Do you autistic women really have fewer repetitive behaviors

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Or are they just hidden behaviors?

I used to think I had no repetitive behaviors. Then the last psychologist I saw asked me whether I had any OCD-like behaviors as a child (she didn't ask me about "repetitive" behaviors). I told her that I used to continually count the corners of rectangular objects (which I did silently, so no one knew). As an adult, I replay online conversations in my head over and over again.

So, you see, people would never notice my repetitive behavior. And I want to know if that's common for females.

It was the same for me, when it came to identifying repetitive behaviours in the assessment.

I had never connected with the criteria in that section before, but I realised when the team explained, that they were definitely present, just not in that stereotypically observable way. Like you in that OCD type behaviour, I used to count the circle shapes in a room silently, still do sometimes.

Is that why I tend to count steps as I walk up them?
It's not exactly a repetitive behaviour, though. More like just a childhood habit I never grew out of.

Im not sure, i have always hidden them as fidgeting. I can't help myself. I have to run my cuticles across my lip, flip my hair, and rock. shame is a powerful thing for me, and i usually hide it, or wait to do it when i am alone. i don't like to be made fun of.

I have a lot of hidden repetitive behaviors.

Most of which are hidden on plain sight in a sense that it doesn't look awkward and that I don't look clumsy enough.



And yes, I have repetitive thoughts.

But these thoughts are mainly fixated processing thoughts as autistic systems supposed to, emphasized by strong emotions and attachment.
Not only or simply anxiety emphasized thoughts as OCD is based of, because most of my emotions are not derived from fear or worry.


OCD is still a bit relatable to me in terms of repetition, attachment and how distracting it can be -- but the emotional dialogues of 'I must do X or else' and the unwanted involuntariness of it isn't.

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I’m not entirely sure what “repetitive behavior” means. Is it listening to the same song on repeat for an hour or more? Is it watching the same movie over and over again? Is it counting one’s steps in a repetitive pattern (mine is 1, 2, 3, 4, 1, 2, 3, 4...)? Is it repeating the last thing someone said over and over in your head? Is it repetitive movements like rocking or pen tapping? Is it something like taking the dog for a walk at a very specific time every day (like maybe precisely 9:48)? Not sure which may or may not qualify.

But then again, I do all of those on a regular basis, so I suppose it doesn’t really matter . For the record, I have determined that although I’m biologically female, my autism seems to present itself in a more masculine manner.

I can't speak for women in general, but I have many repetitive behaviors that are obvious to the casual observer.

If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said I had no repetitive behaviors. I would have said I was not Autistic. Well, I am ASD. And most likely my daughter and my mother. I am sure we have repetitive behaviors, but it is normal for us, so how do we know which ones?

Online I'm finding different definitions for "repetitive behaviors", so am I bit unclear. What resonates is that in my youth I bit my nails, twirled my hair, rotated my hips. My ASD-like daughter flaps - but I noticed she's started rotating her hips and biting her nails too. Perhaps she will transition in full to more subtle stimming. Now I rub my ears.

At home in my youth, I sorted my horses, sorted stamps, sorted and valued coins. I just found a new passion --- I can spend hours sorting my son's LEGOs. I didn't know this until now. My daughter doesn't sort much, she likes to move! Her toddler "toys" were office supplies. She'd put stickers everywhere, stamp, stamp, stamp, staple, staple, staple, dot, dot, dot.

I also love to count. During a crisis I resorted to echo--whateveritis - repeating a phrase to stay calmer (I was not calm, but I didn't go entirely ballistic). I do it on a daily basis also, but probably what could be called an affirmation. I know I repeat the same stories but I try to spread it around and not tell the same person. Although even in one conversation I repeat myself 2-3, er 4 times, b/c I want to be heard, right? Instead of quoting movies, I quote studies (I'm a ferocious reader from time to time).

Oh, I remember eating my cereal in a certain way. That's a fond memory for me. I worked really hard not to be agitated when there were "leftover" pieces. Again, not sure what the repetitive behavior line is.

One Source: https://autism.lovetoknow.com/Repetitiv ... _in_Autism

dragons, I saw one source indicate that doing the same thing at a particular time qualified as "repetitive behavior". I am very particular about having scissors in their "place" which got put in my assessment.

Some of mine are:

Rocking back and forth/side to side; making noises; scripting; flapping my arms/hands/fingers; flicking my fingers; blinking; clapping; hopping; pacing; chewing