About "lining up ones toys".

[conuly]

This is a classic part of the AS diagnosis, lining up your toys and suchlike instead of playing with them "appropriately" (whatever THAT means). But I wonder, does it count if you were organizing your toys within the context of an internal narrative? So you weren't just putting them in groups for the sake of putting them in groups, there was some reason outside of the need for neatness that they were being organized? I used to do that, organizing my crayons, or barbies, or mlps. Somebody who wasn't me might've thought I was just sorting them by color, then size, then color AND size, then hairstyle... but I had a reason for that, something that made sense to those being sorted (or did to them in my mind, which is what counts).

Comments

[georgiapeachy.livejournal.com]

With paper dolls I would sort them by color, time period, name, skin color- basically every variable possible. The weird thing is I never played paper dolls in a traditional way, I just sorted them...
With action figures I'd sort them before my sister and I played with them, for the purpose we could set up towns/planets etc. perfectly, at least that sort of had a purpose.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I think it's one of those things where the reason doesn't matter, only the fact that we do it does. Keep in mind that most of the current methods of diagnosing the autism spectrum involve pure behaviorism, with little-to-no awareness being shown for the reasons behind the behaviors (which is why there are so many nitwits out there that assume making us act NT will "cure" our autism).

[staircase-wit.livejournal.com]

Every autistic adult who has reflected on lining up one's toys has explained that they had valid "play" reasons for doing so.

[redlami.livejournal.com]

I think that there is a reason for lining up and sorting toys probably is probably more indicative even than just the mere fact of lining them up.

My 5 year old stuffed 19 pokemon figures into his pants pockets and brought them to the zoo yesterday. When we stopped at a table for a few minutes he promptly took them all out and lined them up. He said it was so he could count them. There were only 18. To keep him from melting down over it we reassured him it was probably in the car.

I was so glad that it was.

[conuly]

*remembers going to the library 30 minutes after closing to retrieve toys*

Yes, I'm glad too.

[shavedapebaby.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of the scene in High Fidelity where Rob begins to resort his record collection "autobiographically."

"Wow. That seems..."

"...comforting."

[georgiapeachy.livejournal.com]

With paper dolls I would sort them by color, time period, name, skin color- basically every variable possible. The weird thing is I never played paper dolls in a traditional way, I just sorted them...
With action figures I'd sort them before my sister and I played with them, for the purpose we could set up towns/planets etc. perfectly, at least that sort of had a purpose.

[moggymania.livejournal.com]

I think it's one of those things where the reason doesn't matter, only the fact that we do it does. Keep in mind that most of the current methods of diagnosing the autism spectrum involve pure behaviorism, with little-to-no awareness being shown for the reasons behind the behaviors (which is why there are so many nitwits out there that assume making us act NT will "cure" our autism).

[staircase-wit.livejournal.com]

Every autistic adult who has reflected on lining up one's toys has explained that they had valid "play" reasons for doing so.

[redlami.livejournal.com]

I think that there is a reason for lining up and sorting toys probably is probably more indicative even than just the mere fact of lining them up.

My 5 year old stuffed 19 pokemon figures into his pants pockets and brought them to the zoo yesterday. When we stopped at a table for a few minutes he promptly took them all out and lined them up. He said it was so he could count them. There were only 18. To keep him from melting down over it we reassured him it was probably in the car.

I was so glad that it was.

[conuly]

*remembers going to the library 30 minutes after closing to retrieve toys*

Yes, I'm glad too.

[shavedapebaby.livejournal.com]

I'm reminded of the scene in High Fidelity where Rob begins to resort his record collection "autobiographically."

"Wow. That seems..."

"...comforting."