[SQLVR]

Just wondering if its common for people on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum to have imaginary friends/ live in imaginary worlds? Just wondering...

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by SQLVR

Just wondering if its common for people on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum to have imaginary friends/ live in imaginary worlds? Just wondering...

here where I live and work it is common for those with autism to have and interact with their own internal worlds / imaginary worlds / imaginary and internal friends.

sometimes it takes alot of work to get an autistic to socialize and choose reality over isolation and their internal worlds. some good books on autism can be found on amazon.

one I just recently read but is an "oldie" is Noah by josh greenfield and another one is called 10 things every child with autism wishes you knew by Ellen Nortbohn.

[-jimi-]

I don't know how common it is actually. I never had any pretend friends as a kid, I didn't understand the concept.

But now I have two helpers, Heather the maid from the 1800s and the little black girl. Heather used to do a lot of things for me. She took over what I have a hard time with, housework. She was always very humble and kind, and I was like her master. It worked fine until she started getting really annoyed with me. I promised to do certain things to keep order and I didn't and she lost her patience. She never tells me nice things anymore. I guess that is why the little girl appeared. She does her work even if she doesn't have to, always scared of being scolded, I wouldn't scold her. She mainly cooks.

They are not voices in my head. They aren't part of dissociation. I really don't know what they are.

[Galymia]

Personally, my best friends are my stuffed animals and I'm 26. I give them names and personalities and I still play with them like I was a kid. I'm not ashamed of it. They make better friends than most real people I've met. I also like to play pretend games so the day doesn't seem so bleak and boring.

[Ackman12]

I named all of my bears according to the color they were. My most special friend was Yellow Bear. Green Bear was the second favorite. In '94 however, that's when the admiral and his good family showed up. To them (and me), it's 1908.

Yes, I do have imaginary friends, and I have always had them. I have never been able to make friends and socialize like others can, so I developed this as a coping mechanism for extreme isolation and loneliness, which is still how it is now. The imaginary friends seem real to me a lot of the time. I can have entire conversations with my imaginary companions.

I’ve also spent a considerable amount of time around venomous arthropods, which can be like my own world.

[-jimi-]

I have a lot of conversations with what people could have said, sort of. But that is not even close to the real deal for me. Also of course I have plush toys who "talk", who doesn't?

[bamapsych]

I've never been diagnosed, but sometimes I wonder if I'm on the autism spectrim. When I was a kid, I had 2 imaginary friends named Timble and Margerie. I'm 25 years old now and have a precious teddy bear that I've befriended. It's name is Little Me. I'm trying to give it all ofthe things that I didn't have as a child and still long for today (love, attention, protection, care, the list goes on)...

[Fuzzybear]

((((((((((((( hugs )))))))))))))

[hobbittmom]

Hi...I have imaginary friends and have had them since I was five. I call it "The Never Ending Hallway." It's a hallway of fictional people and they're my friends. I'm considered "high functioning" and do pretty well.
Hope this helps,
Hobbittmom

[UnhingedHick]

Originally Posted by SQLVR

Just wondering if its common for people on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum to have imaginary friends/ live in imaginary worlds? Just wondering...

i have a feeling we live in my own world, where we are john barormwan..
no joke

[UnhingedHick]

Originally Posted by Galymia

Personally, my best friends are my stuffed animals and I'm 26. I give them names and personalities and I still play with them like I was a kid. I'm not ashamed of it. They make better friends than most real people I've met. I also like to play pretend games so the day doesn't seem so bleak and boring.

ahhh wow and i thought i was the only adult who did this..

I also had some imaginary friends, but the friendships did not last long. My buddies were two boys and one girl, who each had a dog. We did everything together!

They were magical, because they eased my loneliness and I could relate to them. Now, I regularly talk to a "mystery object" called Junior. Weird Didgee!

[sarek]

I have always created many imaginary worlds in which I would play a part. While I would always do things that the real me never could, the roles I played were always still an extension of who I really am.

I have also created many imaginary relationships in my head. Throughout the years they have been quite similar, only differing in details. I would meet this girl whom no one else wanted but me and we would start a loving relationship which at some point would reach a point of crisis and a (temporary?) end.

The most frightening part of this is that this particular daydream actually materialised in the exact way I had seen it up to and including its ending a few weeks ago, which I hope and pray wont be forever.
I still have no clue what to make of that.

[Lost321]

Not sure if this is helpful or not but I have 4 children and my son with AS is the only one who ever had an imaginary friend. Wilbur was a huge part of his world for almost 3 years of his young childhood.