anyone not have a special interest

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i dont think i have a special interest. i've always been interested in facts and general knowledge and much prefer non fiction to fiction and like to know about things other people dont seem to have much interest in but i dont think i have one subject that is a special interest.

Would you like to have one? I may be wrong but I've a vague feeling that you see not having one particular interest as an obstacle. Is that true?

I wouldn't actually like to have one. But I'm pushing for a diagnosis and when I'm asked why I think I might be autistic I kind of freeze and say oh it was just a feeling, probably nothing, it's just the sensitivity to noise and things like that. I find it really hard to ask for help generally.

Not having makes me think I might not be on the spectrum which means I'd have to keep looking into a solutions for what's 'wrong' with me.

note the word "spectrum" is ASD.

Many of us have some/most/a few symptoms on the lists.
Few of us have ALL the symptoms on the list.

I won't comment on whether you are on the spectrum, but missing a special interest doesn't an NT make.

I'm sure that even a totally nt person could, with some effort, get diagnosed with aspergers. If you push hard enough, you'll certainly get what you want. You clearly have good reasons to think you've got aspergers but you also have a desire to be recognised as an aspie and that could make a slight bias in your judgment. Still, if you think the diagnosis would make your life better, go for it. That's the point after all.


A single, particular, intense interest falls into the point:

Restricted repetitive & stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, & activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

* (A) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped & restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus
* (B) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals
* (C) stereotyped & repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g. hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole-body movements)
* (D) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

Only one of them is required to qualify. More about it at:

http://iautistic.com/test_AS.php

i should have said i'm pushing for an assessment to find out if i am or not, not for a diagnosis

i don't want a diagnosis for something i don't have, i've been struggling for an answer for decades and this is the first time I feel i've got close. i would only be disappointed if it turns out i'm not an aspie because i would have to keep searching. i've no longing to be one

I'm sorry to have misunderstood. I should've trusted in your reason but I tend to take things literally.

Prototypical AS will always have an interest. It's one of the two hallmarks (the other being a lack of social and emotional reciprocity).

You can have an ASD and not have one though, but it's usually on the more severe end where the area interest isn't found.

I do not seem to have had a special interest in about 3 1/2 years, since my partner of 17+ years died following an extended illness (officially died of kidney failure resulting from exposure to Agent Orange in Vietnam). He was pretty much housebound for 5 years, and caring for him/learning about Agent Orange WAS my special interest. After he died, I had no interest in much of anything, "special" or otherwise.

I have recently discovered Asperger's, and simultaneously realized that I may have it. I have become somewhat obsessed with it, and would have to call it my current special interest.

I realize that part of that "dead" time is due to mourning my loss, but I wonder if part of the reason for my disorientation stems from having my special interest "taken away" from me.

Has anyone else had a period where they felt lost and disoriented after an interest was taken away due to circumstances beyond their control?

Apologies to the OP if this is seen as a threadjack.

Its possible that the two concepts are related, either not having an overly specific interest, or losing it (like growing out of it). For instance, when I was a kid, on Saturdays, I would always have select toys downstairs with me while watching . . . I stopped that around the time of High School (can't remember when). Currently, my special interests are in games, period . . . RTSs, RPGs, and CCGs (I get my mental high from thinking on things that require some level of forethought . . . course, sometimes, I overthink and mess it up). It's not so much about having one, but what your mindset. Hell, I'm also addicted to random information and select sounds in music. Think of it this way . . . your special interest is information that you find aesthetically pleasing (I know I'm that way).

I don't have any, I have interests, but none are special. When I was little however, I had a few. I think I might've grown out of it if that's possible.

You can have a few symptoms to higher degrees and still qualify for a diagnosis. But its a combination of multiple symptoms. For example, being social inept doesn't mean anything on it's own.

Perhaps think about what you want out of this diagnosis. When I received mine it was liberating, but after some time the novelty wears off and you realise that you're still the same person and the world will not speed up or slow down for you.

I can't truly identify with the (often) life long obsessions that some aspies have. I like general topics within the realms of natural and social science and facts in general. I also like fiction, but my fictional to non-fictional book ratio is probably 1: 10. I can be interested in certain topics from anything to a few minutes to a few years (if they aren't narrow - like programming or maths). You could say that my 'special interest' is reading and aquiring new skills, that's as specific as one could be. In early childhood however, I was very interested in insects (then it progressed into exotic mammals, birds and reptiles), but as I grew older my interests became less intense and narrow. In some aspects however my interests are less varied than that of nts with equal mental agility. Narrowmindedness could be attributed to both severity and intellectual capasity in autistic individuals, which my former psychiatrist pointed out - but there are several exceptions. I've read about profoundly gifted autistics who went on to achieve great success in what is by most people considered to be narrow fields. I think it's important to focus on the understanding of ones interest instead of the facts related to it though, I like statistics and numbers myself but with todays easy access to facts and knowledge - it's purpose is questionable.

Probably not, unless they were so obsessed by the condition that they studied it for years, learned the testing procedure and knew all the expected behaviors, reactions and multiple choice answers to the personality inventories and learned to 'act' their way through the hours of testing and interviews and if they did all that, then AS would be their special obsessive interest and the diagnosis would likely be legitimate.

fleeced, you may well have an obsessive special interest and simply not recognize it as such because it seems so normal to you. I was a radio disc jockey for many years and collected music until my home was a-burstin' with records and Cds. It didn't seem unusual to me (or anyone around me as far as I know), because of my profession. I knew a few others in the business who did the same (though I realize now every one of them would qualify as at least PDD-NOS).

I had a guest in my home yesterday who asked me directly "Why the obsession with Betty Boop?" I was a bit puzzled by the question, not because Betty's presence isn't abundantly evident in my home, but because there are several other character collectible interests clearly visible and I wondered why he focused on that one - until I looked around later and realized that while my office is cluttered with multiple interests, BB does appear to be the central theme of the decor of the entire place, even though I didn't set out to accomplish that intentionally. Sometimes a person can be so immersed in something that it seems natural and almost organic to them while from the outside it's a glaring standout.

Also, remember, you are allowed to have more than one special interest.

We're talking about being diagnosed, not pretending to be aspie in front of friends or family. The diagnosis, due to some reports on this forum, would take up to 6 hours and often much less, and therefore will be superficial. All the tests and documentation are available online as a base to create a consistent aspie personality. Given an average nt person and an average psychologist conducting the test, my guess, which is of course as wild as yours, is that it would take anything up to a week, which can hardly count as obsession. The reasons why would anybody want to do that are different matter.



True, this is also a point to consider.

It is quite possible, and reasonable, that someone may have many autistic traits but NOT have a special interest.

There could be many reasons for this. Asperger's syndrome is a neurological disorder. You are born with it. But people are not born with a compulsion to have a special interest with one thing. It is a consequence of having Asperger's Syndrome. Obsessive interests develop because the mind works well with detail and delights in putting small pieces of information and connections together. But nobody can be born with a disorder that makes you have a certain way of living. The brain is flexible, and people are flexible. There are many different personalities within AS. For example, you can have schizophrenia, and not have the delusion the government is following you.

It's like saying NT people are born to get married and have kids. And if you are missing that, you are not normal. But that is only a description of a lifestyle normal people usually have.

Many psychiatrists are idiots, in that they assume if you don't have all of the stereotypes then you are nowhere on the autistic spectrum- as in no strict routines, and no obsessions. These are personality traits and lifestyle choices. We still have free will! Not everyone conforms to such a description.
Some people may not develop obsessive interests because: they don't enjoy reading, they are depressed, they feel they are excited by a wide variety of topics.

Nobody can tell you if you have AS or not based on the criteria of "special interest". The focus of that is outdated, when Asperger's was described more like a personality disorder instead of a neurological disorder. It should be considered, but not necessary, for diagnosis. The more important things are your cognitive abnormalities and communication skills. What you do in your spare time, has much less to do with it.