obsession with parts of objects--What is does that mean?

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One of the symptoms of Asperger's syndrome is an "obsession with parts of objects." What is that supposed to mean? Is there anyone here who has obsessions with parts of objects? If so, can you please describe?

I don't know, it almost sounds weird.

I guess, it could be said like this, which is true for me. I love my computer monitor, and I love the picture tube it uses (Sony Trinitron). Maybe that's what it means? But I would think that is something everybody could have.

One example I saw recently was an obsession with train hitches, another was of wheels of cars. I think the "parts" thing is that it's an unusually small component to focus on, not just that it is part of a larger item.

Spinning a single wheel on a toy car (fixated on that part); watching the same 5 seconds on a video repetitiously.

2 examples.

Talking about this:

I fix things and have an entire workshop full of parts in boxes,little drawers on shelves ect. I collect them even if I have no idea what they are for and am very attached to them especially my vacuum tubes. I also enjoy thinking how they fit together t make something else like this

I wonder if this trait is a myth. I can get very very absorbed in a field of study but definitely am not interested in parts of objects.

It would be interesting if someone posted a poll on this subject to see whetehr it is indeed a mythic AS trait.

Yes, I didn't know what this meant either. All I can say is that Part's diagram represents the very thing that I have an absolute, complete blind spot about.

Because (I believe) I am partly dyspraxic and partly AS, my dyspraxic side means that unless I have detailed directions as to exactly where each "part" should go, if I was given them I would just stare at them blankly, having no idea how to even begin to put them together.

I have always described this problem as "like dyslexia but with practical things". To be more exact, it only relates to 3D practical things; it doesn't prevent me from doing a jigsaw.

I think I used to have this moreso when I was younger. I remember growing up how I could sit and stare at a flower petal or a tree leaf or spots in my vision for hours. I'd look at all the tiny details and just be in a trance like state. The other kids would be bored with it and move on to something else, but not me. I was fascinated. I remember going over to my aunt and uncle's house and I could play with the antique hand held metal mixer (like the one in the movie Mozart & The Whale) for long periods of time. Other kids would get bored much faster than I would with such things.

I wonder if dissecting the world into such tiny areas overstimulates us? Like, we can't just look at the big picture, we have to look at every single little thing that makes up the big picture.

that i do.. when i first posted in this thread, i didn't quite understand the question..

For example, when im not surfing the internet, but listening to music at my computer, i just stare at the screen closely, looking at the aperture grille's vertical lines, and the damper wire (trinitron monitor tech).. It's almost like those small lines keep me occupied.

When I'm watching TV, sometimes my eyes keep looking at the blue power light, and not even watch the TV, lol

Now it's been explained, this is something I think I used to do, also. I believe I got over it by the time I was 8 or so, although I couldn't be certain.

I don't have this... I don't get obsessed over specific parts.

At best my eye gravitates to specific point on an object... but not really...

I took this picture this morning, and since then, have just been staring at it. I don't know what it is with the picture, but it just calms me down, and relaxes me (sorta like that feeling you get when getting a message).

http://blackevilweredragon.deviantart.c ... n-63566413

Is it possible for the picture itself to be obsessive to me, or could it be the colors? I seriously have no clue, but I like the fact it relaxes me, because I have stressful days everyday.

i dont know, but i carry things around with me like my sportscards and meteorite