Couple quick questions to help me out

[Jdeisher]

hey everyone! I have just a few quick simple questions to clear my head. Ok here goes:

Is it common to switch between special interests often? Or kind of go through stages? Like cars and army men at 3 years old, space and weather at 5 and so on.

Is it common to have a special interest in a certain sport? Like you really love soccer so you play on the team but don’t socialize or you interact as little as possible with your peers.

Is it common to be into yourself? Like always looking in the mirror or something like that.

 

[Gritches]

Yes to all

 

[Mia]

Depends on your age with special interests, and for some they do change over time. Especially when young.

Then again, my special interests have changed over time, but only a few have remained consistent over the years.

Sports? I like cycling, it means I don't have to talk to anyone. You just speed by and wave. Not talking to others, seems pretty usual for some aspies.

Don't know about the mirror thing, maybe when I was younger.

 

[Jdeisher]

Yeah I played soccer when I was like 8 or 9, my mom said I tried to make friends but it didn’t work, and said I got bored after one season, and the mirror thing wasn’t like a conceited thing, I guess it was kind of a who am I maybe, I don’t really remember.

 

[Chance]

Some of my interests have changed since adulthood. Some have not at all.
Went from toy cars - to big boy cars. I love drag racing. I love fast cars.
(at a drag strip with massive ear protection, never street racing, thats stupid)
I have always loved Baseball, but Golf came after I was an adult.
So it obvious I like sports where its just on me, and not always communicating back and forth with others.
Baseball is cool because they use their own brand of sign language.
Architecture from the time I knew what it was. I love construction and building stuff.
Geometry, MAPS!!! I love all sorts of maps.
Studies of different cultures and beliefs, (religious comparison and more)
Soil Science is what I studied in college (which I flunked out of) and still use that today at my job.

I think things are going to change for most AS/ASD people - maybe not all. I cant speak for others.
I don't speak with others out in the real world much, and it sort of hits a sour note with people, but I'm really just that quiet. I dislike talking much because its a lot of "mind effort" sometimes... and I actually look at a situation to see if I want to give that much energy to it - most the time I don't. On here I mostly sound like a motor mouth... : )

Being into "yourself" - mine is living in my head basically.
I probably selfishly do this as a protection device mainly.

Not to worried about the mirror unless I am shaving or brushing teeth.

 

[Katleya]

I have a mild, but completely irrational fear of mirrors, so that's not something I can give you an unbiased answer on, however, yes to switching special interests, and yes to sports.

In my case, a number of special interests were just left behind after I had mastered the topic. There came a point where I knew pretty much everything that was available in the local libraries (yeah, I'm talking pre-Internet days, it would be much harder now to attain actual know-it-all status), and after that, there was nothing left to do, so I'd move on to something new.

As for sports, oh boy, mine was gymnastics, I was just living gymnastics, breathing gymnastics, training in gymnastics, watching gymnastics, and I thought my life was over if I missed the tiniest thing on the topic. The peak lasted for a good 13 years, and I still get a kick out of talking about gymnastics (how many more time can I type that word to get my point across? gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics)

I also went through a 3-month phase in my mid-twenties when out of the blue I became obsessed with the Eastern Conference of the NBA, and then it went as it had come. To this day, I still don't know why, but it did come handy a few times in the following 2 years. Oddly enough, one event wiped out most of the facts I still remembered: I had a work function where I had to handle the Knicks, but the morning after a game where they had been badly defeated. Trust me, the mood of that bunch of grumpy tall men killed any childlike Aspie enthusiasm that remained. I haven't watched a game since.

I also had a major special interest that I managed to find work in. Lasted a few years in different companies. One job ended particularly badly... can't say I'm too enthusiastic about that special interest now, which is probably a good thing, because prospects in that field are close to none, now, thanks old bosses)

I do have a couple of special interests that sometimes come to the front of the picture, sometimes move back a bit, but that I have never lost interest in, and probably never will. Maybe because I'm not as intense about them, therefore I don't exhaust myself or the resources available.

 

[Jdeisher]

I was into computers very young and video games came soon after! Those are things that I’m still interested in today! My first interest was cars and army men! After that it went into all different things! Legos, pogs, micro machines, power rangers was a huge one, soccer, musical instruments, Pokémon cards, the sims(game, just building the houses, not even playing the game), Star Wars, marvel super hero’s, and there are even more I cannot think of honestly, right now my interest is learning to code(still love computers!) and discovering that I am pretty sure I have ASD! So my newest interest is learning all about that!!!

 

[OkRad]

I have a mild, but completely irrational fear of mirrors, so that's not something I can give you an unbiased answer on, however, yes to switching special interests, and yes to sports.

In my case, a number of special interests were just left behind after I had mastered the topic. There came a point where I knew pretty much everything that was available in the local libraries (yeah, I'm talking pre-Internet days, it would be much harder now to attain actual know-it-all status), and after that, there was nothing left to do, so I'd move on to something new.

As for sports, oh boy, mine was gymnastics, I was just living gymnastics, breathing gymnastics, training in gymnastics, watching gymnastics, and I thought my life was over if I missed the tiniest thing on the topic. The peak lasted for a good 13 years, and I still get a kick out of talking about gymnastics (how many more time can I type that word to get my point across? gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics gymnastics)

I also went through a 3-month phase in my mid-twenties when out of the blue I became obsessed with the Eastern Conference of the NBA, and then it went as it had come. To this day, I still don't know why, but it did come handy a few times in the following 2 years. Oddly enough, one event wiped out most of the facts I still remembered: I had a work function where I had to handle the Knicks, but the morning after a game where they had been badly defeated. Trust me, the mood of that bunch of grumpy tall men killed any childlike Aspie enthusiasm that remained. I haven't watched a game since.

I also had a major special interest that I managed to find work in. Lasted a few years in different companies. One job ended particularly badly... can't say I'm too enthusiastic about that special interest now, which is probably a good thing, because prospects in that field are close to none, now, thanks old bosses)

I do have a couple of special interests that sometimes come to the front of the picture, sometimes move back a bit, but that I have never lost interest in, and probably never will. Maybe because I'm not as intense about them, therefore I don't exhaust myself or the resources available.

GYMNASTICS GYMNASTIC GYMNASTICS! Oh man, me too! Lived, breathed, dreamed about.....the feel of a new leotard, eh? That shiny feel, the way the chalk felt in your hands, that beam between your hands whilst doing a move, the bars, gliding you along, the springy floor, the vault boosting you on...............MAN! Come on over and let's do handstands!! Can you still do stuff from gymnastics? Where you on a team? Wow.......I will have to PM you

AND JD- to answer your questions....my Special interest remained. The only reason I had to stop was gymnastics because I had to quit, and it was horrifically difficult. I compensated by switching to similar activities......

But the other one, literature, has been a solid and overwhelming SI for decades. At first, I could not read because of the hyperactivity, so I began to walk and read. Walked thousands of miles, reading hundreds of books because I was so eager to learn. I felt very stupid as a kid because of the undiagnosed troubles which made it hard for me to learn like NTs, so the teachers just thought I was stupid.

As to mirrors, they are odd to me. I do not feel like I look at all, so I have trouble understanding that is me looking back. It's so strange. If I dress like an NT because of a certain occasion or for my YT page, it's even more confusing! So mirrors are odd to me.

 

[OrSomething]

Yep. I tend to cycle between interests. Like, I'll spend a couple weeks really into one, then move on to another one, then come back to the first one. And there's nothing that can't be a special interest.

 

[isthisreallife]

Same. I cycle through my interests, so really, my interests don't technically change. The mirror thing, I remember my parents had a standing one in their room that you could tilt. I would play with it for a long time, not looking at myself, but tilting it up and down to make the room behind me look like it was moving.
I LOVED playing sports when when I was a kid, still do, because I liked to mimic other sports athletes. Pretty much learned how to play them all by mimicking others. Also, I liked interacting with my peers, but it really was about playing, for me, more than anything else.

 

[Mia]

GYMNASTICS GYMNASTIC GYMNASTICS! Oh man, me too! Lived, breathed, dreamed about.....the feel of a new leotard, eh? That shiny feel, the way the chalk felt in your hands, that beam between your hands whilst doing a move, the bars, gliding you along, the springy floor, the vault boosting you on...............MAN! Come on over and let's do handstands!! Can you still do stuff from gymnastics? Where you on a team? Wow.......I will have to PM you

Same, and I was on a team, floor and balance beam were what I was crazy about. Another gymnastics aficionado. Used to spin around on the un- evens until my hands bled! Katelya and I have been discussing gymnastics by PM for a little while. Watch the back layout mount on this, I used to do it but it took two years to get it right:

 

[Katleya]

GYMNASTICS GYMNASTIC GYMNASTICS! Oh man, me too! Lived, breathed, dreamed about.....the feel of a new leotard, eh? That shiny feel, the way the chalk felt in your hands, that beam between your hands whilst doing a move, the bars, gliding you along, the springy floor, the vault boosting you on...............MAN! Come on over and let's do handstands!! Can you still do stuff from gymnastics? Where you on a team? Wow.......I will have to PM you

AND JD- to answer your questions....my Special interest remained. The only reason I had to stop was gymnastics because I had to quit, and it was horrifically difficult. I compensated by switching to similar activities......

But the other one, literature, has been a solid and overwhelming SI for decades. At first, I could not read because of the hyperactivity, so I began to walk and read. Walked thousands of miles, reading hundreds of books because I was so eager to learn. I felt very stupid as a kid because of the undiagnosed troubles which made it hard for me to learn like NTs, so the teachers just thought I was stupid.

As to mirrors, they are odd to me. I do not feel like I look at all, so I have trouble understanding that is me looking back. It's so strange. If I dress like an NT because of a certain occasion or for my YT page, it's even more confusing! So mirrors are odd to me.

Same, and I was on a team, floor and balance beam were what I was crazy about. Another gymnastics aficionado. Used to spin around on the un- evens until my hands bled! Katelya and I have been discussing gymnastics by PM for a little while. Watch the back layout mount on this, I used to do it but it took two years to get it right:

Secretely hoping for the other Aspie gymnasts to come out of hiding so that we can start a team...

 

[Mia]

Secretely hoping for the other Aspie gymnasts to come out of hiding so that we can start a team...

Too tall, began hitting my feet on the unevens Think I also liked it because it was a lone sport, close to dance and tumbling. Even watching that vid makes me so excited. Phew...

 

[OkRad]

Same, and I was on a team, floor and balance beam were what I was crazy about. Another gymnastics aficionado. Used to spin around on the un- evens until my hands bled! Katelya and I have been discussing gymnastics by PM for a little while. Watch the back layout mount on this, I used to do it but it took two years to get it right:

WOW! These are great. I still love the full on beam. The standing full tuck is wowzer. I don't mind if it is standing or from a roundoff, fulls on beam make me giddy.

 

[Fitzo]

I always have and still do look in the mirror a lot, but I don't think it has anything to do with vanity. More like what will others see when they look at me or am I projecting the image I want them to see? I don't do it when I'm home on my own, only when going out or someone coming over.
My interests do come and go, although they may be a spinoff from an existing one. For example I went from stained glass to mosaics or crosswords to online Scrabble games.

 

[Mia]

I still love the full on beam.

Oh how I loved doing fulls, never fell, only with the korbut dismount. Could do the Y too, but was terrible at tucking on dismount for some reason I could never figure out.

 

[OkRad]

Oh how I loved doing fulls, never fell, only with the korbut dismount. Could do the Y too, but was terrible at tucking on dismount for some reason I could never figure out.

I love the Korbut dismount. That must have been so fun. I never did it. It's a gainer full, correct? I could do gainers but not as a dismount. So you did the gainer full as a dismount (AKA Korbut)? Is that correct? If so, very awesome!

 

[Mia]

It's a gainer full, correct? I could do gainers but not as a dismount.

No I'm wrong OK Rad, I couldn't possibly have done that dismount, it's much too difficult, the more I look at it.

The Korbut was done for the first time at the 77' Olympics. Years after I did gymnastics. I did do something on dismount that seemed similar, holding on to the end of the beam with my hands and doing a V with my legs, but it wasn't a gainer.

 

[Mia]

and the mirror thing wasn’t like a conceited thing, I guess it was kind of a who am I maybe, I don’t really remember.

Recall looking at my face in a mirror to see how I felt, and what my face looked like at the time, so I could attempt to understand what my reaction was to something. That might show on my face.

Oh and sorry Jdeisher for derailing your thread, with gymnastics, it gets so exciting when you discover others with the exact same interest, that I tend to forget the point of the thread. It happens here sometimes.

 

[Rasendra]

My interests do come and go, although they may be a spinoff from an existing one. For example I went from stained glass to mosaics or crosswords to online Scrabble games.

Mine can be like this also, for example I love puzzles, jigsaw, word puzzles, etc but generally only focus on one kind at a time and rotate through them.

Most interests I don't think I lost either, some just became less obsessive while I focus on another maybe. When I was little the biggest were legos, reading, star wars, pokemon, Harry Potter universe slytherin and super heroes growing up which has continued into an adult, just branching out into other similar things also like Firefly or Dr Who as other sci fi interests to the star wars. While I don't play with legos much anymore I did go through a phase a year or so back where I got a lot of the mini legos and was building all of them. Reading though has always been there and pretty much the same genre. Though I love to read lots of stuff my favorites are fantasy or sci fi.

Another one that continued alongside the above would be the 'worlds' going on in my head. The stories or scenarios I created. Sometimes based on reality or a current special interest (like star wars) or a story I created completely original.

As for looking in the mirrors a lot. Actually I don't look in them much at all. In fact I have to remind myself to look in the mirror before going out lol.