What about Rain Man and routine?
“So are you Rain Man or something?”
I get this kind of comment a lot. My former father-in-law used to joke he wanted to take me to Vegas sometimes. In reality, I do happen to be very good with numbers. My boss at work when needing to get some mathematical totals together will just ask me instead of using a calculator. I tell people if they pull one out in my presence, it’s an insult, unless they’re demonstrating I’m right.
The thing with Rain Man is he seems to live in his own world oblivious to what else is going on. He walks in on his brother having sex not even realizing what is happening. Rain Man is not at all capable of functioning on his own in the end world.
If there is one area that I can definitely relate to Rain Man in, it’s routine. I am not as extreme as he is. Rain Man and his brother have to interrupt another family of strangers just so that Rain Man can watch Judge Wapner on The People’s Court.
Routine is a way of providing order to life and I live by a strong routine. There’s nothing unusual about having a similar bedtime and having the alarm go off at the same time. What is unusual is that when I am on my work days, you can expect the same schedule. I have a snack at 10, noon, and 2. I will be going to the rest room at 11:30 and again at 3:30. On the way the second time, I will stop at the cafe in the seminary and get a tea. It will be a large with three Splendas and honey and they will tell me what kind they chose when I get back. I have a water bottle with me and I put a flavor enhancer in it and start drinking at 1:30. I absolutely do not leave until it is time at 5. I start closing routines at 4:55.
Sometimes, due to when the mailman arrives or other circumstances, there can be minor variations, but overall, this is how everyday goes for me there. I get home and call my folks on my Echo first. At 7, I get a shower in and then when I’m out, I watch an episode of a TV show on the Echo while I play Animal Crossing on the Switch. Two hours before bed I shut things down and get on my computer for some work, including schoolwork. An hour before I go to bed, I get ready with brushing teeth and emptying Shiro’s litter box. I play a word game on my tablet until around 10 minutes before the hour while listening to an audio book. When the lights go out, I normally spend a little bit of extra time looking up something online on my tablet and then go to sleep.
Friday night, I am asked by a student if I can give them a lift to the airport. They say they want to leave at 5:30. I don’t want to let them down, but wait. I need to wash my towels that day which I had planned before I got this. He is negotiable with the time so I eventually get him to push it back a little bit so I can get the towels in the dryer before I head out. That way, I can still get my shower in at the same time.
That might sound bizarre to you, but in my world, having a switch in my routine leaves me just anxious. If I know in advance something is coming, that’s not really a problem. I can work with it. If I do not know that, that can be a struggle.
That being said, I do not become catatonic in at least any external way. I have had years of experience hiding some reactions to things people say or do. Keep in mind in all of this, I am saying the way I relate as someone on the spectrum to someone like Rain Man. I know others are different. This is again the danger with Hollywood. Not everyone is alike.
Also in fairness to Rain Man, I can also be incredibly naive to what people are saying and doing at times. This is definitely a concern when it comes to women as if someone was flirting with me, I do not think I could tell. Your average neurotypical men struggles with this. How much more someone who is neurodivergent?
That being said, while I have only seen Rain Man once, it is a film worth seeing. Watch it, but remember it doesn’t describe everyone on the spectrum. Because someone doesn’t act identical to Rain Man doesn’t mean they’re not on the spectrum.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)
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