What can you do with a special interest?

[jsilver256]

I used to get obsessions with particular people which kind of took over my mind, like overobsessive crushes on men and overadmiration on women (also called "straight crushes") that I knew of in my life but weren't really friends or family or anything. For example, a teacher or mailman or something like that.

Yeah, your fixations seem to be around others. Could it be possible that your RSD is a special interest of sorts?

 

[Misty Avich]

Yeah, your fixations seem to be around others. Could it be possible that your RSD is a special interest of sorts?

Not exactly.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I don't know, what is the difference between a special interest and a casual interest? Do NTs have special interests too? I know an NT guy who loves the TV show Only Fools And Horses so much that he has lots of collectibles related to it. As soon as you walk into his house you can see he's a huge fan. He probably watches it a lot too (he has every episode on DVD in a box set).

When I was in London seeing seven plays in six days, one show We took in was Only Fools and Horses. Enjoyed it.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

M first professional position was as a lab technician on a coil coating line had to measure colour became infatuated with how it was controlled, within a day became a special interest and then my career. Now when it comes to practical color control, I'm a world class expert.

 

[Marianna]

Consider stuff like gaming maybe you're into designing levels or tweaking mods. Music could be your jam, whether you're composing tunes or picking up an instrument. There's birdwatching or getting your hands dirty with some gardening.

 

[Jumpinbare]

My oldest special interest is electronics/radio. I forgot to mention the arduino controlled lighting system and the HF/VHF/UHF radio system aboard the sailboat. I always liked combining my interests.

 

[Misty Avich]

I had casual interests when I was a child but no typical autistic special interests. Yes I liked Thomas The Tank Engine but wasn't obsessed with trains, I just liked the show, like a lot of little kids did. I watched other children's shows too.
Then I liked jungles, probably because of being into The Jungle Book. I used to draw pictures of two characters I had made up who lived in the jungle, and I'd play make-believe games in my backyard pretending to be in the jungle. But I liked other things too so it wasn't like a special subject or anything.
Then I got into Pokémon when I was 9, and that was only because it was the latest craze at school. It was more of a social interest, as I wanted Pokémon cards to swap with other children in the playground, as that was what all the other children were doing. That was quite a short-lived fad for me, and I then got heavily into South Park (yes, my parents let us watch it lol). I did become obsessed with it but I don't think it's unusual for children to develop healthy obsessions with TV shows. I just loved it.

 

[Crossbreed]

My current special interest is infra-red remotes (though I still maintain others when I happen upon new info about them ).

If you leave batteries in a remote without regular use, the batteries will leak over time.
If you leave their batteries out, they are not ready to go when you finally call upon them.
I inherited some highly programmable universal remotes (URCs) and was able to copy four complete remotes into them for me and my wife. Just using it regularly for a single device (the smart TV) solves the battery disuse problem.

Someone online recommended an even more programmable six-device URC. In the space allotted for five devices, I have copied five complete key sets plus two partial ones.
(I use its unassigned position to conduct further research. )

It scratches my programming itch, too, especially when attempting to standardize multiple key assignments on my clone remote.

I currently have 228 keys assigned on my running URC.
I have 392 keys (10 different devices) archived for my clone.

 

[Ghostinthemachine]

Organisation,structure and problem solving are my special interests and holding a role where I can use these to an advantage helps me,I get motivated with new challenges and finding ways to work smarter

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

My ability not special interest is being able to solve real life puzzles, retired now so free to apply it to any issue I that catches my interest. For instance just prior to retirement I had a stroke, what caused it, coincided with covid, were they related. To me interesting puzzle, used the main tool available to me quality engineering, control chart was best way to approach it Took two years of data collection figured it out. How I did it is completely documented on this forum.

 

[Judge]

1993: Taught myself website design as a hobby

1997/1998: Went to tech school to be certified in website design

1999: Hired by a corporate software entertainment entity to do website design in their marketing dept.

 

[Shevek]

I'm interested in efficiency in engineering. I build working models and win competitions.

 

[Mary Terry]

My nephew loves jigsaw puzzles. When he was a child, he put them together upside down with the plain brown backside facing him, and the colorful picture facing down on the table. Now he assembles them face side up so he is looking at the picture when he works on them. We get the really elaborate ones framed for him and hang them in his home as wall art.

His speed is amazing. I'd love to enroll him in a jigsaw puzzle competition.

 

[Gerontius]

I love restoring antiques, playing music, listening to music, fixing machinery, and diving deep into history and culture--

Why on the good green earth I didn't become a piano tuner, I'll never know.

 

[AprilR]

Let it consume your life, easy.