Obsessive Personality

as a non diagnosed child on the Autistic Spectrum I have always obsessed over various things. I have written about these obsessions at length on this blog. So, what was my main obsession as a child?

Reading would be at the heart of my childhood from the age of about 6 or so. As soon as I could read for myself I could escape from the real world and enter the world of fantasy or fact depending on my mood. I read different types of books for pleasure and information. The Ladybird history books were a much loved and much valued series that introduced me to famous people throughout the ages. They were almost all British, so people like Captain Scott, Horatio Nelson, Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale became heroes of mine. They were people who had led extraordinary lives and done things that had changed society or entire continents in their time. I learnt about them and was eager to tell people what I had learnt, usually until they told me to shut up!

Alongside these books I loved books fantasy and humour. The books that most satisfied this need were C S Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, the Target Dr Who books and Michael Bond’s Paddington books. I have very clear memories of buying some of these books at a lovely village bookshop in Felsted where I spent the summer with my grandparents. All the books were read and reread to the point where I was almost word perfect on them, or at least I knew every twist and turn of the story. I enjoyed the familiarity, perhaps because it made me feel safe. These books were old friends who I could turn to at any time and I knew that they would never let me down unlike people.

During those years I also loved television. Blue Peter would give me the factual information I craved. Screen Test and Top of the Form would give me the opportunity to test myself against the questions and the contestants. Doctor Who would introduce different monsters and challenges every few weeks and a year or so later I would be able to read about these monsters in the latest Target books. Programmes like Bagpuss and The Clangers would give me the safety of familiarity and the chance to escape to more innocent, simpler times. Everything I craved in books was there in the corner of my room and I ended up splitting much of my childhood between the two.