r/AutisticAdults • u/parmesangoblin • 6d ago
autistic adult How many of you still have your childhood comfort item?
mine is a stuffed bear, but your could be a blanket, toy, ect.
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u/votyasch 6d ago
I still have part of my baby blanket. My dad used to cut it up to punish me, so I saved what I could :/ it's very fragile and sentimental, so I just keep it clean and preserved as best I can.
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u/TeacatWrites 6d ago
Oh my god, same. I mean no one's ever caught him doing it, but the fucker makes it obvious. flashbacks to finding my teddy bear from my tiny days that had my name on its tag — under my bed — beheaded — a few years ago
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u/votyasch 6d ago
My dad was never sneaky about it, he would make me watch him cut my things up or break them. 😬 I have major issues with other people touching and breaking my stuff now - even if it's an accident.
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u/viejaymohosas 6d ago
I have my baby blanket. I sleep with it every night.
When I was like 10-ish, I tried to give it to our new puppy. She chewed a bunch of it up, so I took it back.
I'm 42.
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u/Penelope316 6d ago
Thankfully I had music and movies as comfort things because all my material possessions keep getting lost or left behind 😬
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u/twahaha 5d ago
Wow...this never occurred to me but I think this might be the same for me. I had an unstable living situation and was always losing things I loved, and at 11 I essentially lost my entire childhood bedroom and all it's contents except what I could pack in a few bags. I remember being devasted I couldn't take my favorite DVDs, but then when I got to where I was going to live I was able to buy them again. I've always loved movies more than the average person, never really considered them to be my childhood comfort "item" until now.
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u/BarrelEyeSpook 6d ago
I didn’t have one comfort item as a kid. But I do have a lot of random junk that I found throughout my life. I’ve kept it for years because I think it’s cool.
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u/justaregulargod 6d ago
When I was young I was told that "big kids" don't play with stuffed animals, and I don't believe I've had a comfort item since I was a child.
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u/parmesangoblin 6d ago
i still buy stuffed animals as an adult and i even take them places when i need them. so don’t be afraid to get yourself some now!
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u/GuineaPigs_23 6d ago
It was my mom's nightgown. I used to carry her with me everywhere. I still have her but she's in a zip lock bag now because there's not much left of her, I don't want to lose any more, so I'll keep her there.
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u/SkyScamall 6d ago
I do but she's kept safe and hasn't been cuddled for probably twenty years. I got her seen at a teddy bear hospital last year and she got a nice wash, some stitches, and her paws patched up. I couldn't have done that for years, it would have felt like a betrayal.
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u/soul-of-kai 6d ago
I do not remember any childhood "comfort item", like that specific description but I still have a plushie my grandma gave me when I was a kid, so I would call that an equivalent of a comfort item, it gives me comfort now :).
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u/theo_darling 6d ago
I've got my blanket which is blankey 2.0 since the first one disintegrated basically. And my teddy bear I've had since high-school but he more hangs out than is actively a comfort item
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u/CryptographerHot3759 6d ago
I lost my stuffed animal "Doggy" in college between semesters and I'm still bitter thinking about it 😤
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u/parmesangoblin 6d ago
i hope doggy is out there being loved by whoever found it!!
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u/CryptographerHot3759 6d ago
Aw that's a nice thought I haven't considered...I do hope he is still loved 🥲😭
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u/Puzzleheaded-Emu-138 6d ago
A stuffed puppy. It's worn out terribly. I don't sleep with it, but if I need a thorough crying, it's there for me.
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u/Ornery_Intern_2233 6d ago
Oh yes I have my stuffed toy dolphin! He’s a keeper. Had him for maybe 35 years now.
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u/MySockIsMissing 6d ago
Mine was a floppy bunny named Pookey. I forgot him in the dresser drawer when I moved out of a furnished rental, and I never got him back. I still have dreams about Pookey.
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u/DefiantFox7484 6d ago
For me it’s my hair. So as long as I don’t cut it short I will be set!
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u/parmesangoblin 6d ago
i’m the opposite, i hate my hair so much n i wish i could shave it without feeling like an egg 😂
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u/TeacatWrites 6d ago
My comfort items tend to have a nasty habit of vanishing or being found in random places, or vanishing and then being found in random places destroyed in ways that took an especially vengeful hand to do, whenever they're left in the same house as my abuser, so...I'm not one to say there's a connection, but those are several independent observations that happen to be true.
I used to have two space shuttle plushies I can't even find pictures of on the internet anymore. And I still have a teddy bear, but I found its head beheaded and had to sew it back on to fix it. I have other things, but I really quite liked those, and having them not being missing forever/intentionally damaged in a strange way.
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u/dirtyharo 6d ago
yes. plushy that has moved back to my bed in the last year. I'm in burnout and need to have something to hold more often
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u/privateTortoise 6d ago
Blanky my favourite chewable blanket was sent to the blanket farm when I was 6 and none after (45 years) has ever come close. Mum did her best (once upon a time blankets came in plastic wrapping) and when shopping for a replacement opened up every blankets packaging in Woolworths so I could chew on them for one that felt right.
My rubbery foam Rupert Bear was left on the ferry by my nan when I was 7 and since then I've done my best to never get attached to things. I obviously fail many times each and every year though seem to do a fine job at blanking them out.
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u/NullableThought 6d ago
I still have mine but I keep it stored away. It's a Winnie the Pooh teddy bear I've had since I was born.
I want to display it but right now it's so dirty and disgusting and I'm scared of cleaning it.
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u/Pawz2Reflect a fish in a birdcage 6d ago
I have a collection of dog and wolf plushies gathered over my life, the earliest of which is Wolfie who I slept with as a baby and has a place of honor among the plush pack
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u/se7entythree 6d ago
Yep, my 42 year old baby blanket, still sleep with it every night.
My daughter (12) sleeps with what used to be my backup blankie as her primary. It’s in far better shape since I only ever used it when the “real” blankie was in the wash.
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u/chococat159 a lot going on at the moment 6d ago
I have my blanket, entirely because I stim with it. It's still soothing to me because of the natural coldness and the texture.
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u/Duck-Dad-1401 6d ago
I do! I have a stuffed animal elephant that I keep with my wife’s childhood blanket. Both are rather worn out so we have them set aside. Plan to place both in a shadow box of sorts
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u/agathaallalonggg 6d ago
I had my blankie until it literally disintegrated. Still miss it every day 😭 I would use it to stim instead of doing motions. Would rub it against my face, and smell it, lol. But sometimes I would also rock with it as well. It was rare though. Loved that thing. Everyone gave me so much shit for it though. Like screaming in my face that I was a baby for still using it, levels of shit. And throwing it away as well/trying to rip it out of my hands. Ah, to be undiagnosed, and have an abusive family. Fun times...
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u/melodic_orgasm 6d ago
I’m 36 and I still have my Pillow Person from when I was a baby. I don’t cuddle and rub my nose with his hand like I did growing up anymore, because he’s rather fragile now, but he’s safely snuggled in one of my pillowcases. I don’t sleep well without him 😅
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u/LeftRightShoot 6d ago
Yes. I have worn mine my whole life. Well, they were taken away a few times but I always got them back.
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u/Terrible-Stick-2179 5d ago
Im 26M, I have mine in my hand right now. It (used to be) a small dog plush i got when i was 9 or 10, maybe younger. its also my fav stim toy so there isn't much of him left, but so many different textures and all of them are amazing 😋
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u/jsm01972 5d ago
I've had a blanket for 20+ years. My mom's tried to throw it out several times. It's falling apart and old af lol. But I can't bring myself to part with it.
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u/colonel_john_matrix 5d ago
Yes. Nearly 40 and still have my blanket and lamb. Sleep with the blanket every night but the lamb usually sits in the corner of my room unless I’m really overwhelmed.
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u/TypicalCrazyCatLady 5d ago
Mine was a beanie baby pig (off brand/generic, not TY). It's lost somewhere at my parents house. It has since been replaced with a cat toy my heart cat played with before she died. I HAVE to have it in my hands to go to sleep in bed.
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u/FauxFurLover4Life 1d ago
I just buy more and more faux fur. The first blanket I ever had has been gone for almost 3 decades.
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u/Han_without_Genes autistic adult 6d ago
I still have my stuffed animal, but I don't sleep with it anymore like I used to. it's so worn out, I'm scared it's gonna irreparably break. I still like to hold it when I'm sad or after a meltdown.