OCD Part of Autism?

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This post isn't really about me or my diagnosis, as I've come to accept that I probably just have OCD. However, I'm curious about the concept...

On an OCD page I "liked" on Facebook, I saw an image with "10 things you should never say to a person with OCD." One of them was "Are you like Rain Man?" My first reaction was: "Do people actually think Rain Man has OCD?" Then I did a Google search because I thought it was so obvious that Rain Man was famous for autism, I couldn't believe many people would make that mistake.

I know most people with autism are not like Rain Man, either. But that's a different soapbox for another day.

Anyway, my Google search turned up a list of "Top 10 Movies About OCD." As someone with OCD, the list seems pretty reasonable to me, though I haven't read every detail of it yet. Anyway, here's an excerpt from the entry for the "Rain Man" movie:

"Some of you might quibble that this one should be higher [on the list] due to the severe degree of OCD Dustin Hoffman displayed in this film. That's a fair argument, yet I'd point out that Raymond was autistic in a pretty serious way, and that his OCD manifested itself through the pre-existing autism. To say that Raymond [Rain Man] was [has] OCD would be similar to remarking that a person who is paralyzed from the neck down also can't swim very well."

I guess it's been a long time since I saw the movie, and I'm not even sure if I saw it all the way through. I remember noting it was about an autistic character who had special skills, but I don't remember getting a sense of OCD -- however, this was also long before I even suspected I had OCD myself. What do you guys think? Can OCD be part of the bigger picture of autism, for some people -- kind of a symptom of autism? Is the person's comparison of "someone with autism having OCD" being like "someone paralyzed from the neck down can't swim well" an accurate comparison?

In Rain Man the character was based on Kim Peek who wasn't actually autistic. He was a savant but he wasn't autistic.

Similarity between RainMan and Autistic is that both have lack of connection. In case of RainMan it was the disconnection of corpus callousum.

I just wanted to be clear that my bringing up of "Rain Man" although it was a central theme in my post, was kind of incidental. I was more using that subject to ask the question: "Can OCD be part of/a symptom of autism?"

But now I wonder, was Rain Man the character supposed to be autistic, though not based on someone who was truly an autistic? Maybe I'll see the movie again one day and find out.

Autism is when a single interest or activity fills your head. Like reading a book over and over again etc. OCD is repeating behavior in a ritual way, but as such people with OCD probably have enough connection in their brain to relate to people.

Some people with autism do have repetitive thoughts and behaviours that resemble OCD. The thing is, OCD is really an anxiety issue. With autism, the repetitive behaviours are built-in and not related to anxiety. Can someone with autism have OCD? Yes, but being able to differentiate between what behavior is being induced by anxiety and what is built-in would require a deep familiarity with the afflicted person. To answer the question - OCD is not a part of autism and wasn't identified as a trait in the various DSM's because it's a separate diagnosis altogether.

I'm both.

I think I am both on the Asperger's-Autism Spectrum, comfortably self-diagnosed, and I have struggled with OCD over the years.

On the positive side, I have non-OCD obsessions, like philosophy, like peace activism, like taxes when I thought I might go into that.

I had some OCD issues as a child. Then I really got it bad when I was 16 and 17. Our house had just gotten flooded. My dad was engaging in bullying, lording, threatening, edge of violence behavior. And my mom was not defending herself. I recoursed to personal health concerns. I became very concerned about both germs and chemical contamination.

And I sometimes still struggle with OCD issues from time to time. I have had some success 'dancing' an OCD worry. And I also draw from zen. For example, if I can get to a place where, if I take this extra precaution, that's okay, and if I don't take this extra precaution, that's okay, too, that is a pretty good place to be. And also the health and safety advice in health magazines and sometimes in magazines like Time magazine is often laughably bad advice. It's like the writer is giving the maximal advice so that then he or she cannot be blamed. If you choose to do less than the maximal precaution, then you're at fault. Whereas what it really is, is an example of a writer refusing to engage him or herself in the topic.

People on the autism spectrum may wind up with comorbid OCD diagnosis if they have obsessive thought and behaviour patterns that fall outside the purview of autism related repetitive thought patterns. While people on autism spectrum are, probably, at greater risk to develop OCD at some point in their lives, it is a different thing entirely than autism obsessiveness.

For me (I have AS and OCD), the OCD problems are almost all fear and anxiety based; intrusive, unwanted, and frequently disturbing. The autism repetitive stuff is more about comfort and safety in routine. I do things a certain way because it makes me feel comfortable to do so. because I like doing things that way. Whereas with OCD, I do particular things (or worry about particular things) because I think something terrible will happen if I don't. For instance, in the past I have been overzealous with dental hygiene to the point that I was doing serious damage to my teeth and gums in the process. I did it anyway because I was terrified that my teeth would decay and I would be forced to undergo extensive oral surgery (surgery another fear) and so on and so forth.

I have always been told it's part of it and one of the major components of it. You can have it and not be on the spectrum of course. But people argue about rather it is part of it or not and they also argue OCD and autism are two different things. I always thought OCD was without the social and communication issues and the stimming so people are given the label OCD for that autistic trait they have.