Early signs of a 'special interest'?

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Just wondering if there is always a special interest? And what are the early signs?

My 4yr DX son doesnt seem to have any particular interest. He likes books that my older son brings home from the library, (spiders/dinasors etc.), among other age related books. He goes through differnet phases of playing with Buzz Lightyear, then Disney 'Cars' then Power Rangers. But nothing too intense, wouldnt be too bothered if they were out of sight.

The idea of a special interest intrigues me?! !

What are the early signs, or are there any?

Thanks xx

My son didn't have a special interest at that age. He was still exploring. Even now, it's not THAT intense. It's more what he clearly likes and where he feels his future is headed than an obvious obsession. He invents. That is his thing. Which, I guess, is broad to start with and required exploring.

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Well, now that the rest of you mention it ... he was obsessed basically with all things mechanical, learning how they worked. He has always been interested in knowing what makes things tick. He liked building with legos, watching those "there go" videos, looking at diagrams in books, playing with trains ... much of it was just boy stuff, but other things were more purposeful.

Last edited by DW_a_mom on 11 Mar 2009, 3:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.

We first noticed the intense interest thing for my sons at about 2 years old. They both loved trains. They learned everything they could, played and talked constantly about trains for about 2 years. It was so cute hearing them rattle off astonishingly complex facts about how steam engines work or how fast the bullet trains or TGV could go when they were so tiny. We, and everyone else, were convinced they were budding geniuses (well, I still am pretty convinced, I just now realize that geniuses come in all different flavours. )

Since that first all encompassing passion for trains, there have been many minor interests (dinosaurs, Harry Potter, crocodilians) and several more major ones (superheroes, Star Wars and right now it is all about Lego!). It's one of my favourite things about them, the fact that they get so engrossed in and passionate about the things they love, because I am the same way. I really hope we can help to channel it into interesting careers for them one day (Lego designer? comic book artist? who knows? )

I think I was obsessed with cats and animals while still in the womb

My first special interests were plumbing (particularly how toilets worked) and construction vehicles. From what little I remember, as well as what my parents have said, these were fully developed by 18 mos - 2 yrs of age.

We first started noticing our son's special interests somewhere between 18 months and 2 years. It started with cars/trucks, especially monster trucks. Then these certain videos called "There Goes A ...truck/bus etc." and then US states followed by world geography and animals. These went on until he was around age 5 (he 7 now).

The last few years, his special interests are star wars (he's never even seen the movies just books/games lol) and animals. He still really likes atlases/world geography and other things he goes into intense focus on for days or weeks at a time, but he isn't as obsessive about them as he is his main interests.

My son's special interest involves anything on the ceiling, and we've known basically since he said his first word "up" at about 15 months old.

He's always stared at ceiling fans, commented on the lights, turned the lights on and off, commented on any smoke detectors or sprinkler systems that might be up there. It's common for the first thing he says when he walks into a new place is "I like your lights". When he was very young, like around 2, he would throw tantrums if not all the lights were on. This made restaurant visits impossible, since they frequently left some lights or fans off.

So yes, pretty much from birth it's noticeable. I wonder if this will be a lifetime obsession, perhaps he will become an electrician. My obsession started pretty much from birth too, my first word was "kitty". But I "grew out" of mine by junior high when I was pretty much bullied about my love of cats until I forced myself not to mention them to anyone ever again. I haven't had an obsession to that extent again, but I do become hyper-focused in certain areas for sometimes weeks or months at a time.

I have the same story as several of you - my son started showing special interests towards things around about the age of 18 months or so. It was trains for my son. He was HOOKED on them until he was in kindergarten. He loved Thomas the Train...and I actually miss those days. Since then there have been other things, most recently Pokemon cards and then Naruto, but right now his main obsession has to be World War II and/or military weaponry.

My youngest is 10 months, and if her fascination with anything electronic, (cables, remote controls, wires...etc...) is any sign of what will come - I'm thinking we're going to have a tiny electrical engineer on our hands.

In the old days a special intrest was seen as a hobby, why does it seem such a problem to the majority of the people on this site see it as strange behaviour, & send them of to a psychiatrist at the drop of a hat, unless they like killing animals,, fair enough, but anything else leave them alone there just being children, if you label them to early they will live up to it.

In the old days a special intrest was seen as a hobby, why does it seem such a problem to the majority of the people on this site see it as strange behaviour, & send them of to a psychiatrist at the drop of a hat, unless they like killing animals,, fair enough, but anything else leave them alone there just being children, if you label them to early they will live up to it.

I can't really speak about the "old days"...but the fact is, a hobby isn't an obsession, and there is definitely a difference. I think when we say "special interest", we're talking about their obsessions here and using a kinder word for it. I suppose that we really ought to be more careful about that so that there isn't any confusion. It's one thing to like trains and even collect them and learn about them. It's another thing entirely to insist on sleeping with your trains, to only want to wear Thomas the Train clothes, to insist on only watching Thomas the Train videos (even though you've seen them a hundred times before), and when you speak to people - only talk about trains and not even notice if they are listening as you tell them every last thing you know about them.

I'm not saying any of this to be mean - I'm just trying to show that there's a real difference between having a hobby and being so obsessed by something that you don't notice anything else - and that's exactly what went on with my son, and it is his obsession that I'm using as an example. I wouldn't have even worried about any of it then - and I didn't - until he got to school and started having so much trouble in class. I didn't rush him off to a psychiatrist, but I *did* seek out help for him because he was having so much trouble, and that led us to his HFA diagnosis.

This explains 'special interests' perfectly!

From about 2 until 8 years old, my son was obsessed with cars. Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, and MORE HOTWHEELS! Of course, somewhere around six years, video games became an undeniable obsession for him too, we've had many issues with this. I don't mind him playing them, but not for 12 hours straight on a perfectly sunny Saturday. From about 8 till now (12) Tech Decks have been his thing. He can do every finger trick on those mini skateboards and with suck precision. He can name off every single move as he's doing it, but he'll also tend to go on & on with it. Every other word when he's going on about tech decks is 'look, look' ...'watch' and 'mom, mom.... mom look' ...whether I'm on the phone, doing dishes, getting dinner prepared, changing cat litter etc. The fact that other people don't have the same level of interest in all the same things he does, doesn't even occur to him. And trust me, it doesn't feel too great to have to tell him I'm not, but I do tell him, he needs to know. Right now, it's ALL WWE & TNA Impact. He can't get enough, spent all his birthday money on figures & the wrestling ring, gets really upset that we only get the shows on TV after his bedtime, he then used his late birthday money from a family member to buy the TNA Impact game for his X-box...(which he saved his paper route money to buy in the first place. When he has a friend over he'll begin by wanting to 'show' them the game, then it turns into him playing the game, then it turns into needing many reminders to let his friend have a turn, when his friends' lost interest he'd keep going and going if I didn't remind him that his buddy's here to hang out WITH him, not watch him play a game.

Thanks for sharing your stories, I really think it is fascinating that someone becomes so involved and knowledgable about their subject.

My son was playing in the garden yesterday, and came into the kitchen to me, opened his hand and said 'look Mummy, a snail'. I was absolutly thrilled that he wanted to share something he found interesting with me.

I do hope that if he finds a 'special interest', that he will want to share that with me too. xx

Special interest is not the same thing as a hobby. It's much closer to an obsession than a hobby. A toddler screaming his head off if the lights or fans are not on is not a hobby. Counting the number of lights repeatedly is not a hobby. Turning the fan/lights on and off repeatedly for 20 minutes is not a hobby. Walking with your head up to the ceiling instead of watching where you're going is not a hobby. And I don't think anyone here thinks their child's obsessions are the sole reason they have autism. My son was globally delayed at a young age and I am so grateful that he got the early intervention he did, otherwise he might still be operating like a child 1/2 his age.

I have yet to hear of a parent sending their children to a psychiatrist because they are completely in love with trains ... or video games ... and want to do nothing else. You have made an assumption and a very incorrect one.

well i didn;t get it with my sona t first either i just thought he was a very bright kid. he loves math so i guess his thing is numbers and now it is still numbers but he also enjoys webkinz and other video games too. although tht didn;t really develop untill he was exposed to them.
don;t worry so much about it for now it will eventually grow it may be small or not noticable yet, or he may not have found his thing yet.