I love watching the same TV show over and over again, and I’m aware many autistic people watch the same show, or even a clip of the show repetitively. For example, I’ve watched Brooklyn 99 on Netflix at least 5 times (except the 5th season, which only recently came out on UK Netflix…).

The same is true for music. I’ve heard of autistic people who listen to the same song over and over again (which I’ve certainly done), but I tend to listen to a full album on repeat. I’ve listened to every album by the Arctic Monkeys many dozens of times.

I never understood why people think you would get bored of this. If you enjoy something, why would doing it again suddenly no longer be enjoyable? I think the reason for this is some non-autistic people get bored because they know what is coming next (correct me if I’m wrong here!) and find it dull to hear again. Like once they know how the story goes, it’s no longer interesting (side note, I love rereading books as well)?

It’s the opposite for me. Something I’ve heard/watched/read so many times I can predict what will happen is calming and reassuring, in a world of things you cannot predict (or work hard to attempt to predict using scripts).

I don’t feel exactly the same as when I heard/read/watched something the first time, but I still get the same enjoyment out of it, along with a sense of calmness because of how predictable it it.

Plus with music, it can turn into stimming because I can sing along with it or mouth the words. It’s just fun to watch something you like over and over, and it’s helpful when you’re stressed or tired.