Hanging on to our childhood likes

[FromEquestria2LA]

Hi, all. Not sure whether this is an autism thing or it's my generation (I am in my 30s, w/o being specific); but we tend to hold on to our childhoods longer than any other generation. I mean, I still like Garfield and Clifford the Big Red Dog; it could be because of myself, or how crappy the world is now that we still like what we like when we were kids.

Anyone want to say anything about this?

 

[velociraptor]

I still like the video games I played as a kid. A couple of animes. I think that's it. I'm not infatuated with the majority stuff from my childhood. I joke that I'm giving myself a do-over on my first childhood becase it, well, it sucked. So now I make sure I get the toys I like, but they tend to be grown-up toys. My handful of Aspie friends seem to be the same in terms of not holding onto their childhood.

 

[Luca]

I still like a lot of the same stuff I did when I was a kid. Even clothes lol

 

[Misery]

It's worth noting that perception of many such things has changed over the years.

Like, video games arent seen as things just for kids anymore (and indeed, there are quite a few games that young kids should DEFINITELY not be exposed to).

Same with like, animated shows. Back when I was a kid, animated series were always geared towards kids, but nowadays there are a LOT of them that are purely adult-oriented.

It's been interesting to see that shift in some things over time.

As for me personally, my interests never really changed much. I've *added* new interests, but I never really dropped any old ones. Not that I can remember anyway.

 

[AutistAcolyte]

some of my interests have certainly changed, like what kind of books i like, or what i collect, but i do have some things ive held onto. i have played the second generation pokémon games since i got a copy of gold when i was young (probably first grade?) and i love finding old games i used to play. right now i keep them on my "shelf of things i like"

video games from my youth that are on that shelf currently include tony hawks pro skater 2, ray man 2, champions of norrath, shadow of the colossus, katamari damacy, ōkami, star wars battlefront 2. i keep more plants and less rocks. i don't collect cds as much (i used to have a wall of discs, now i just own what i keep in my car), but because of streaming, i am still able listen to very eclectic music.

i still love anime, and i'm still very interested in religion.

 

[Fino]

I've noticed that in people around that age as well, including my siblings.

 

[LadyS]

I can relate. Still hang on to a lot of nostalgia baggage from childhood. I've wondered a lot about this too...

Just assuming by your age range, but some say the 90s was the last great decade. Times were simpler before introduction of world wide web. It was also a great decade for family-friendly entertainment and content imo. Kids were still allowed to be kids. With also a pretty decent economy. All very generalized, might not apply to everyone.

And ya maybe it also because things are just crappy and complicated now and we crave simpler times. Technology has great benefits but also seems to add more anxiety at the same time.

 

[Crossbreed]

Not sure whether this is an autism thing or it's my generation (I am in my 30s, w/o being specific); but we tend to hold on to our childhoods longer than any other generation.

I think that it is a little of both.
I still enjoy some toys without apology, but I can set them down when I need to.
Many in Gen-Z can not seem to.

 

[Progster]

I still have the same interests that I had as a kid, with the difference that instead of having that shed at the back of the garden, I have my room where I work and spend most of my time.

 

[Outdated]

My childhood wasn't a lot of fun, as soon as I turned 16 and started working my whole world changed in to something truly wonderful and I never looked back on much of my childhood with anything remotely like fondness.

I miss some of the old cartoons, they were banned because they were too violent yet now kids can play Halo instead.

Popeye. Roger Ramjet. The Black Knight. The Road Runner.

 

[Laughingowl1975]

My interests have mostly remained since childhood. I still love G1 Transformers and can name all of them (84 to 87 releases) by heart and their mottos as well.

 

[Raggamuffin]

Not so much childhood. I have a few video games from my teen years which I still play. Not into cartoons really these days. I do get stuck on various nostalgia loops for shows and games though. Repeating things a lot.

Ed

 

[SusanLR]

My interests haven't changed that much.
The three special interests I had as a child still remain. Music, rock collecting, animals.

The old arcade games that are hard to find now, when I was older.
The need to know. I still like studying things I find interesting.
And don't forget the very childhood plush toys. Still have some sitting around
and sleep with a few.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

/I have retained an abiding interest in Natural History; Taxonomy, Geology and Paleontology. In my lifetime Plate Tectonics, Punctuated Equilibrium, and Warm Blooded Dinosaurs, have revealed new ways of seeing our world. I found my first whole Trilobite, a Eldredgeops crassituberculata (formerly Phacops rana crassituberculata) at the age of 10 in the quarry at Sylvania, Ohio. I was hooked on imagining former worlds.

Now, I am obtaining trilobites from Morocco that I will be giving to an institution. The newest, below.

 

[Gerontius]

I think that a lot of people with the 1990s childhood probably have a shared nostalgia for not only the interests but also, predominantly, the last bit of a life perceived as more innocent and less chaotic. A lot has changed since the introduction of the modern Internet and the return of a polarization in the first and second world countries.

Makes watching Cartoon Network, wearing frosted tips, and listening to MCR on a Discman seem pretty innocent and cool by comparison.

 

[Metal316]

I first took apart some of my robot collection when around six years old.

They were pressed tin with no electronics, the Lost in Space Robbie and the ones where guns come out of the chest.

Now I have my workshop sorted (for the past 12 years or so) I fix up any mechanical/electrical toys and engines, pinball machines etc.

The items are enjoyed by visiting grandkids. The best thing for me is obtaining broken electronics/mech cheaply and getting it working.

 

[Metal316]

Fixing the orange Tomy pinball,it has reactive bumpers so is quite realistic.
It's about 16 inches in length.

 

[Metal316]

A much larger and more fun Tomy pinball fixed.

 

[weazelbeast]

I was gaming alot, more than healthy I suppose. It really urks me that as we grow were supposed to just forget and grow, grow into what exactly?....if we are not building on what was there as a child and society pushes that out for it's own ends, is that not accurate enough proof that we are merely consumer beings built to produce and little else.

It is beyond belief to me that we should have to ditch what makes us happy to progress towards a group mentality of what the majority like.

 

[Crossbreed]

It really urks me that as we grow were supposed to just forget and grow, grow into what exactly?....if we are not building on what was there as a child and society pushes that out for it's own ends, is that not accurate enough proof that we are merely consumer beings built to produce and little else.

It is beyond belief to me that we should have to ditch what makes us happy to progress towards a group mentality of what the majority like.

In NT development, there is a more radical metamorphosis in brain neurology in adulthood (away from childhood). It is not (directly) an expectation as much as it is the usual outcome.

Autistic & many, many gifted brains, OTOH, do not mature in an expected fashion. That is what is meant by a developmental disorder. It is like going through the age of adolescence and never experiencing the expected growth spurt.* ASD1s & gifteds just make peace with that extended childhood alongside those parts that do develop more typically.** We can even learn to rock that quality over time.

3Legged Race​

*Imagine looking at a 12yo boy or girl and finding out that they are really a 30yo man or woman, instead. I would certainly find that unsettling, at least at first.
**In some cases, even ahead of schedule. That is known as asynchronous development.