Monday, April 9, 2012

Reminiscing Childhood Play As a Girl On the Autism Spectrum

I've read a few news articles lately talking about the differences of how girls with autism play differently than boys do, mainly how girls don't do as much lining up and fixate on eccentric subjects.  This got me nostalgic of my childhood.  How did I play?  Was it all that much different than other girls?

I have an extraordinary memory of ages that most people (non-autistic anyway) can't remember. While I only remember snippets I can fondly recall some memories from when I was just a year old. My favorite thing to play with when I was about 1-2 yrs old was a Humpty Dumpty puzzle. Much like the one to the left.  I'd dump it out and redo it all day long. It now strikes me as something that might be a little difficult for an average 12-24 month old, but nonetheless, it was my favorite.

When I got a little older I really liked books.  I wanted my mom to read me the same books over and over again.  My favorite one was 'The Poky Little Puppy'.  I just couldn't get enough of it!

My next book obsession was the Sweet Pickle book collection.  I loved the stories and the little maps they had in the back of the book of the town.  My favorite book out of that series was:
Funny how even at age 3 I knew how anxious I was!  I couldn't stand 'Me Too Iguana', though.  Copy cats and people who are unoriginal still are pet peeves to me now as an adult!  I would recommend these books for any spectrum child, as they really capture emotions in ways that an autistic child can grasp and learn from.  My son Particularly liked 'Zip Goes Zebra'. I'm guessing due to Zebra's zany personality and love for adventure.

As a got a bit older I started playing with dolls and play dishes.  I was the type of child who could entertain herself for hours with very little toys.  I never did master the art of pretend play.  When I played, there was always a script, or a plan.  If I played with my dishes, I'd spend more time arranging them, than actually playing with them, and I never ever pretended to fill the cups with liquid, or plates with food.  I'd always use real drinks and real food.  Seemed idiotic to not use any when there was some available.  Never was sure why other girls didn't.  I rarely played tea with other girls when I was really young.  I didn't get much of an opportunity, and I was too bossy, anyway.

I didn't play as much with baby dolls.  I did however play quite a lot with Barbies.  Most girls would dump all of their barbie things out into a pile and just use things as they pleased.  I didn't do unstructured play like that.  I would line up every Barbie (I had about 5) then I'd categorize every item of clothing and accessory.  Ball dresses, skirts, shirts, shoes, ect would all have a pile.Then, if I were playing with someone else we'd take turns picking from a pile until it was finished. If there was an odd number the odd item would go to another pile to be picked through evenly at the end.  Every Barbie always got the same amount.  To me, this was fair and the best way to play.  Needless to say, other girls wouldn't always want to play with me this way.  If they were my cousins, or people that I didn't like much I'd tell them they had to or they couldn't play with my Barbies.  I'd rather play alone, than with them messing up my order.  If I were at school with girls that I wanted to be my friend, I may concede to their way, but I'd get very whiny and moody as the time crept on, with my order messed up.  It was like a small itch gradually turning into a thriving rash. I barely could ignore the fact that my routine was destroyed.  I played almost every game this way, even Legos.  Legos were categorized by shape, then chosen by the players.  You played with your Legos and doll stuff, and I played with mine.  Only under negotiation was there to be any trades.

I used to line up many things.  I'd spend hours lining up my stuffed animals. I'd categorize them first, by color, or by animal ie; lions, cats, bears, ect..  I'd line them up by a category, look at them from all different angles and from across the room, take the line down, and do it again.  I used to do this with almost everything you could think of, dandelions, rocks, weeds, silverware, anything!

I'd play 'store' a lot.  That's where I'd set up tons of objects as if they were in the store.  I'd even make little price tags for the items. This literally would take me all day.  I didn't always even get to play with the stuff I arranged because it would take me so long to set it all up.  My favorite was to play this was outside with old jars and soup cans.  I'd fill them with dirt and line them up, then dump them out and do it all over again.  My mother didn't like that one as much, and I always got into trouble for playing with broken glass jars and rusty old cans.

By the time I turned around 10 years old I was really into Little House On The Prairie books and horses.  If I wasn't reading I was drawing about it. I loved those books! I did like to dress up like I was a teacher and read the books aloud to a pretend classroom.

My obsession with reading kept on through my teen years,as well as lent itself to a love of writing.  Play was swept aside at age 13 by an old timey typewriter.  I spent many a nights clack-clacking away (much like now!) a story for the fun of it.  To replace my need for categorizing, I began making lists.  I made lists of the boys I liked, or what clothes I wanted, or friends I had.  I listed things I wanted to do, did do, or what I liked to do.  I made lists of lists.  Much like now, I could never see boredom in the world that I could always find something interesting to do.

One last toy to share before I can call this an inclusive entry of beloved toys and books:
Anyone remember the Spirograph? It used to keep me occupied for hours!

15 comments:

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    1. Me too!! Mine was my mother's when she was a little girl!

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  2. Your entire section about how you played with dolls, dishes, and Barbie's sounded just like me as a kid. My stuffed animals were always set up a certain way, I would trade off between categorizing them by animal, color, or size. That was my way of "shaking" things up a bit and getting wild. :-)

    I was always very literal with my playing, to the point that I insisted on making food out of water and baby powder to feed my baby dolls. They HAD to eat for real! I understood they would not eat "real" food though. Lol! I did things like that got in trouble for my messes.

    I loved spirograph too I have been trying to find one for my kids (at a decent price) for a long time now.

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    1. Oh, I forgot that I'd order them bu size sometimes, too! Ha Ha! I love that other people here get me!

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  3. I had aSpirograph growing up. I would have loved it accept my parents took the pins so I would not stick myself. It wasn't the same after that. I did however, love my barbie dolls. I too kept them in perfect order. I would line them up on my top bunkbed, Each doll had her own wardrobe (I would make their wardrobes out of empty shoe boxes). Those were wonderful days. My barbies were my everything.

    Thank you for bringing up childhood play. Lovely memories. :-)

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  4. Used to line up stuff a lot! My soft toys, my Lego, my books (the last in colour order, or height order, or alphabetical order of author's surname). I particularly loved books with any kind of map in - funny that you mentioned that! I particularly enjoyed putting things away (odd now, considering what I mess I live in), and I remember fitting my Meccano pieces back into their polystyrene box with great fondness. And the Lego I enjoyed building much more than playing with the thing I built. Putting things in order, just like you said.

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    1. Odd that most of the articles I've seen mention us not having as many repetitive behaviors, ie lining things up, spinning, rocking, ect... So far, all the ladies said they did as much here. Is it not as noticeable with dolls I wonder? My brother would do it with his trucks and books. His lines would sprawl the entire house, where mine was contained in smaller areas. My son would use a good portion of the house to line things up, too.He keeps his lines smaller now.

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  5. This brings back memories for me. I didn't have lego, but i do remember arranging my dolls tea party stuff very precisely - and then being rather put out when other little girls wanted to actually PLAY with them rather than simply admire the arrangement, as i did!
    I can also remember lining things up, but not what they were. I didn't have a lot of toys, or a lot of room to store them, but i do remember as a teenager being fussy about how my stuff went on my shelves, etc.
    Actually, i'm pretty much like that now!! Lol!

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    1. As a teen instead of toys, it was my nic-nacs and clothes. I would organize my closet by very strict guidelines. I'm still that way, too, but trying to learn flexibility! lol

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  6. I can't remember having obsessions, as a young girl, although I was particulary attached to a toy rabbit. I didn't line up my toys, according to size, colour, etc. I used to play out with other chldren, but I easily fell out with them.

    As for jigsaw puzzles, I found them frustrating. As for dolls, I would have much preferred an Action Man instead, but as I was a young girl in the 70s, I doubt my parents would have brough me an Action Man.

    I must be the odd Aspie out, as I can't remember categorising/organising things, other than my cassettes and if I bought one album by a particular artist, I would have to buy the follow up albums.

    Sometimes, I stayed indoors & my Mam used to get onto me, because I didn't want to play outside. Comapred to other Aspies, I am not 'anal' when it comes to organising my wardrobe, as I don't have one. My clothes are either stuffed in a wicker basket, in a heap on a chair, or in the airing cupboard. I do have a set of drawers downstairs, but the mantlepiece is cluttered, the top of my computer desk is cluttered, as is another desk.

    I have dirty pots/pans left on the kitchen units and I very rarely clean the cooker top. I sometimes wonder if I do have Asperger's, but having watched a programme about people, who are undateable, due to their disabilities, which featured a man with Aspergers, then I know I have the condition. The reason I know, is that man's flat was cluttered and untidy.

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    1. I didn't like puzzles much after I turned about 5, and I did like dolls, but I really, really loved action men, too. I actually made a follow up entry here http://inneraspie.blogspot.com/2012/04/reminiscing-childhood-play-as-girl-on.html talking about how much I loved Star Wars toys.

      I also only liked being outside until I was about 8 or so. Then, I didn't want to be so much anymore. I still vehemently dislike outdoor activities unless I can bring a book or laptop. Of course, I have a feeling that if I had had internet when I was a kid I'd have been on the computer for the bulk of my day when I was a kid.

      As far as cleanliness, some aspies are tidy, others aren't. I am, but have had times where I wasn't or that I fall behind due to executive functioning. It takes me forever to complete tasks and if I have a new interest, or get lost in an old one I can neglect housework.

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  7. I sucked at spirograph. I don't know why, but the pictures never turned out quite right. I'd slip or something.

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    1. You have to keep it perfectly still and even then they never looked like the box. lol

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  8. Wow I just found your blog and read this article and it made me laugh, nodding my head with tears in my eyes as most of it sounded like you were writing about my 7 yr old daughter..I actually took a photo of her playing with her Barbies the other day to show people what she does as she doesn't actually play with them but lines them all up in rows and constantly counts them.They must get dressed in a pattern as in a top then a bottom then a top etc..she gets herself dressed the same way. The kitchen play is the same as you discribe.Setting everything out in groups that are all colour co-ordinated and size co-ordinated.She wants real drink and real food as she doesnt get what pretending to eat something is..she says thats just stupid..lol..When she plays with Lego or K-Nex or anything like that she groups all the colours and differant shapes all together first and usually by the time she has done that she has no time left to actually build anything.
    This is all still quite astonishing to me as my daughter has ADHD and until we finally got help with her and she was put on medication she didnt actually stop and sit still long enough to play with anything..she would just tantrum all day long..now she has been medicated for the ADHD and isn't bouncing off the walls the Psychiatrist has diagnosed the Aspergers..Now I have found your blog I will be reading more of it as I want to help my daughter however I can to cope with life and I will read whatever I can to do this.
    Thank you for writing this.

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    1. Thank you for reading and commenting! I am always happy to hear from parents that are seeing the same things with their kids. In some funny way, it helps me to feel better about my AS. Even though I have a diagnosis, my mother still says I don't have AS and that everyone played with toys like that, or everyone did or does this or that. It is very validating to here from other parents and ladies on the spectrum who say "Me too!" or "I see that with my daughter too!"

      You can also find me on FB: http://www.facebook.com/InnerAspie

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