Autistic Special Interests

[SRSAutistic]

I have some questions on autistic special interests (SpIns). I was diagnosed with high-functioning Autism (HFA) at age 3. I had many special interests throughout my childhood and adolescence. Currently, my special interests are time zones, electric plugs and voltages, electronics, and plane-spotting. I want to know more about special interests so that I can manage them.

In this thread, I'm talking about our autistic special interests, not neurotypical (NT) interests.

Please reply on this thread.

1. Why do we autistics have intense interests?

2. Why do we autistics suddenly become fascinated on a random topic which becomes our special interest?

3. Why can’t we autistics choose our special interests?

4. Why do we want to know everything about our special interests and become experts on it?

5. What is the cause for our autistic special interests lasting a long time?

6. Why do we autistics infodump about our special interests for hours at a time with everyone we meet?

7. How do autistic special interests become careers?

 

[tree]

What does Splns mean?

Probably not suprapancreatic lymph nodes,
but what?

 

[SRSAutistic]

SpIns mean special interests.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

What does Splns mean?

Probably not suprapancreatic lymph nodes,
but what?

SpIns means Sp-ecial Interests for him, thats why the tittle explains it:

Special Interests (SpIns)

Now my answers:

1. Why do we autistics have intense interests?

I am not sure, but my guess is that most humans have intense interests. Children may have strange intense interests that go away with time to be naturally replaced with interests that make sense for the group. For example a child may have a strong interest in the clouds but in some years he may become more interested in football so he can share that interests with the group. The intensity of the futboll thing may be very strong, they may memorize hundreds of players, teams, invest money, etc.

2. Why do we suddenly become fixated on a random topic which becomes our special interest?

I am not sure, but my guess is that most of us never do the transition to adults in terms of changing our special interests to group interests. So the autists child who was interested in clouds would not change clouds for football so he can share that with the group. He would keep his interest in clouds instead.

3. Why do we want to know everything about our special interest and become experts on it?

Because its interest-ing to us.

4. What is the cause for our special interests being so intense and lasting a long time?

Not sure, just guessing. There are at least 2 factors here. One is the child brain thing, our brains dont mature in the way NT brains do (that was already told in number 2). The other is hyperfocus. It seems that the autistic brain can manage less imputs at the same time but in a deeper way than NT brains. So for example, a NT brain may be able to talk with you in the middle of a pub with hundreds of conversations being arround. His NT brain will filter all those other conversations to pay attention to you. At the same time may be listening the music, and being aware of some people who are passing by. On the other hand, when the NT brain try to concentrate in a single focus task it becomes less efficient. The difference between NT and ASD brains are explained in some books like "The autistic brain"

5. Why do we infodump about our special interests with everyone we meet?

Not sure, just guessing. We are said to lack theory of mind, what to NT means that we dont know what other people are feeling or thinking. That includes the "I am not interested in what you are talking about". I actually think that NT behave the same than we do. They are just all wired the same. So when they are interested in something (football) they will talk for hours about that, and when they are bored they know because all of them react with the same facial expressions to boredom, and lie in the same way, and show interest in the same way. On the other hand we are wired diferently each of us and when we try to behave with others in the same way we would like them to behave with us we fail. No two autits seem to be wired the same way.

6. How do our special interests become careers?

When we can provide other humans value based on those interests.

 

[tree]

Half of the title was easy to understand.

The first two words were easy.

It was the part in the parentheses that didn't make much sense to me
because the third letter looks like an 'l,' by which I mean the letter that
comes after 'k' and before 'm' in the alphabet.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

Half of the title was easy to understand.
View attachment 80054
The first two words were easy.

It was the part in the parentheses that didn't make much sense to me
because the third letter looks like an 'l,' by which I mean the letter that
comes after 'k' and before 'm' in the alphabet.

How interesting, the letter is exactly the same that the one at the begining of Interest:

Special Interests (SpIns)

What did not make sense to me whas using an ending "s" intead of the "t", like this: (SpInt)

So I thought: Maybe for him the plurality is more important than the next consonant so he choosed to use an "s" to remak the plurality of Interests than the "t" that comes after "In"...



You allways surprise me.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

My surmise is that as children we are fascinated with the world, then for most, an adolescence devoted to the social begins and those interests take over. That leaves us who then devote more brainpower to those interests.

I don't think that I really started socially maturing until my mid 20s when I probably had the social maturity of a 15 year old.

 

[SRSAutistic]

Half of the title was easy to understand.
View attachment 80054
The first two words were easy.

It was the part in the parentheses that didn't make much sense to me
because the third letter looks like an 'l,' by which I mean the letter that
comes after 'k' and before 'm' in the alphabet.

How interesting, the letter is exactly the same that the one at the begining of Interest:

Special Interests (SpIns)

What did not make sense to me whas using an ending "s" intead of the "t", like this: (SpInt)

So I thought: Maybe for him the plurality is more important than the next consonant so he choosed to use an "s" to remak the plurality of Interests than the "t" that comes after "In"...



You allways surprise me.

Hi @tree and @Atrapa Almas,

I put SpIns for Special Interests because many autistic people, including me, have more than one special interest.

Regards,

SRSAutistic

 

[Fino]

1-6: Because it's fun!
7: Depends on the special interest.

 

[Suzanne]

From what I gather, living amongst neurotyicals, is the difference is that for us, it is super imposed; or magnified, as one neurotyical told me, after talking with him and saying: well, we all can feel that way and then stopped and said: ah, but you feel it doubly or trebly so, eh?

An example. My husband is obsessed with eucylyptus trees. If I were, I would spend at least two weeks, being completely absorbed into them and every sentance would want to mention them. Whereas my husband is sort of casual. Yes, he will look them up and yes, our garden is full of them and yes, he does talk about them a lot; but there is just that lacking of autism spectrum element about the process.

 

[Aspychata]

I like info dumps. I want to see the situation in 3D. That's why l like solving problems, because l enjoy the research, the info dump. It served me well when l worked on the investigation end of working with my attorney boss and stopped a fraudent discrimination charge against our client. Information itself becomes a special interest, so we know everything about our subject possible. And we continually reassess our dump to stay focused. We seriously slay information then gleefully rattle off the facts to innocent NT bystanders who look at us like we are the invasion of body snatchers coming to take over. But then we also become great inventers, investigators, great teachers because of this need to accumulate facts.

I would like to think l am passionate, not some label of a ND who is considered obsessive. Yes, some of us seem better or less great at doing this.

 

[Thinx]

1-4
I never thought of my interests as random topics I must say. Maybe they do at times pop up after I discover some interesting facts. Isaac Newton was like that. I mean my interest in him, not him having that aspect too, but actually he definitely did have Special interests, he used to draw and make windmills and other moveable items, and conduct experiments to determine things like windspeed, etc. He gave them as toys to other children sometimes.

I came across his papers gathered by varied people especially someone at Cambridge in the 30s that are being put online wow brilliant! Newton gave many signs of being autistic. Also Henry Cavendish, and Einstein. It worked ok for them if they had some resources, though Newton's were modest. And Einsteins I think initially.

Anyhew, I think the combo of Newton's papers in original were fascinating to see and read, and the autism connection I perceived, and his brilliance yet humility, and his life story where his father died before he was born I think, and his mum left him with his grandma and married a vicar, had 3 children, the vicar dies, she returns with the babies etc, plus how he was at Cambridge during a plague outbreak that shut the country down and gets called the Great plague, in 1666 etc etc all captured my attention.

5 - 6
It's hard to stop going on about Newton now . Probably because I find him so relevant to a number of things that interest me and affect me. & as eyes glaze over, I start to feel concerned that I haven't conveyed how fascinating Isaac Newton is, and how relevant. But I know from my teaching, less is more. I do great handouts to sooth my craving to blah on.

My interest in self development and how I functioned as a person developed into a career, I guess over the years I tried out and learnt about so much, also training as a therapist, I just fell into some paid work that I progressed fast in.

I think I was more of a thinker than a lot of the counsellors I met or worked with, and that meant I pursued academic qualifications some didn't, and thought about how the processes of counselling and therapy worked, plus had experience of teaching and course management in care related trainings at a lower academic level, so I had what I needed when a relevant teaching and course management job came up. Thinking outside the box was always a useful skill throughout.

 

[SusanLR]

Applying the questions to my life, I can simplify it all down into two ideas.

1. Special interests started very early in life, like toddler size, and revolved mainly around
rocks and music.
The rocks and nature, plus music have remained throughout life.
Science, physics and metaphysics joined in later in life.
But, the development of interests that involve people and society never matured.
So music and the constant want to know about nature and sciences has remained for 65 years.

2. The info dump for me comes from thinking others will find my knowledge input on my special
interests interesting is false. But, it is so interesting to me I think they will find it interesting also,
only to see they are bored and say something or give that "shut up" look.
The character Dr. Spencer Reid on Criminal Minds TV series is a very good portrayed example of this.
What he thinks is interesting and helpful, others don't care for and don't want lengthy informative
explanations.

 

[TheGrimmRetails]

Please reply on this thread.

1. Why do we autistics have intense interests?

The world is like a game of chess, where the rules are always changing depending on who is playing. It drives me up the wall trying to figure out how I'm going to piss people off from one minute to the next, so when I find something I so thoroughly enjoy I tend to give it more of my attention every second I can.

That's why I barely remember the names of the majority of my husband's family but I still remember the names of every vampire from The Vampire Chronicles, every character in Downton Abbey, and every regeneration in Doctor Who.

2. Why do we autistics suddenly become fixated on a random topic which becomes our special interest?

Like I said before, I get tired of working directly with people, who are constantly changing their tune and expecting me to just magically be on the same page as them.

My special interests rarely change. They stay in one place long enough for me to figure them out and become an expert on them.

3. Why do we want to know everything about our special interest and become experts on it?

Because it interest us. Simple as that.

4. What is the cause for our autistic special interests being so intense and lasting a long time?

This really isn't a different question. You've asked this question four different ways.

5. Why do we autistics infodump about our special interests with everyone we meet?

Because we're expected to interact with people. Other people can talk at length about their favorite sports teams and who did what in this game, so why can't I?

6. Why do we autistics like to talk about our special interests for hours at a time?

You asked this question already.

7. How do autistics special interests become careers?

When I find out, I'll let you know.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

FOr # 7 My answer would be no, For me it was physics. not adept enough at mathematics to pursue it as a career. I have unusual visualization abilities, which seems to be the driving force for any special interests. IT,s hard to share an interest when the person your explaining it to cannot see what you see. All they are is astonished when they find it to be correct. not good grounds for a conversation, you quickly turn into a weird guy perceptive and weird.

 

[SpiltPaint]

I have some questions on autistic special interests (SpIns). I was diagnosed with high-functioning Autism (HFA) at age 3. I had many special interests throughout my childhood and adolescence. Currently, my special interests are time zones, electric plugs and voltages, and electronics. I want to know more about special interests so that I can manage them.

In this thread, I'm talking about our autistic special interests, not neurotypical (NT) interests.

Please reply on this thread.

1. Why do we autistics have intense interests?

2. Why do we autistics suddenly become fixated on a random topic which becomes our special interest?

3. Why do we want to know everything about our special interest and become experts on it?

4. What is the cause for our autistic special interests being so intense and lasting a long time?

5. Why do we autistics infodump about our special interests with everyone we meet?

6. Why do we autistics like to talk about our special interests for hours at a time?

7. How do autistics special interests become careers?

1) Not all autists do, however i feel its fair to say the majority of us do. To answer why we have them, I suspect its to satisfy the hyperfocus, for me personally if I'm at a point in the day where I have no task/chore or plan I feel I'm left without direction; my mind would wander, time would pass and I'd feel unfulfilled, almost guilty. Having the 'special interest' fills that void in my opinion.

2) Again, the hyperfocus, the insatiable appetite for knowledge. I feel I don't often give my focus to things I'm not interested in, but sometimes as I'm sure many will agree, something just catches your attention for long enough to start analysing and asking questions about it; maybe you google search and are satisfied with the resulting answer to the question asked and move on, but sometimes the answer you find doesn't satisfy you, and then you delve deeper.

3) I feel that's the nature of it, simply to 'know' is fulfilling, and if we become satisfied we often move on to find another topic, while some topics have so many questions that the interest never leaves us.

I'm a single father and raise my son whom also has ASD, and he has a fascination with the mechanics of the world; life, death, what happens, reproduction, space, dinosaurs, nature and the animal kingdom. His 'special interest' is most definitely dinosaurs, he can tell me easily 100+ different species of dinosaur, compartmentalise them by diet (herbivore, omnivore, carnivore, piscivore), then again by family branch (sauropods, ceratopsids, psterasaurs ect) and then be able to explain why each one is different by the aesthetic differences; for example number of horns, placement of things, if they had a crest ect. Essentially, the anatomy. He is 7 and now corrects me if I pronounce 'Quetzalcoatlus' wrong

4) feel I've answered this in the first 3, hyperfocus and fulfillment.

5) I feel its because we're looking for a response, not necessarily an answer but more of how they view something and if it differs to our own views.

I really don't speak much, I don't do chit chat and small talk, and unless its my son I generally don't speak unless spoken to and can even then be unresponsive if I feel what they said didn't require an answer. When I've tried to be talkative, I often find myself oversharing and found it's easier to just be mute alot of the time, and observe.

Then on the other hand, if I found myself in a conversation regarding something I'm interested in, I can easily as you say Infodump you with details about said interest; i feel because our 'interest' doesn't usually leave our mind, for me atleast. My interests are always at the front of mind when doing other things, even dreams are relative to the interests at times, that when it does get brought up it's like you have a Script of details ready to offload.

6) I feel as ive answered this one.

7) How does one turn an interest into a career? Now that's something I believe every person with ASD wants the answer to. Some people do manage to turn there interest into a career, I've been thinking about the same thing to and am currently looking at putting myself through university.

You may be an animal lover and simply working with animals at a farm or zoo fulfills you, maybe you have a pet related business. You may be into STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering,Maths) and apply your life to study. Others on said spectrum also are great at art, whether that be crafting something or painting, also singing and playing instruments.

I feel commitment, dedication and perseverance are the answer.

This is just my own understanding of it, but my understanding may not fit with others.

 

[clg114]

I agree with Fino on 1 to 6, it is fun! On #7, it is pure dumb luck. I spent 55+ years working with my special interest for a living. When I was 18, I joined the army (to avoid being drafted). This way I got to pick my M.O.S.(what I was going to do). I worked on tanks. When I got out, there were no jobs for tank mechanics. So I got a job at a Cat dealership and worked on equipment for over 55 years. The last 15 years, I worked for myself. I was a field tech, so almost always worked alone. Machines are my special interest. It was like being paid to play!I liked it so much, I worked until I was 73. I still spend a lot of time tinkering out in my shop.











3

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

How does one turn an interest into a career?

It is far easier when your interests are in technical fields. While poor in some maths, I found that I could understand uncertainty and took an interest in statistics, then augmented that with statistical design of experiments. The second half of my career revolved around applied statistics and it was both stimulating and rewarding.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

It is far easier when your interests are in technical fields. While poor in some maths, I found that I could understand uncertainty and took an interest in statistics, then augmented that with statistical design of experiments. The second half of my career revolved around applied statistics and it was both stimulating and rewarding.

I like you got into statistics for the same reason you did, had a knack for it become a major part of my career.
design of experiments not used much control charts, were my thing. I was good at determining what caused a failure.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Turning a special interest into a career, probably takes a combination of luck, considerable education, and does the career exist.