I Watch The Same Tracks Over And Over, and I'm Not Ashamed Of It (Autism Self-Regulation)

10/6/2025
Omari

I love watching dreamworks movies and animated movies in general. Such as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Especially fight scenes between Death and Puss.

I loop them 30 to 50 times until my I feel regulated again. (Since I've been in autistic burnout and watching familar and engaging clips has helped me a lot)

Why I Prefer Familar Clips/Movies Than New Ones

I find them familiar, predictable, and very engaging. I enjoy dynamic scenes a lot. Especially in movies

Knowing exactly what to expect next, especially from a visual standpoint is very calming to me as well.

What makes it restful for me: (In my opinion)

The visual scenes, music, upcoming dialogue. I don't have to think about what may come next—nothing could be loud or startling. It's something I'm completely familiar with.

My brain can rest because nothing is surprising.

The Judgment

My family often judges my habit of doing this a lot. (Even though I don't take it personally or mind it all that much)

I know it's regulating for me and I know that it helps me feel better, so I feel very confident continuing my behavior.

Sometimes it's clearly joking: "Wow, you seem to enjoy that movie a lot."

Most of the time with family members, it's met with weird looks and harsh criticism.

All for basically stimming—repetitive behaviors that help me regulate my nervous system. For me, watching the same clips is stimming. Self-regulation without the stress to "perform" or to appear "normal" to others. Just enjoying what I want to enjoy!

The Other Thing I Do

Lying in bed in silence for an hour. (I do this on very low-energy days, like after warehouse work. I prefer no stimulation during that time. No bright screens. No texting friends. Just calm, peaceful, and predictable.)

My following day costs more energy. Loud noises at work—alarms, people talking—are way more exhausting and intense, despite expecting them and experiencing them every day.

Skipping rest compounds. One bad day becomes two.

Self-Regulation such as watching the same clips is probably why despite still very much being in burnout, I'm not into it as deep as I was a year or two ago, so I'm fully content on continuing my behavior regardless of what anyone things.

The Advice That Doesn't Work

"Maybe get in touch with a friend?" "Take a walk outside." "It'll go away eventually."

These all come up with the assumption that my burnout state = depression.

I tell them that it's not the same thing, and watching the same clips is something I do all the time and makes me happy, but they don't seem to fully understand it. I still don't take it personally despite this clear gap, it's still hard for me to explain why it does, but I know it does, so I keep doing it!

Plus, their advice adds MORE stimulation when I need LESS. Not all "more stimulation" is bad (Since movies especially animated ones are clearly are) if it's unexpected, draining, or no way to essentially tap out of it, it clearly becomes a problem.

Why This Actually Works

I built Spoons, an autism energy tracker to track how special interests or stimming in general impacts my mood and energy (The latter, especially). I wasn't doing it before, likely because I know and feel the impacts of watching the same content I enjoy and not have any expetations to performs helps gives me a modest boost in energy, but still tracking the impact of it (Such as my energy moving to a 4 to a temporary 6) is still good to know that my energy is improving and not getting worse in that moment.

Launching April 2026. getspoons.app - One email when it's ready. No spam.

— Omari

Note: I'm sharing my personal experience as an autistic adult, not medical advice. If you're experiencing severe burnout or crisis, please consult a healthcare provider familiar with autism.

‍