Autistic people might also become attached to objects (or parts of objects), such as toys, figurines or model cars – or more unusual objects like milk bottle tops, stones or shoes. An interest in collecting is also quite common.
People with autism may get easily attached to people, leading them to become over-friendly. It can be difficult to understand other people's perceptions of situations, therefore what they feel is appropriate, may be considered as socially unacceptable.
Object attachment is the experience a person has when they feel an emotional attachment to an inanimate object and may even feel a sense of loss if they were to part with the object [4].
Fixation, or hyper-focusing on a specific interest, is a recognized feature of autism. Fixations, along with other features or symptoms of autism like repetitive behaviors and cognitive inflexibility, may appear from the outside to be symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
They comfort us amid loneliness and boost our confidence about our abilities. In fact, our possessions do not just make us feel secure by substituting for important people in our lives; we actually see these objects as an extension of ourselves.
Children with autism may not "play" with toys in the same manner as their peers and may become fixated to specific objects. Overreact to sensory stimuli that they see, hear, touch, feel or taste. Or, conversely, they may not react at all to various stimuli from the environment.
Known as anthropomorphism, or attributing human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities, experts have linked it to social intelligence.
Many autistic people have intense and highly-focused interests, often from a fairly young age. These can change over time or be lifelong. It can be art, music, gardening, animals, postcodes or numbers. For many younger children it's Thomas the Tank Engine, dinosaurs or particular cartoon characters.
Many autistic people get very stuck in loops of rumination and uncertainty, and the feeling of going round and round, the anxiety and worry, can be really unbearable. I call this 'loops of concern'.
They might not like talking that much and prefer to keep to themselves. On the other hand, some people with autism might overshare and might not know when to let the other person have a turn to talk. People with autism might also struggle to share what they are thinking or feeling with other people.
If you get attached easily, you may have an anxious attachment style. People with anxious attachment cling to others because they're afraid of being abandoned. You can get attached quickly if you have low self-esteem—you might jump into relationships because you crave validation from others.
They feel that relationship with objects, is easier as an object is unable to hurt their feelings, which might get hurt in an actual relationship. At times, people have a very specific or let's just say weird preference for physical attributes of a structure.
Some kids on the spectrum feel a constant need for affection because they are not sure when or if the attention will be available. Schedule 5 to 10 minutes every day when you can provide your youngster with undivided attention (i.e., no computer, T.V., cell phones, etc.).
Considering this evidence for autistic people's different experience of touch, it is no wonder that autistic children may avoid touch or only engage in touch under certain conditions. It has been reported that autistic children engage in cuddles less than non-autistic peers (Baranek, 1999).
difficulties with high-level language skills such as verbal reasoning, problem solving, making inferences and predictions. problems with understanding another person's point of view. difficulties initiating social interactions and maintaining an interaction.
Common examples of stereotypy are hand flapping, body rocking, toe walking, spinning objects, sniffing, immediate and delayed echolalia, and running objects across one's peripheral vision (Schreibman, Heyser, & Stahmer, 1999).
About stimming and autism
Stimming might include: hand and finger mannerisms – for example, finger-flicking and hand-flapping. unusual body movements – for example, rocking back and forth while sitting or standing. posturing – for example, holding hands or fingers out at an angle or arching the back while sitting.
Non-autistic people tend to assess concepts before details, also known as top-down thinking. Autistic people take the opposite approach with bottom-up thinking and use details to build concepts. It may take longer to filter out sensory details with this approach, but you're less likely to miss important information.
People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. People with ASD may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention. It is important to note that some people without ASD might also have some of these symptoms.
Many children also had common childhood fears and phobias (including fear of dogs, bugs, spiders, snakes, the dark, doctors, barbers, monsters, people in costumes, mechanical toys, sleeping alone, fire, and swimming), which increased the overall proportion of children with autism who had intense fears and phobias to ...
Furthermore, participants' preferred soft and comfortable textures, like satin; previous research also reporting that autistic individuals enjoy touching soft and smooth textures (Cascio et al., 2012).
Though autistic people may respond to emotions and social cues differently than neurotypical people, this does not mean they lack empathy. Just like neurotypical people, levels of empathy vary between autistic individuals.
Different sensory things will feel wonderful for some autistic's and painful for others. It may be that certain lights, sounds, textures, clothing, sights, smells etc brings a lot of comfort. Weighted blankets are also wonderful for helping to ground you and feel safe. Certain food can be really comforting.
“Emotional attachment to objects is completely normal,” Yap explains. Having things and relationships or sentimental feelings towards them is human nature, as long as you're still able to treasure people over things.