Autism and our Special Interests

Being autistic (Aspie) has many unique characteristic. One of these is having special interests. 

What are our Special Interests?

A special interests for autistics (Aspies) is spending a massive amount of time learning about one specific area or topic that we are passionate about. Where non autistics (neuro typicals) also do this, in general, they get bored very quickly and tend to go onto the next area of interest. For autistic individuals, like us, we can spend many hours every single day for many months, or even years, learning about one specific interest. It becomes part of our life and even our identity.

A special interest can be mistaken as a hobby. But a hobby doesn’t hit the mark, in relation to the length of time and dedication spent on each interest. It is much closer to an obsession but, for most of us, it doesn’t completely take over our lives. Plus an obsession implies something that is very negative whereas our interests provide us with a great deal of positives.

We can become so knowledgeable about our interest that we could easily be an expert in our given topics and will know a vast deal of factual information in relation to it.

For us it tends to be a joy rather than a burden; if it is an interest that we genuinely do want to learn about. It gives us focus and helps to alleviate our boredom.

Special Interests in Childhood

Special interests tend to appear from a young age. There is no real limitation on area either. Some people think of the stereotypical train spotter or Star Wars fan, but it can literally be anything. Even areas that can be seen as more mainstream such as football and the latest computer games.

It can come out of nowhere. Maybe a ride at a theme park that gets us interested in rollercoasters. Flags in a book we read at school. Football we watch on TV. Or a specific computer game we receive as a Christmas present. If it captures our imagination, and if there is a lot we can learn about it, then we dive in and find out all there is to know.

In our earlier years we tend to receive praise and encouragement from our trusted adults around us and this positivity encourages us to learn even more.

Using our Ability to have Special Interests to our Benefit

Many special interests have links to education. Learning about an interest in depth requires a great deal of skill, time, effort and determination. In modern times we can acquire a vast amount of this information from watching YouTube videos but many of us still get this information through text based media such as books and websites. Improving our reading and research capabilities. A good proportion of us create art work around our special interests such as drawing, which improves our creativity. It can also improve our <communication> skills in many ways, as we have an area that we can talk about for a great deal of time. Being careful not to overdo it though.

As we progress through childhood the expectations placed on us increases. This can often mean our special interest changes to align with our future goals. It can often lead to a school subject becoming our special interest and we will excel in this area. Common but not exhaustive examples include Maths, English or one of the sciences.

For the lucky few our special interest can turn into a very successful, enjoyable and prosperous career. But for others it is a passion that we can enjoy in our free time.

Even though I’m now middle aged, I’ve spent the past three years studying Maths and have just completed my A level. In a hope to get a career related to this subject that I have enjoyed my whole life.

Common Examples of Autistic Special Interests

There are an unlimited amount of special interests. Some last a lifetime whereas others may change as one special interest replaces another or we grow out of them.

A list of some of the more common special interests are below:

• Lego
• Coin collecting
• Stamps
• Martial Arts
• Football
• Films such as Science Fiction, classics include Star Wars and Star Trek
• Maps and Flags
• Music
• Learning about autism

Please comment below if you would like to share what your special interest is and the positives it’s provided to you in your life.