Do all with AS have an obsession or specific interest?

[MumToA&D]

A is 5 years old and diagnosed with AS, no specific interest or obsession is obvious to me at present. Do all with AS have an obsession or specific interest? What age did you develop it?

 

[Arashi222]

I am 30yrs old and I wasn't diagnosed until a couple of years ago. But My mom says that around your daughters age I was obsessed with Carebears anything and everything about them. I had to watch it Have as many toys as I could get my hands on. Then it moved to Rainbow Brite and from there the list is endless. It may just not be obvious right now because she's so young.

I hope we can be of help to you. You're in the right place.

 

[2010Dolby]

I doubt all Aspies do but Im sure that a huge majority do. Mine became obvious around 7 years old (dinosaurs) then at 12 it was sharks, at 15 it was cars and engines, and currently (Im 19 years old) I have an odd obsession with destruction.

One of my "background" interests has always been carpentry and construction, so Im really lucky that I can turn that into a career. When your daughter gets about 14 years old you should try to notice of theres any interests she has that can be practical in the workforce. When I was diagnosed as an Aspie my therapist said that Aspies who work with their obsessions dominate the field.

 

[Kelly]

Probably not all no, I didn't think I had a special interest or obsession from the way it's usually described it's something you obsessively do and have done for a long time(since childhood). Wheras my obssessions come and go but are intense at the time (some last for a few days, some a few weeks, my longest since adulthood is my interest in fish which lasted for 4 years).

My daughter is the same, at the moment she is obsessed with monster high, she HAS to have all the toys, she likes to play the game, watch the episodes online etc but it's not 24/7. She will watch the same dvd over and over again, in varying intenseness( is that a word?) so a few months back she would watch harry potter 2 all day every day for a couple of weeks, wheras right now she's stuck on the film enchanted but she only watches it at night in bed before she goes to sleep, she's done that for the past 5 days.

 

[King_Oni]

I don't know if it helps, but I generally have interests come and go in waves. I stick to them, just not that intense in general.

Yet, some tend to go away over time. As a kid I was interested in cars (and a lot went into the entire design and drawing cars).. now I don't like cars, but I still like good designs and art. I always liked creating things, ranging from lego as a kid, to modeling as a teen, to doing digital art now. And then there's hobby's I have now, I used ot have, they got away a bit, then got into them, got other interests, got back into my old hobbies.

I don't think it neccesary for them to develop that, however... I think one thing might be said about exposure. Some kids (or people in general) might have an interest in things they don't really think about as "obsession" until they actual are confronted with it. I thought that I usually found the sweet spot for some things over time (and some times I just didn't connect with at all).

But at what age? I believe at age 3 I already heavily into cars, distinguishing brands and types from each other. While other things kicked in later.

I'm not saying you should expose him to everything, but ask her what he likes, perhaps there'll be this unique perspective that makes him go all wild over thing X.

 

[balder]

Just like King_Oni most of my interest come and go over the time. Some of them are more strong and make me ignore everything else around me. When I was on elementary school, I loved Astronomy, but I guess the first really strong obsession that's still with me came from Role-Playing Games, when I was about 12. That made me obsessed for not only those rules, but for Medieval Fantasy in general and Mythology. I copied by hand an entire game manual just to be sure I wouldn't forget any rule when thinking of a campaign scenario. That led me to study by myself European Medieval and Ancient History. Since then, some related obsessions came and went away (sometimes reappearing), like Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt, Tolkien's writings, Antropology, Cartography, origin of languages etc.

 

[total-recoil]

I've had special interests that did just fade but once I get my teeth into an interest that seems to stick, then it can last for years. What I find now is my special interest can sort of ramify into sub-special interests. Like a chain reaction as one special interest connects to another.
What I also find is the big deciding facor is if the special interest really presents a challenge. The harder it is, the more I get obsessed because I want to crack the challenge.
If the following makes any sense I'll try and explain: I have a special interest in engines and electrical which led me into electronics. I needed electronics to understand how alternators work, battery banks, A.C. supply systems and so on. Somehow as I read up more on electronics I'm now gone off a bit into radio electronics. In my mind, I can somehow figure that the more you widen your special interest, the more it all tends to relate and tie in. So, what I pick up from studying radio electronics definitely helps me understand how magnetic fields work with, say, a D.C. motor or alternator.
I've now accumulated dozens of books from libraries and if I ever get late renewing them, the fine can be awesome as I have so many.
I'm a big fan of a guy called Arthur Jones who taught science applied to exercise and one thing he used to say I believe is totally right. So much knowledge he pointed out overlaps. One subject can help you understand far better another particular subject. I find I keep picking things up in one book on one subject that can explain something I don't quite understand related to another subject and so on.
By the way, some of my friends find this special interest thing beyond a joke. One of them told me she suspects I look wacked out all the time due to hours spent wading through this material.

I don't know if it helps, but I generally have interests come and go in waves. I stick to them, just not that intense in general.

Yet, some tend to go away over time. As a kid I was interested in cars (and a lot went into the entire design and drawing cars).. now I don't like cars, but I still like good designs and art. I always liked creating things, ranging from lego as a kid, to modeling as a teen, to doing digital art now. And then there's hobby's I have now, I used ot have, they got away a bit, then got into them, got other interests, got back into my old hobbies.

I don't think it neccesary for them to develop that, however... I think one thing might be said about exposure. Some kids (or people in general) might have an interest in things they don't really think about as "obsession" until they actual are confronted with it. I thought that I usually found the sweet spot for some things over time (and some times I just didn't connect with at all).

But at what age? I believe at age 3 I already heavily into cars, distinguishing brands and types from each other. While other things kicked in later.

I'm not saying you should expose him to everything, but ask her what he likes, perhaps there'll be this unique perspective that makes him go all wild over thing X.

 

[total-recoil]

I was into the Roman Empire too. And the Greeks.

Just like King_Oni most of my interest come and go over the time. Some of them are more strong and make me ignore everything else around me. When I was on elementary school, I loved Astronomy, but I guess the first really strong obsession that's still with me came from Role-Playing Games, when I was about 12. That made me obsessed for not only those rules, but for Medieval Fantasy in general and Mythology. I copied by hand an entire game manual just to be sure I wouldn't forget any rule when thinking of a campaign scenario. That led me to study by myself European Medieval and Ancient History. Since then, some related obsessions came and went away (sometimes reappearing), like Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt, Tolkien's writings, Antropology, Cartography, origin of languages etc.

 

[balder]

I was into the Roman Empire too. And the Greeks.

My interest for Greeks History has never been as strong as for their Mythology.

 

[cher1]

Hi, just found this site. I am positive my 15 yr old son has AS but I haven't tried to get a diag. yet. He was always into dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures and still is. He is also very interested in the presidents and space.
If you ask him a number of president ie: who was the 10th pres. he can tell you instantly. Also their birth/death and what years they were president.

 

[total-recoil]

You can get a rough idea by having him do an online AQ test. It's not a diagnosis but is a first step to detecting the basics of the condition.
Wired 9.12: Take The AQ Test

Hi, just found this site. I am positive my 15 yr old son has AS but I haven't tried to get a diag. yet. He was always into dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures and still is. He is also very interested in the presidents and space.
If you ask him a number of president ie: who was the 10th pres. he can tell you instantly. Also their birth/death and what years they were president.

 

[westrain]

Trains and railways have lots of book on the subject. Spend hours on the Train Simulator Trainz2006.

 

[cher1]

Thank you total-recoil. I may do that, although he currently has no idea of my suspicions. I haven't been able to decide if I should share with him that we feel he may have AS. I wasn't sure if it would be a good thing or make him feel badly about himself. :/