Are Special Interests AS-only?

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Maybe this goes in the other conditions area? I'm not sure.

Anyway, The closest I have read that special interests can occur outside AS was with the Gifted. But is this the same as AS special interests? I was just wondering what else this sort of thing can come with.

Also I was told that in my case, I don't have AS but the special interests are a personality quirk.

Yes. NT's can't fathom the concept of special intrests and the ones that can usualy have AS traits themselves.

People who aren't autistic can definitely have strong interests. The phenomenon of "Internet addiction", for example; also gambling addiction, and other non-chemical addictions, represent the unhealthy subgroup of non-autistic special interests. As for the healthy sort, there are eccentric hobbyists who aren't autistic, like trainspotters, cat/dog people, and non-autistic "nerds"/"geeks". Even highly socially focused NTs get intense special interests; they tend to be for other people, fictional or real--for example, look at the Twilight craziness; these people are mostly NT and pretty obsessed ("fangirls", I believe you'd call them).

Lots of people have special interests, like hobbies and such. Model planes, hot air ballooning, etc. The difference is, autistics get so focused on their special interests, its almost impossible to get them to focus on anything else. For me, its almost physically painful to be torn away from one of my obsessions once I'm deeply immersed in it.

Sort of.

There are people that become specialists or historians of very narrow focus. Geeky people are another example. But it is questionable if the autistic population is no different in these two groups from everywhere else.

I think anybody, autistic or not, that classically monologues about an unusual subject is at the very least eccentric.

Today somebody came over to our house and instead of avoiding them I walked up to them and showed them interest-related-objects. They came with christmas gifts for us and I didn't even say thank you, just showed them things. I'll never learn, but my parents said they were proud that I was nice to the person and showed them my things.

I have friends who don't have autism but who have special interests. My best friend loves everything Edgar Allen Poe and enjoys writing her own poetry (which she is very talented at, I might add). She was tested for autism but didn't fit the criteria, however she was diagnosed with unspecified learning disabilities and ADHD. I also have a penpal friend from Germany who loves Tim Burton movies just as much as, if not more so, than I do. She is not diagnosed with anything as far as I know.

What? EVERYBODY has special interests. Peyton Manning was interested in football, Bobby Fischer was interested in chess, and Jeffrey Dahmer was interested in killing people. Not everybody has the same intensity as people on the spectrum do (most people don't) but is Ray Lewis on the spectrum? He watches more film than anyone, and then watches some more. Alekhine named his cat "Chess" but does that mean he was on the spectrum? Everyone has interests, everyone has at least one special interest, and the only difference lies in the intensity, which is more common among people on the spectrum, but not a requirement of AS. It just happens to be very common, because when people don't interest you, something has to. What would you do all day if you had no interests?

No. There are NTs with specials interests too

ruveyn

At a guess, the issue with special interests isn't the existence of a strong focused interest as such, but what it does emotionally to the person.

For me, the special interest is a bit like being "in love" - spending time with the special interest brings peace and a sense of "rightness" (the world is in its place, all is calm).

I suspect that special interests have a self-calming role for Aspies - like stimming - that comparable hobbies and interests don't quite have for NTs. So the special interest is a form of intellectual stimming, in contrast with sensory stimming like rocking. I don't know - I am thinking aloud here.

Everyone has obsessions. Stereotypically, football (and other sports) for males, and shopping, shoes, makeup, and gossip for girls. NTs just don't like us Aspies having ones that aren't the same as everyone elses.

I try to bring in my interests in almost all conversations and other activities. One time I had to do a presentation which I hate (I used drugs to control my anxiety) in front of the hospital staff (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, etc.). The topic was schizophrenia and the efficacy of older versus newer anti-psychotics and I somehow brought in strength training into my presentation in a big way. Now that I think about it, it was kinda funny. What was even more surprising is they liked the presentation (I got graded) even though I was totally wasted on anti-anxiety drugs and don't remember much of it. So I think the difference may be this: forcing your interests at inappropriate times in everyday situations (meeting, conversations, work, threads that have nothing to do with your interest, etc.). Other people who have normal hobbies/interests don't do that as much, I think.