It's often said that people on the spectrum have limited imaginations. While this is not always the case for everyone, I'm living proof of it. For as long as I can remember, since I was little, I've never had much of an imagination.
I was often bored when I was little, seeking out my parents for entertainment. I TRIED to play pretend. I TRIED playing with toys. It just seemed that I could never come up with anything interesting enough to keep myself occupied. What's the point of pretending an inanimate object is something else if it's not the real thing?
The thing is, I always have loved and always will love toys. What draws me to them isn't the actual playing with them, but rather the neat features some of them have, as well as collecting them. Popples always fascinated me because of their ability to roll into a ball. It's the technical things that captivate me.
Then there's video games. Finally, something that seemed to open a whole world, always engaging, and something I loved! To this day, video games have always been a therapeutic release for me. They're calming. You don't need to have an imagination while playing them as there is a whole universe created just for you to explore. This is my alternative to pretending. Thank goodness for video games :)
Has anyone else had a similar experience growing up?
I don't think I ever thought of myself as lacking imagination as a kid, but I really relate to what you wrote! My mom got so tired of me complaining about boredom and asking her what to do. I was okay at pretend play if I had friends involved, and if it was something like role-play within a familiar framework (like a preferred cartoon). I also loved (still love) toys, but often I just liked holding them, moving their various parts, looking at them, organizing them, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd video games are awesome :-)
Thank you for your reply! It's good to know there are others out there who feel the way I do :)
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