I hear a lot about "specil interests". Do we have a definition?
People talk about how much they enjoy their "special interest". I have never really been that person. I always bring the ASD difficulties into my interests.
How are people able to engage in something without having all the ASD issues?
I think the definition is different for everyone, but for me, a special interest is somewhere between a hobby and an obsession. It involves some degree of intrusive thoughts, as well. I will usually take "deep dives" into certain topics or activities, learning all I can about it, sometimes spending a lot of money on it,...then, some months to years later, I am on to something else.
At least for me, a special interest actually takes my attention
away from my ASD sensory issues. However, the only exception would be when I am doing ASD research,...one of my current special interests,...then, I tend to focus upon myself as it relates to the research I am doing.
The ASD "experience",...at least for me,...will become worse if I am focusing upon it and/or my brain becomes exhausted. In which case, I really am not in a mood to enjoy my special interests,...I just want to take some meds and try to sleep it off.
Diet, exercise, sleep, and certain supplements help me control the cerebral edema, blood pressure, the anxiety and stress. Minimizing carb and caffeine intake, lots of water, avoiding salty foods, is a start. A good, broad-spectrum probiotic (gut-brain axis), 200-400mg L-theanine/day (glutamine blocker), and an antioxidant mix of Ubiquinol, Resveratrol, and N-acetyl cysteine (they cross the blood-brain barrier) are part of my regimen. I have found the higher doses (400mg/day) of L-theanine are helping me better than the 200mg/day. If I had to choose one antioxidant, it would be resveratrol.
Do a PubMed or Google Scholar search on "autism and...diet, probiotics, gut-brain axis, L-theanine, ubiquinol, resveratrol, and N-acetyle cysteine."