What can you do with a special interest?

[Fino]

It's hard for me think of exactly how to word this other than to give an example. Let's say your special interest was a particular television show. Some examples of things you could do with that would be collecting things they sell associated with that show, writing fanfiction, watching it over and over, and so on. What are other examples, along with other special interests and examples that would make sense for that?

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[Jumpinbare]

Sailing. Building sails, boats, going out on them.
This mainly came to mind because I am currently in the bunk of my sailboat anchored on a quiet remote Florida lake. I took the picture of cypress trees on shore a bit before sunset. The grey hanging stuff is Spanish Moss

 

[jsilver256]

My special interest is in programming. With a sub-special-interest in various topics like the Bible.

Most recently, I built a cross-reference of the entire New Testament to the entire corpus of early Church father writings. My pastor says he's addicted to it because he can easily click on one verse and see what all the church fathers thought about the topic.

I like anime too. So, I exercise while watching anime, and the workout passes by pretty fast.

 

[DaisyRose]

I can make cute origami gifts for my coworkers and customers. I took in 15 boxes today and I had so many people enjoy them. It made people happy and uplifting. I can also make cute artwork and give them out as well.

 

[undertheradar]

My special interest is in programming. With a sub-special-interest in various topics like the Bible.

Most recently, I built a cross-reference of the entire New Testament to the entire corpus of early Church father writings. My pastor says he's addicted to it because he can easily click on one verse and see what all the church fathers thought about the topic.

I like anime too. So, I exercise while watching anime, and the workout passes by pretty fast.

I would love to see this

 

[Aspychata]

Special interest may spur you on to another interest. You might make friends who want to discuss that interest. You may turn it into a job somehow. Cooking is always my special interest. I just realized as l was eating Cesar salad, that l could make crunchy tofu cubes in my air fryer, and use them on top like croutons and increase the protein count. Some people mix with cornstarch, but l was wondering if l could use pancko instead.

 

[Darkkin]

It has been years since I've pulled out my dog work skills (major deep dive when I was younger), I trained my Shiba Inus in both obedience and agility using my own dialect of elvish.

With Marlowe, I've jumped back in with both feet. At 9 months he has cleared his Canine Good Citizen Test and his Public Access Assessment. He is on track to take over cardiac task duties for Rue Dog, who is 13.

With writing, I like to critique because it helps me learn to be a more conscious and effective writer. I've been involved in writing communities for a very long time.

Plants are a newer hobby for me, but I've gotten to a point that if friends or coworkers have a plant they're struggling with and don't want to kill, they ask if I'll take it. Usually I do. I've added some stunning orchids, alocasias, and philodendrons to my collections because of my love for sad houseplants.

And as a lifelong reader, books are a language I speak fluently and the venue I am lucky enough to work in. It is the perfect melting pot of all of my favourite things. My interests forming a vital framework for a tangible working context that allows me to make connections and accurately assess the book needs of others.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I shared my my temporary special interest with covid while it ran its course updated daily on this site surprised how many views it is still getting as I do occasional updates.

 

[Thinx]

I guess a central one of mine was about, effectively helping people, and I participated in a lot of therapeutic groups and self help or self development, also training as a counsellor and therapist over the years, and trained others. I learned a lot, developed myself, hopefully effectively helped some , and it was also a way to have social engagement within a framework.

Writing too, has always been an interest, sometimes more full on, my work tended to relegate it to the background, but it was a way of structuring a viable social life at times, with events and workshops, and always felt creative and rewarding. Currently I am learning how to write a novel. It's pretty complex! But very interesting.

 

[SusanLR]

Rocks and gemstones have always drawn my attention.
At age three, I was out after breakfast, with a tablespoon digging in a soft dirt area of the back yard looking for rocks.
This special interest has been life long.
So, I've studied, collected, bought and searched.
I have displays through the house.
It has taken me to groups where others with the same interest gather and display.

Music has also been a special interest since a baby.
I could sit on the floor playing a box of records on a plastic child's record player for hours when I was a toddler.
This interest has led to collecting records, albums, cassette tapes, CDs. Collectibles.
Always going to concerts of favorite artists.

Also, science. Which led to a lot of reading. Especially space/astronomy.

 

[Angular Chap]

I managed to turn my special interests into a way to earn an income and also to help people.

I turned my special interest in tech into self-employment and also into helping people by donating old tech, setting it up, teaching them how to use it.

I also turned my special interest in scams into earning an income and also help people avoid being scammed.

 

[marc_101]

I have so many that it's hard to decide. @Fino, I'm not sure what you meant by the question, but it's your special interest, so you do what you want with it. Were you wondering about some productive uses of special interests?

Maybe the overarching theme of my special interests is learning. I like to learn how things work and read a lot, so that has been rewarding professionally. My problem is not getting bored too quickly.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

My special interest in drag performers and I ended up basically teaching myself how to become a performer and apply makeup without it looking sloppy. I can also lip sync pretty accurately.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

It obviously depends upon the special interest. I've made a career out of my special interest, neonatal medicine. I am a bit of a rockhound, so I like to travel around, make vacation destinations with this in mind, at some point I will be looking or digging around for specific specimens at specific locations. I enjoy growing plants,...and now fungi, indoors and outdoors, lots of orchids and tropical plants in the house, raised bed garden outdoors, and I just started my next venture, growing mushrooms. I like steam trains, so I will travel to see them, going to Scotland in May and will be traveling on 2 different steam trains. I am interested in renewable energy sources, and have been for decades, windmills, geothermal, solar, etc. and now I have a home with solar panels and battery storage, and am designing my next home will all 4 components.

So, for me, my special interests are more about what I can experience in a more physically tactile way, doing something, building, growing, etc.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

I have special interests in Geology and Paleontology, particularly the ancient arthropods, Trilobites. I have collected them myself in the field as well as working with a young preparator in Morocco to obtain specimens from there. I am getting at least one species from each family on the Devonian and Ordovician that will go the the University of Michigan museum.

My other real passion is canoeing/kayaking. I paddle whitewater, up to Class IV and for other paddling have built canoes and kayaks. Here is my spouse and I out on Lake Michigan in a tandem kayak I built. One rarely sees such calm days.

 

[Misty Avich]

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).

 

[jsilver256]

I would love to see this

Sent a DM.

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).

Of course NTs can have these. I think with autistics, special interests tend to dominate our lives and we can also fixate on them to the exclusion of everything else. If I'm not fixated, I'm anxious.

My first boyfriend was a software engineer, he loved programming, but he would comment how abnormal it was to go on 36-hour programming binges. He could not focus that long.

 

[Misty Avich]

Sent a DM.


Of course NTs can have these. I think with autistics, special interests tend to dominate our lives and we can also fixate on them to the exclusion of everything else. If I'm not fixated, I'm anxious.

My first boyfriend was a software engineer, he loved programming, but he would comment how abnormal it was to go on 36-hour programming binges. He could not focus that long.

That makes sense, although I can't focus very long even on my own interests, and I'm not very good at learning or retaining facts about my interests. I just enjoy them.

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.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Rocks and gemstones have always drawn my attention.
At age three, I was out after breakfast, with a tablespoon digging in a soft dirt area of the back yard looking for rocks.
This special interest has been life long.
So, I've studied, collected, bought and searched.
I have displays through the house.
It has taken me to groups where others with the same interest gather and display.

Music has also been a special interest since a baby.
I could sit on the floor playing a box of records on a plastic child's record player for hours when I was a toddler.
This interest has led to collecting records, albums, cassette tapes, CDs. Collectibles.
Always going to concerts of favorite artists.

Also, science. Which led to a lot of reading. Especially space/astronomy.

My kind of lady, Surprised you did not become a geologist like my sister. Her husband, (a mining engineer) and her go to Bancroft, a small mining town up north. to add two their rock collection,

 

[Fino]

I have so many that it's hard to decide. @Fino, I'm not sure what you meant by the question, but it's your special interest, so you do what you want with it. Were you wondering about some productive uses of special interests?

Maybe the overarching theme of my special interests is learning. I like to learn how things work and read a lot, so that has been rewarding professionally. My problem is not getting bored too quickly.

People have been answering in the way I meant it, so it seems like it's been making sense to people. Basically just what you can do to express your interest in it, rather than just thinking about it all the time.