The Care and Feeding of your Aspie Uncategorized

Care and Feeding of Your Aspie: Part 44 – What’s with all this junk?

by feralucce

Before you read this piece, I KNOW that hoarding is not exclusively with Autism Spectrum Disorders or Asperger’s Syndrome… HOWEVER, Autistic Spectrum Disorders in general and Asperger’s Syndrome specifically are marked by obsessive tendencies and “Special Interests.”

This is a lie… we need all the things

Anyone that has had any hobbies knows that there is STUFF that goes along with it. Every hobby has certain accouterments associated with EVERY hobby. Painters need frames, easels, paints and brushes; Table Top Gamers have books, books, more books, dice and notes; console gamers have consoles, controllers, games and peripherals; make up artists have molding materials, casting materials, paints, glues and sculpting materials; bibliophiles have ALL the books. They all have their junk. The clutter associated with any one hobby can be a bit much.

We all have hobbies, so you understand. Now… imagine picking up a new hobby 3 or four times a year. Sometimes more often than that. You hear about something, or read about it and it seizes your imagination… Then you research. Then you do. You do… A LOT… and to do… you have to buy the gear and materials for this new hobby… all of it… Then you reach a passable skill level and are proud of your work… and then… AND THEN… a NEW special interest takes hold and you move on…

Why do we do that?

This is one endorphine

Well… It has to do with the release of endorphins, stimulus and diminishing returns. I discuss it in a lot more depth HERE.

Now… I have said it before, but it bears repeating… Most Aspies go from obsessive interest to obsessive interest… but some lucky few of us find interests that become life long SPECIAL INTERESTS! I am one of those lucky few… and I STILL have passing interests on top of everything. Since I am the only one I can speak about with any amount of certainty.

I have four major lifelong interests…

  • video games
  • remote control vehicles
  • action figures
  • film making/photography
  • Costuming
Video games require a lot of space… I have a gaming PC, a ps2, a ps 3, an X-box 360 and a 55 inch TV. I have 2-4 controllers for each of these, an ethernet switch, memory cards, cables, adapters, controller extensions, and hundreds of game disks. I WANT a gamecube, an original X-box and a dream cast. 
My action figures are (mostly video gamer oriented). I have a thing for Iron Man, so I have a few Iron Man Figures (Including a couple plushies). I have a lot of halo figures and vehicles, a Naughty Bear, some minions, some stuff from Gears of War, ALL THE SKYLANDERS, Nathan Drake and Cole McGrath. These are on shelves over my TV, and above the couch and a display case.
These are my Skylanders
I have an RC truck, two quadcopter drones, a small model hovercraft, a couple RC helicopters and a couple of Halo RC vehicles.
My costuming requires brushes, boxes of tools, card, warblo, paints, glues, scissors, leatherworking materials, dyes, card, casting supplies, make-up…
And my photography/film making has cameras, mics, tripods, lights, booms, a jib, a desktop computer, a laptop, Go Pro Cameras, gig bags for lights, a green screen, vest and steadicam… and LOTS of other little things…
It’s not junk… this is a Junk
Just think about all of this stuff… These are JUST my PERMANENT SPECIAL INTERESTS. So… expect your Aspie to have a lot of junk. These things are ALL necessary for our interests… We already feel weird about it… but we have no choice… this stimulus helps us feel… it helps us feel good… and we have no other choice. We have to do it… so admire it… revel in it… especially when we tell you about it. The fact that we are sharing this part of our life with you means that you are a very special person and we trust you. 
Images in this issue SHAMELESSLY stolen from the following sources:
SKYLANDERS IN MY LIVING ROOM
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