Broad vs specific special interest.

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My special interest is science (and Rubik's cubes). More specifically I'm mostly into astronomy, chemistry and biomedicine. However, that's not very specific. I've read a lot about people with ASD who have very specific interests. For example constellations, the periodic table, trains, reptiles etc. My interests are broader. I'm extremely passionate about astronomy for example. Sometimes I "get stuck" on something so I might for example read a lot about Jupiter or Betelgeuse (which is a star in the constellation of Orion) for a little while but most of the time I'm just very interested in the whole subject of astronomy. Is that common among people with ASD? To have broader interests/obsessions that is.

As long as it's taken to a pathological level, i.e., astronomy is pretty much your life when it's your interest and you focus on nothing else (for the most part, and then by definition, causes problems in your life due to the hyperfocus). If it changes to reptiles, then that's your life.

Doesn't matter what it is.

In te past few weeks I've developed a strong interest in church organs. I'm interested in listening to, and playing, music on them. I'm interested in their construction and history. I'd like to go to a few churches in the next coming months to hear some concerts.

Rebbiah, my general "special interest" is studying Western civilization. This has been the case since I learned how to read 45 years ago. So, special interests can be lifelong. I will say that I do get interested in specific aspects though, such as American cultures, fascism, communism, and now liberalism (in the classical sense). The only exception was that I became interested in Zen Buddhism about twenty years ago, though that interest was relatively ephemeral.

I grew up before anybody had ever heard of AS, and my family wasn't exactly sympathetic toward me. They routinely accused me of being "obsessive" about my interests. I learned to become comfortable with my obsessions despite them, as they have allowed me to be very good at what I do.

My interest is broad, it's reading fiction. The past four years it's been just fantasy fiction but that's still a broad interest, a whole genre not just one series read over and over again. I do re-read some series but I read lots of different ones.

well i am not diagnosed as aspergers but i do have special interests, although mine change every couple of months and are very intense at the time. the most intense one was the rocky horror picture show i must have watched it about 20 times in a week, overall the obsession lastes about 4 months and then i suddenly was indifferent do it. so i suppose thats quite specific.

I have a broad interest: history. To subdivide that interest into a more interesting (to me at least) sub-interest: Mid-19th century America from the Bleeding Kansas period through the end of the Civil War. But, to be truly specific with my interests: Confederate material culture pertaining to soldiers fighting in the Trans-Mississippi theater of the Civil War.

Of course this is now. The Civil War thing has been my passion for about a year and a half... but there were things before that... lots of things. Mostly pertaining to history and/or music.

I've had, and have, many special interests over the years. Some of them broad, others very specific. For me they tend to change in cycles, sometimes with the weather, other times with the people I'm around or stage of my life or things I've had to learn for school or work. Luckily for me I'm interested in a broad variety of things and can focus in on specific things as needed or wanted vs. only zoning in on one thing forever and not being able to adapt to other scenarios.

i have extremely specific interests,

Sonic the hedgehog
Hedgehogs
Ferrets
animal facts

of course psychology and science captures my attention but i don't obsessively research on it like i do sonic and hedgehogs.

I've had a mix of broad and specific throughout my childhood/teenage years. One specific one was tornadoes. I suppose the Salem Witch Trials would be a broad one?

But since very very young, I've have an intense, incredible interest in musical theatre/Browadway. 26 years later, still going strong, but it's a broad interest. What does happen is inside of this broad interest I'll have really specific interests within the topic of musical theatre, like I'll focus on a composer, or a musical, or even a certain song.

I would say a specific interest is just one part. 5 years ago i was obsessed with the NTFS filesystem (something no one should care about), i was only interested in the Master File table and read every single file record in it and i realized it was getting me no where. I dont really have any specfic interests(in terms of only one thing out of a subject) anymore. I try not to as to me it dosent get me anywhere and i waste a huge amount of time. However i do have very limited broad interests that are spread throughout the subject(which means i have few intersests =() I like music but i only listen to Pop, and Metal and nothing else. and i use playstation 3 but i only play RPGs and FPS I also like to read books but only books that have seqels like the Hunger Games.

In a broad sense, my special interest is being emotionally involved with fictional characters and my preferred pairings. It has been that way ever since I can remember.

From there, my interests can be divided into narrower categories. Between the ages of 12 and 19, I was only obsessed with characters and pairings from various anime/manga. Then, between the ages of 19 and 21, it was only Johnny Depp characters and the cast of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. There are a lot of sub-categories within those categories - For example, during my Johnny Depp/MLP phase, I spent some time obsessing over the Mad Hatter and Pinkie Pie, and then I moved on to Edward Scissorhands and Fluttershy.

As for this moment in time, I am not obsessed with any specific character or pairing. It used to bother me a lot that I wasn't obsessed with anything specific, but I am slowly coming to accept it and learn to enjoy different characters/pairings on a less intense level, rather than always thinking about specific characters/pairings on a highly intense level. For example, instead of thinking about Edward Scissorhands and Fluttershy every single day, one day I might think about Merida from Brave, then the next day Lisbeth Salander from Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, then the next day Haruhi Suzumiya, etc, etc. It really depends on what I'm in the mood for on a particular day.

Last edited by IdahoRose on 22 Feb 2013, 11:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

For my "broader" special interests, like science, I always tend to have a specific interest within the broad topic. Like, I love learning about all branches of science, but I have always leaned most heavily towards anatomy/physiology. And within that, my interest is strongest for neuroscience. And within that, my interest is strongest for neuropsychiatric disorders. And within that, my interest is strongest for bipolar disorder. And within THAT, my interest is strongest for psychotic mania and the neurophysiology of how lithium works.

I just tend to hone in on specifics with all of my special interests, but I don't have many special interests where the overall topic is very limited/specific to begin with.

I guess that's how it is for me as well (though maybe not on the same level as you). My special interest is science. Within science I'm mostly interested in astronomy, chemistry and biomedicine. Within those subject I have favourites like how elements are created in stars, constellations, memorising the periodic table, organic chemistry and biochemistry. Within biochemistry, for example, I'm mostly interested in medical biochemistry and so on. So I do have favourites within each subject but I'm very interested in other things in astronomy, chemistry and biomedicine as well (even in other sciences such as the human anatomy/physiology where I'm definitely the most interested in the human brain etc). Do you know what I mean?

My special interests are reading, writing, drawing, singing, voice acting, video games, Vocaloid, and LGBTQ matters. Of course, I'm usually not interested in all at once. It fluctuates.

I see that I'm not alone in not having specific interests, though, which is comforting.