Special interests

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My current special interests are Zelda games, language learning, playing the piano, reading, and WP.

I really dislike the term "social interest." It's condescending. Other people have interests, hobbies, avocations, passions (which may be just as intense as ours), but because we're autistic, we have "special interests."

I think that having "special interests" is something positive about autism even though it can make it difficult to engage in necessary tasks.

^^ You find it condescending because you are not using the medical definition of 'special interest'

I don't find it condescending, it's one of the most common characteristics of autism and it is not the norm.

If you use the medical definition of 'special interest' DSM-5 states “Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests)"

Yes, it's the intensity or focus that sets us apart from non-autistics, not necessarily the topics themselves.

I guess they were trying to avoid saying "obsessive interests" because that sounds like OCD.

I think the first question I was ever asked on WP (many moons ago) was what my interests were. I had just been learning about ASD so asked if they were asking in general social way or meant 'special interest' , I think I worded it weirdly though as if you couldn't be generally interested in someone's 'special interest'

As I was growing up it was made clear to me by parents, peers and teachers that special interests were not to be indulged in. For example, if I said I was interested in space flight, I was told that wasn’t acceptable for girls.

That input has hindered me my entire adult life but I didn’t understand that until I figured out I was autistic.

I’m trying to relax my inner monitor and let my interests soar.

Interests are: gardening including tropical fruit and orchids and pollinator plants. Wilderness canoeing. Music.

One thing I've been trying to deal with is the subconscious fear of being teased or otherwise made fun of for some of my special interests.

I'm trying to tell myself 'It doesn't matter if people make fun of me or don't understand my interests, they're my interests. I'm allowed to be myself', but it's obviously going to take some time considering I've spent nearly my entire life suppressing and hiding a lot of my interests over fears that I'd be seen as 'weird' and 'different' from the others, much in the same way I suppressed and hid all my autistic traits.

This mostly has to do with my special interests in 80s technology and 80s fashion. It's never happened, but I sometimes find myself worrying that people will make fun of me for being so into such 'old and outdated tech' or for being into the fashion of a decade I never experienced, especially so if they find out that I want to incorporate 80s fashions into my own wardrobe. It's not like I'm embarrassed by or wish I didn't have these interests, but I need to work on ignoring these worries and fears and embrace my interests wholeheartedly, as opposed to thinking myself as being 'weird' for having them.

Other than 80s tech and fashion, I'm also very into trains and rail transport too. I know that's like the stereotypical autistic interest, but I've always been obsessed with trains since I was a little kid. Thomas & Friends was my favorite TV show as a kid, I loved checking out books about trains from the library, watching documentaries about trains, etc. All stuff I still love to doing today (yes, this includes watching Thomas & Friends) and I want to ride the train as much as I can (I've only taken the train twice in my life sadly).

Other special interests I have (which I don't feel like expanding on too much because I don't want to make this post longer than it already is) are retrogaming, 90s technology (it's not as intense of a special interest as my special interest in 80s tech, but it's still intense enough for me to consider it to be one - I mean I have a late 90s gaming PC after all), magical girl anime and manga, tokusatsu (Japanese special effects TV shows and movies, although I also include Power Rangers under this umbrella), and Transformers.

My special interests include Arts & Crafts, The Kinks, Cut the Rope and Om Nom, Routemaster buses and Germany. Special interests make me happy and I look forward to them every day.

I don't really have any special interests.

How do I define a special interest?

I dunno, my brain won't do that right now.
Whether that is because autism, or because ME/CFS, or because neurological autoimmune disease, is anybody's guess.

But whatever the definition is ...

I'm pretty sure the answer would be:
(at least when looking at the books and model kits on hand)

Trains/railroads/railways
Spaceflight, including some science fiction
Airplanes
sailboats and submarines

Used to be in to military history/models/board games/miniatures games, & in to sci-fi miniatures games, but when my health crashed at beginning of 2000s something had to go. And those went.

How long have those interests been in play?

Better than half a century for the spaceflight, airplanes, sailboats, and submarines.
Around 45 years for the trains.

Thanks to the aforementioned health decline my ability to retain information about them is not what it used to be.
Likewise for the making of models and writing of stories.

But, hey, the doing and having remain enjoyable.

As far as I'm aware a special interest is long-term and bordering on obsessive.

By that definition, I think I have only one real special interest- making art. It's been "my thing" since I was in kindergarten, and it often gets in the way of other activities (I remember smuggling acrylic paints into class inside of little candy containers so I could covertly paint in my notebook, for example). I never get tired of it, and I'm very good at it.

An almost-special-interest of mine is creatures/animals. It isn't as intense an interest as my art but it's been just as long-lived , and it's the subject of almost all of my art. I don't quite know if it qualifies as a special interest though, because I can typically pull myself away from it without much trouble.

In contrast, I develop other interests that I usually refer to as "fixations" instead- things that consume all my time for a few months maybe, and then fizzle out. For example- a couple years ago I revisted Neopets, and that summer I spent about eight hours a day on it.

"Special interest" seems to take on two meanings.

The term seems to be used to describe both:

"a persistent and strong interest in a specific topic or subject, possibly to the exclusion of other interests"

and

"the current obsessive interest of the week / month"

An extreme example of either would be the image of the person so fixated on their interest 24/7 that they even forget to eat. Realistically, it just means that there's a notably higher probability of engaging in that activity, vs other activities.

One of my persistent special interests is cars. I have never not liked cars. I still collect hotwheels cars. I drive and modify RC cars. Grew up racing on go-kart tracks. A sizeable chunk of my video games are racing games. I maintain my extended family's 6 cars, two of which are mine. I do my own modifications to them. If you ask me if I would like to drive, and I say "no", I'm either sick, or an imposter. My interest in cars and machinery is something that partially defines my identity.

OTOH, one of my fad obsessions was terrariums and paludariums. The ones with plants and landscapes, but no fish. I still have mine, but it's dry and half empty, and I haven't touched it in ages. My room is filled with various odds and ends where my interest comes and goes. Sewing, knifemaking, airsoft, welding, origami, stuff I got really into, and still enjoy on occasion - but doesn't get the same time and energy as stuff like cars or computers.