High Imagination

Post Reply New Topic

I'm 17 and ASD and male and for some reason I wonder do we have a high imagination? I often wonder this because I am in my own little universe most of the time when I am at school and I can't focus on anything for a long period of time. I would daydream and space out a lot and I have frustrated so many teachers and students because of this problem. I would watch a TV show and when I see a space battle on TV I would fantasize about that and it would stick in my head for weeks. That is just a example but it makes me distracted from learning anything for some reason. People have called me slow or they think that I am dumb because of this I would be dosing off into space and someone would say "dude you're really slow" and I would get comments like this and I wonder why I do this. I feel like I have a headache most of the time and I am mostly in my own little world and I don't know why. I would like to know is there any way on how to get out of this but I don't know. Anyone in this position?

I have almost the exact same issue- although it doesn't happen with things that I see on television, but things that I adapt from television to suit my own imaginary world.

Taking up art has helped me to calm it down, but if you're not an visual artist, try taking up a different creative pursuit (if you like writing, write down your stuff, etc.).

I've also taken up running (on treadmills in my case) with headphones, and allowing the music to spur on my creative moments to where I tire it out enough to be manageable.

I hope my advice has at least helped in a small way.

It's not something that can be quashed completely, but it can be managed.

On a funny note, some of my really artistic friends consider this type of imagination a purely good gift (although, I, like you, know how distracting/irritating it can be sometimes).

There is no way to get rid of your imagination but you can try to exploit your imagination and at least have your imagination schoolwork related. For example when I was in my mathematics class in high school I used to imagine what a 4 dimensional object would look like.

When I went to work at a hospital working with disabled people in wheelchairs I imagined that I was a robot cyborg that no longer needed a wheelchair. When I worked at a nuclear fusion experimental reactor I imgagined that it was a giant spaceship engine. I suppose I still annoy people but at least my imagination is work related and to my suprise some people actually like me because of my vivid imagination and think that I am a genius.

I day dream so much that I am afraid if I drove I would eventually start to daydream causing me to crash into the car in front of me or even worse hit a pedestrian. I also daydream when I walk places almost causing me to get hit by people pulling out of their driveways or parking lots.

I think I drive NT's crazy . I want all these dangerous jobs like riding motorcycles, rock climbing, flying airplanes and dangerous construction jobs and everyone thinks I am an accident waiting to happen.

This is one of the reasons I haven't learned to drive yet.................at 26. I've almost gotten hit by a car because of my daydreaming (and consequent inattention). I'm a little better now on ADHD meds................

As to why we/you do this (excessive escape into a fantasy world) Tony Atwood mentions four ways that children with AS cope with their symptoms: depression and self blame, escape into a fantasy world, arrogance and denial or imitation. The first two are for people who tend to internalize feelings and the second two for people who externalize feelings. Escape into a fantasy world and imitation are supposed to be the healthier strategies (especially imitation). So I guess it's a relativity healthy way of coping (even if it does tend to pervade your existence and prevent you from learning to interact with others or do anything productive.....I am being facetious and referring to my own life) .

Of course excessive daydreaming is also seen in ADHD (PI) and schizoid personality disorder and probably other things too.

I am similar to you. I too adapt things from television for my own imaginary world, but I'm not sure whether I do it the exact same way as you. I take characters from whatever shows/movies I'm obsessed with and imagine new adventures for them, using my own setting and borrowing themes and motifs from other shows/movies. My imagination is basically a mish-mash of everything I love. That's why I spend so much time there and I rarely ever get bored.

I also run with headphones to trigger going into my imagination, though I like running around in circles outside at the park rather than running on a treadmill.

Last edited by IdahoRose on 18 Apr 2011, 11:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It's very common for us to have a vivid imagination. The idea that autistic people don't have much imagination has been debunked so many times that I think it must be an outright fallacy. We play differently, sure; but lack of imagination isn't really a problem for near so many people on the spectrum as they think. Often times our mental life is extremely vivid and we don't need physical props.

However, there's one issue with daydreaming, and that's the problem of not being able to pull yourself back very easily. That doesn't actually have to do with autism directly; it has to do with inattentive-type ADHD, which is very common on the spectrum as well. Daydreaming is great--everybody does it--but daydreaming whether you like it or not, and not being able to keep your mind on your schoolwork even when you really, really want to, may be something that will respond to what you'd do for ADHD.

I do it a tiny bit differently, but our methods are basically similar (the whole "mish-mash" thing primarily), I feel.

I create my own character/worlds by establishing a "base world" (the universe of Sailor Moon for me right now, as an example), and then "corrupting (adding more depth to them or turning them darker/gooder than they were intended)" a few old characters and mashing other characters together to create new ones. I then use these characters to create a mock version of things I see in other stories (such as certain types of relationships, fights, etc.) I spend a lot of my time in my head too, imagining "oh, what if this character was a girl instead of a boy? How would that affect that character's relationship with such-and-such?". Just like the world I've been working on now for about 2 and a 1/2 years, these worlds eventually evolve into something quite different than the "base series" that they evolved from. It's quite fun.

So, yeah, basically the same I think- just some of the particulars are different. Sorry for ranting. ^^::

I like running outside too, but it's more convenient for me to run on a treadmill or go on one of those half-treadmill half-stepmaster thingies that I see sometimes in gyms (the latter is probably even more likely to inspire imagination leaps for me- which helps in tiring them out).

I have a very high imagination. It's also a very wild one as well. I can write a bunch of creative stories anout a number of things, if I'm given the chance. I have to be in a group of people, because that's what makes it fun.

VERY TRUE

I make up stories in my head and the same storyline with the same characters -- with new characters added -- can last for years. Sometimes I borrow characters from TV shows, but often I just borrow the actor to play a part in my stories. This kind of thing seems to be very common with people on the spectrum. Do NTs do this too?

Your world actually sounds even more similar to mine now that you mentioned specifics. I agree that it's fun to see how the worlds evolve over time.

I do the "corrupting" thing too. As an example, during the years I spent fantasizing about a crossover world between the vampire anime/manga franchises Hellsing and Trinity Blood, I made them much, much lighter than their source materials (in my defense, I couldn't have made them much darker even if I had wanted to). It was basically like my own version of Twilight, with literally everyone being paired off and the story having less emphasis on the nature of traditional vampires. Looking back on it objectively, it was pretty ridiculous.

For the past year, I have been working on an imaginary world involving characters from Tim Burton movies. I think the darkness/goodness aspects of my world are typical of what you'd find in those types of movies, though in the case of Sweeney Todd, his darker and more violent aspects got turned down several notches, since in my version Sweeney is supposed to be one of the "heroes/good guys" rather than a "villain" protagonist. I also changed a lot of the characters' backstories to varying degrees. This world is also very heavily influenced by different anime, to the point that I prefer to imagine it as literally an anime rather than a live-action movie like its source materials.

I also mash characters together to create new ones. Though in my case, I make the new characters the biological children of the combined characters, even if both parents are the same sex (and they usually are, since I am a fan of slash fiction).

I even think about what would happen if characters were the opposite sex. I made it into a sort of "alternate universe" to the main one.

lol.

At least, we know the people who said autistics had no imagination were WAY OFF.

As far as I know, imagination is the only thing I've got to get me through life. Though, I'm one of those daydreamers who come up with original characters rather than borrow from existing bases. However, imagining how something in a show or movie could have gone helps with writing fiction just as well.

If you seem to be the same way, take up a hobby to stimulate your imagination.
As others have previously mentioned, visual arts, music, writing, etc. are all openly available options.
Or you can enjoy the little "movies" in your head as you let the time pass. Heh.

I don't know if NT's do, but I do this all the time. The amount of times I've nearly missed my stop on the bus as I have been of in my own little world in unbelieveable.