Aspies, at what age did you find your special interest?

[Maude]

We're getting ready to do an evaluation with my 6 1/2 son who we believe has Aspergers. One thing that I'm afraid will keep him from getting a diagnosis is the fact that he doesn't seem to have a special interest. He is obsessed with donuts, inserting the word "donut" into dialogue all the time (Example: He randomly tells people, "I love you. I'll buy you 100 donuts." or calls someone Mr. Donut, etc. Out of the blue). He's been sent to the office over it. But he seems to be trying to be funny (even though no one else is laughing), and he doesn't collect facts on donuts, so I don't think this could be a special interest. Am I wrong?

Do most kids with Aspergers have their special interest by this age? For those of you with AS or who have kids with AS, at what age did you (or they) find a special interest? Or is it even necessary for diagnosis to have a special interest? TIA.

 

[Ylva]

Sounds like a stereotype. I've had many intense interests over the years, starting as far as I can remember with the works of Roald Dahl (especially Mathilda) and also Norse mythology but that was mainly because there was a book about it in my daycare center; presently it is comics like Elfquest and the Golden Age comic The Phantom.

Let me tell you, I never collected facts about Mathilda. I just read the book a few times and thought about it a lot. Twenty years later I still don't hoard facts, I just read the stuff.

Alternatively, maybe your kid has some special interest that he just doesn't talk about that much. If for instance it is My Little Pony, he might have realised that it's not considered a "boy thing" and that he'd better not talk about it.

 

[On the Inside]

He might just really like donuts (I do) and like the sound of the word, and it's association with something pleasurable. I had words and phrases that I liked the sound of at that age, (still do this) but I wasn't very vocal, so they loop in my head. I did have a lot of repetitive play scenarios that I would enjoy by myself.

I also call them intense interests, because many of them are not that long lived, from a month or so to a year or two. I learn as much as I am able about something that I find useful or interesting, then I get my fill and something else comes along. I still retain an interest in the old things, just not as intensely.

 

[Judge]

From age five to seven I was totally absorbed into the original Matchbox Cars and little else.

 

[Progster]

If I recall correctly, the new DSM criteria state that you need to have either stereotyped/repetive behaviour, or special/obsessive interests for the diagnosis, and your son's repeating words would fall into the first category. I think that a lot of kids with ASD start of with stereotyped behaviours, and then more onto special interests as they develop, so he may develop special interests when he gets older.

As far as I can recall, at that age I had some sort of obsession with Sellotape, and before that I liked have the same story read to me again and again.

 

[Suzanne]

I was told that when I was a baby, I seemed to be obsessed with getting grandpas shoes and tying them all together with the shoe laces. ( I have no recollection, but strangely enough, can almost picture it in my mind, so perhaps I do, but just do not see myself doing it, but rather, the after effect, so to speak). Now I was a toddler when I did this and so, despite being a late developer, I could tie knots lol

I had a teddy bear that was blue and had a bell in one ear and it went EVERYWHERE with me. I ended up giving it to my youngest sister who was in foster care, to comfort her and never seen it since.

Even now, if I like a word, I will do anything to use that word and it is like it burns in my mouth to say it lol

I guess my special interest is colours. Everything has to match. So if I am wearing say and black skirt and red top, my shoes have to be red. I get so stressed out if I do not have the correct colour and naturally, this winds my husband up.

 

[Flinty]

Well, the interest I am known for didn't exist until I was 23...it happened at 24.

In more general terms, I got into games young. Young enough not to remember when it was.

 

[Kari Suttle]

We're getting ready to do an evaluation with my 6 1/2 son who we believe has Aspergers. One thing that I'm afraid will keep him from getting a diagnosis is the fact that he doesn't seem to have a special interest. He is obsessed with donuts, inserting the word "donut" into dialogue all the time (Example: He randomly tells people, "I love you. I'll buy you 100 donuts." or calls someone Mr. Donut, etc. Out of the blue). He's been sent to the office over it. But he seems to be trying to be funny (even though no one else is laughing), and he doesn't collect facts on donuts, so I don't think this could be a special interest. Am I wrong?

Do most kids with Aspergers have their special interest by this age? For those of you with AS or who have kids with AS, at what age did you (or they) find a special interest? Or is it even necessary for diagnosis to have a special interest? TIA.

No i do not believe it is necessary. I'm fairly sure obsessive behavior is, though. Some aspies grew up with one or two all encompassing special interests, and others like me would switch between them. As a preschooler i was obsessed with the Lion King, then it was Pokemon in elementary, then throughout the rest of school it switched between a particular band or anime, whatever i found that interested me at the time. Its all i would think about and i'd spend all my free time invested in it.

Like I said, i think its obsessive and/or repetitive behavior that is a requirement, not a special interest. You can look it up on the DSM-5 if you look it up online. He will be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder aka ASD (on the high functioning end of the spectrum) not Aspergers Syndrome (AS) because they took AS out of the DSM when they made the DSM-5. It was in the DSM-4 which was current until i believe last year, maybe the year before that.

To explain, the DSM is the manual with which psychologists evaluating your child will, well, evaluate him and decide if he meets the criteria specified in the DSM for ASD. ASD and AS were so close in likeness that they erased AS because it so closely resembles ASD and, being apart of the ASD spectrum in the DSM-4, caused confusion and a lack of...i guess continuity? It just didn't make sense when they called autism a spectrum and then had AS as a specific point on that spectrum with its own disorder.

Edit: I should clarify, I am not diagnosed but my parents are convinced I have it. SO i am merely self diagnosed not officially diagnosed.

 

[Bel]

At 6 I became a passionate zoologist and itchyologist! I studied daily, created illustrations, and wrote an encyclopaedia right up until 12. It was my life!

 

[Maude]

To explain, the DSM is the manual with which psychologists evaluating your child will, well, evaluate him and decide if he meets the criteria specified in the DSM for ASD. ASD and AS were so close in likeness that they erased AS because it so closely resembles ASD and, being apart of the ASD spectrum in the DSM-4, caused confusion and a lack of...i guess continuity? It just didn't make sense when they called autism a spectrum and then had AS as a specific point on that spectrum with its own disorder.

So AS still exists, but it's kind of melded into ASD as a whole? I think I remember reading that the difference between HFA and AS is that in AS, there is no speech delay. But since that term no longer exists, can you still be diagnosed with ASD if you had no speech delays? Because DS wasn't delayed.

 

[Kari Suttle]

So AS still exists, but it's kind of melded into ASD as a whole? I think I remember reading that the difference between HFA and AS is that in AS, there is no speech delay. But since that term no longer exists, can you still be diagnosed with ASD if you had no speech delays? Because DS wasn't delayed.

AS as a disorder that your son can be diagnosed with, no. To my understanding, if he is diagnosed it will be with high functioning autism. I only know what i've researched, though. But that's the general consensus i've heard on this forum as well. I don't know if speech and language delays - or the absence of - affect the diagnosis of high functioning autism.

 

[Pondering]

I was about 5 years old when i developed my first special interes. Then it changed again when I was about 13 and I still have that interest since that age.

 

[Cerulean]

My longest running special interest is maps, I'm not sure at what age that started but probably around the age of your son.

 

[umbrellabeach]

My current special interest is Disney cartoons, especially those of Mickey Mouse & friends. I started watching Disney movies at age 12 and then became obsessed with that particular set of characters at the age of 14, and then I discovered DuckTales and became a fan of the ducks at 16. This isn't my first special interest, though; I'm not sure when I got that.

 

[Spazmelda]

My son is 8 now, and has had many special interests so far (he is not diagnosed yet, I should add).

In hindsight I can see that he had the beginnings of special interests at a much younger age. I didn't realize it at the time, because his interests were typical of young kids. Looking back, I can see the intensity and focus was what was more unusual, rather than the actual interests. His first few were Thomas the Train and Toy Story. He'd line up the Thomas trains more than actually playing with them, same with the toy story figures. I don't know if this would be a special interest, but it was associated with his interests at the time... He had a need or obsession, almost, with packaging toys back up in the boxes and plasic they came in. They had to be in there perfectly and it would cause lots of frustration if he couldn't get it right. It got to where we'd sneak packages away before he could attempt packing because it was so frustrating (for everyone).

His interests since getting older tend to change over time. They seem to last about a year at least. We've been through Pokemon, presidential coins (only presidents with beards), collecting small condiment packets, and a few more. Currently he is focused on sharks and kittens, and collects lots of information. He has a notebook that I made for him that he has filled with shark facts, charts, and drawings. His kitten thing seems more similar to your son's donut thing. My son talks about cats a lot and has a couple of phrases he says all the time about cats ("kittens are precious" "I love cats" "do you think cats are adorable?" and meowing). Though he does collect some information about cat breeds, wild cats, and cat evolution.

 

[Ylva]

I watched Kill Bill recently. Loved it when Darryl Hannah's character said: "I love the word 'gargantuan'. It's so rare you get to use it in a sentence." Hannah could have put that in herself.

 

[SameStars]

I've had many strong interests, but the only one I consider special was when I was 12. It was a book, which I compulsively reread for over three years, which adaptions I would watch and compare. The thing was in English, so it was a great stepping stone in learning the language also.

 

[Harrison]

My first special interest happened around seven, I read a book by Freud and got hooked on psychotherapy which became my lifelong interest. At twelve I got medicine as a special interest when my aunt, who was a nurse, gave me a copy of Grey's Anatomy. This also became a lifelong interest.

 

[royinpink]

From age five to seven I was totally absorbed into the original Matchbox Cars and little else.

AHHH! I had that car! The one on the lower right! I am so excited I have not even finished reading after this. I just need to say THAT CAR YES.

 

[Cerulean]

My first special interest happened around seven, I read a book by Freud and got hooked on psychotherapy which became my lifelong interest. At twelve I got medicine as a special interest when my aunt, who was a nurse, gave me a copy of Grey's Anatomy. This also became a lifelong interest.

Ooh anatomy, yes. My interest in maps isn't just geographical, I love medical diagrams too. Anything that can be taken from it's 3D real life form and shrunk down to a system of lines and names has great appeal to me.