OCD traits.

Anyway, with the 11 yo, you should first determine if he really believes it is true or if he is saying these things as some sort of desire to hang onto them. Also, try to discern whether the fantasy is playing out a very real issue such as abuse or neglect. It is also possible that he just hasn't learned that it's not appropriate to not distinguish between fantasy and reality-and I can assure you that some of these fantasies are very, very tangible and real to them. I suppose it could also be that this imaginary world is a more pleasant place for a child with excessive phobias (my daughter also has these) and is a way for them to "check out" of this world which many times is too harsh. Do his parents confirm that he is always in this fantasy and there are no times when he disconnects from it? That would be very odd and a reason to be concerned in my opinion.

Don't worry. He'll grow out of being able to delude himself into half-believing it's real. Just explain to him that if he talks about it that way, he'll probably get in trouble.

And it probably is real. To him. In a different way from the real world being real.

I dunno. The stuff in my head is as real to me as the "real" world. (I can tell the difference between the "real" world, other people's different fictional continuities and all of my different ones. But I intentionally mix them all together.) In terms of how I feel, calling it real would make sense. But I understand how you're supposed to use those terms and use them normally.

It looks to me like he's too idealistic. He thinks that he can express who he is, be who he is, in the "real" world. He'll learn that he can't. He'll learn to shut up and hide it.

Thanks for the input from all of you. I think it's interesting that so many assessment measures of aspergers expect limitations in imaginative thinking- when I find quite the opposite! He has loving and committed parents- no abuse or neglect definitely. Many people have tried to convince this boy that his thinking is imaginary but he is adamant that he was hatched from an egg two thousand years ago... He is quite wary and stressed by the outside world and this clearly "feeds" the imaginary world where he remains all powerful and things go well for him. There is no clear initial stressor (other than living in this world!)- he displayed a resistance to using his human name by preschool age and things just developed from there. I've found some research indicating that there is delusional thinking among some aspies and I'm thinking he might fall in this group.

Ah, what you just said reminded me of something else.

Apparently when I was little I was really insistent that my parents were actually Mickey and Clarabell. Really insistent.

I have my own imaginationland of sorts too, actually multiple ones.. so if I get bored with them then either I change the "storyline/history" or switch to another one. Seeing or hearing of different situations in real life add to it, and meeting new types of people do as well. Usually I'm me, but I actually have something of a social life...anywho

The 11 year old to me seems like he has underlying issues. Maybe he's being abused by someone or he's neglected (no attention) and feeling detached from his parents and everyone around him. It may be a long shot but he may also have D.I.D., where that game world is the only place he feels comfortable. Or maybe he's got Schizophrenia..

When I was four, my parents were told that I was possible phycotic because I couldn't distunigish fantasy from reality. Supposedly because when asked who I was I would say the name of a cartoon character and I was always changing my mind about which caracter. I would have meltdowns if someone called me by the name of the wrong character. I didn't understand that people had diffrent thoughts than me until I was like twelve or so. I think this is an issue with theroy-of-mind and kids can't usualy tell the diffrence between fantasy and reality until age six or so and I was very imature for my age. The phycogist that said this also believed my autism was caused because of my mother being cold to me. I might buy that if he said that about my biological mother who was severely autistic and didn't know the diffrence between a real baby and a doll, but he meant it about my adoptive mother.

I think they are referring to typical imaginative play and my daughter definitely is lacking in that regard. For instance, most children, when given play objects such as dolls or play furniture will play with them in a "typical" imaginary scenario-the dolls "talk" to each other, sit on the furiture, etc. My daughter doesn't do this. She has never played "typical" imaginary games that are transient and momentary like with most kids. Instead her imaginary world is elaborate and non-typical. When she was quite small she was a "coyote" for a while and really believed this-she would curl up on the floor to sleep and only eat food by lapping from a bowl on the floor. She didn't speak for days. During the ADOS, when approached with the prospect of a pretend birthday party she would not particpate and instead took a few of the objects to play with in a non-typical way and in a solitary fashion. She would occassionally glance over at the diagnostician's play in a non-interested way. She cannot be "pulled into" imaginitive play with other kids and that is the "lack of imaginitive thinking" they refer to in the diagnostic measures in my opinion.

I've always had a fantasy world to escape to, but at no time did I think it was the "real" world.

I spend much time in my own fantasy realms, yes. But I'm not myself in there. I'm another person.

Is it possible that this is simply an extension of escapism and not actual delusion?

I have never really completly created my own world......guess I am not quite that creative even though I have aspergers. But I will think about things a lot and sometimes relate whats going on in my mind to the real world. Like sometimes I watch a movie, read a book or get really into certain music. I even sometimes veiw myself as a different person, like I know I am me but I think about if I was someone else. Usually I don't act much differently I just kind of obsess over it in my head which can get a little distracting. Also I've had kind of this on going idea...that I spent more time thinking about when I was younger. But yeah it might sound ridiculous but basically I have the thought that I might have been the result of artificial impregnation done by other worldly beings. And that I am just here as some sort of experiment to observe the human world or something to that effect. That really started when I was around 7, and started getting blood tests originally for dizzy spells but then they found some weird things which they still have not figured out....first they thought maybe I carried muscular dystrophy but they dismissed that and any physical problems because there are no signs of anything like that. So yeah to this day they have not figured it out. So of course with all the thinking I do I eventually decided maybe it means I am not fully human.......certainly fully humanoid, but maybe my DNA is not all of this world. I don't really know if I think that is totally false or not, but its intresting to think about.

Also as a child when I was playing with legos or anything like that I would get pretty involved in it. One time I was playing with legos in elementary school second grade I think. and created this whole senerio of what was going on with the lego people and ended up singing about what was going on in my game of legos only to have everyone stare at me like I was out of my mind......I did not realise I was doing this aloud until I noticed peoples reactions.

my inner world is the only world that works for me. so i go there more and more.