how many aspies here don't have a special Interest

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i dont have a special interest. i have casual interests, like cooking. i love to cook, but its not an autistic interest. i also like to read novels, but thats not because of autism either, its just what i like to do in my spare time.

NT's don't usually refer to their interest in a hobby as ...abnormally intense interests...;
NT's don't usually have interests that dominate every spare moment of their whole lives;
NT's don't usually wake up at 2am and do research on their special interest/s;
NT's don't usually refer to their interests like "...later on in life I discovered the numbers, oh my the numbers..."

I hope these clippings help you understand the difference between a neurotypical's hobby and an Aspie's Special Interest:


Intense preoccupation with a specific subject....I have a deep and passionate love for science, nature, words and sometimes art and can spend entire days reading, researching and exploring these avenues to the extent that the rest of the world is lost and quite a bother when it intrudes.
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How Does an Aspie Find a Special Interest?
Special interests tend to find us, rather than the other way around. I have no idea what has drawn me to many of my special interests over the years. Most are things that I have an intense but inexplicable fascination with.
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You’ll notice there are two parts to that criteria: intensity or focus. A special interest can be an intense interest in a broad subject (architecture) or a narrowly focused interest (mid-12th century Cistercian monasteries). Generally, narrowly focused interests are also intense, but a special interest doesn’t have to be stereotypically narrow to qualify.
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You can look at the list and think, “but everyone has hobbies, what’s so special about yours?” Like much of what differentiates an Asperger’s trait from a general personality quirk, the answer is the degree to which the trait is present.

For example, when I took up running, I didn’t just go out and jog a few times a week. I read books about training for marathons. I found workout plans online and joined a training site to get personalized drills. I learned about Fartlek and track workouts and running technique. I signed up for road races. Ten years later, I spend more on running clothes and shoes than on everyday clothes. I use a heart rate monitor and a distance tracker to record my workouts. If I go on vacation, I pack all of running stuff. I don’t just like to run occasionally; running is an integral part of my life. It fills a very specific need.
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Shelter from the Storm

That’s a key differentiator between a run-of the-mill hobby and an Aspergerian special interest. Spending time engaged in a special interest fulfils a specific need for Aspies. It’s more than just a pleasant way to pass the time. For me, indulging in a special interest is how I recharge myself. It’s comforting. It allows me to completely immerse myself in something that intensely interests me while tuning out the rest of the world. If you have a favourite movie that you rewatch or a book you like to return to again and again, it’s a bit like that.
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Special Interests Gone Wild
The danger in special interests is that they can become consuming. They can take over every conversation, every free minute of the day, every thought, if you let them. They can be a refuge or a hiding place.

There are days when I’m so engrossed in writing and/or work (I’ve made one of my special interests into a career) that I’ll happily spend eight or ten or twelve hours at the computer. I put dinner on the stove and then forget about it until I smell it burning. The sun sets and hours later I realise the house is pitch dark. If the dog didn’t nudge my elbow when it was time for her to go out or be fed, I would forget that she existed.

Clearly this can be a problem.



Hope this helps tell the difference between an NT's hobby and an Aspie's Special Interest - because there really is a difference!

Hmm when younger i'd develop short term all encompassing obsessions.Now however ive settled on Music (Specifically the avant garde) Futurism and ever since I started pursuing a formal diagnosis Aspergers (my current all encompassing obsession)

I miss having one. It used to be dinosaurs ( I know, typical ). Then it was Fallout, then Aspergers. Now it's music, film, and shows, but it's not really as thorough and "special" as it used to be. I miss having something really specific as an interest.

I don't have an intense interest in anything right now. Mine used to be fantasy novels, reading and re-reading the novels and daydreaming about being a character in the worlds of my series. Now I'm re-reading the Wheel of Time series but I'm doing it slowly and don't have the same passion for it. Other than that I've been spending a lot of time watching mindless T.V. and being a useless lump on the couch.

Right now I am obsessed with Star Trek. I am watching all the episodes. I have read about Star Trek physics( of course Star Trek isn't real physics but there are web sites that discuss Star Trek physics in detail ) I imagine myself as being in the Star Trek universe. I am doing a Star Trek RP with some co-workers who also like Star Trek. Only they aren't as obsessed as I am, so I am afraid it will fall apart I have spent several days watching Star Trek episodes all day(wake up watch Star Trek until time to sleep) I haven't done that too often since I have to work, but when I have time off...

I wish my interest were something more practical, though. In the past, for example, it was programming. That was helpful because I do a lot of programming at work. But, for now, it is Star Trek. But as it was mentioned before, we don't pick our interest.

I also tend to obsess with certain characters in Star Trek (ex. Seven of Nine, Spock, Data)

My condolences. For years, mine used to be Sun Microsystems - until Oracle took over & killed it. It was as if I lost my best friend over night. For ages, I went without a Special Interest and it was the saddest, most depressing time in my life. In hindsight, I think that was why I started drinking again.

Don't worry. The one bit of wisdom that did come from out of it was I learnt, you don't get to pick your Special Interests. They pick you.

One thing - don't get too taken by TV. I think it's a real brain killer.

Thank you and I think you're right about at least certain kinds of T.V , for example the kind of mindless T.V I've been watching lately.

Edit- My mood has been low lately and I've been a bit lethargic. I'm trying to stave off a possible incipient episode of depression. Maybe just not having an interest I'm passionate about is getting me down , though and I just need to find something new.

@Random42- I really liked Star Trek The Next Generation and Voyager but for some reason they never became intense interests for me and I haven't re-watched them in awhile. Seven of nine and the doctor were my favourite characters from Voyager.

I don't really have a special interest, some of my life experiances seem to have taken away may ability to become passionate about anything.