Particular interests of Aspies

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Hi all,

At what age do you normally see the "topic of interest" come into an Aspie's life? They say that an Aspie will choose a subject of particular interest that will overpower all other interests etc., etc. and that particular interest may develop in to a very successful career, etc., etc. and it might be all they seem to talk about...

When do we start seeing this? Right now my son is 6, almost 7, and his interests include video games and Sponge Bob. Even better...SpongeBob video games! And he does seem to talk about them quite a bit!

However, I do catch him watch the weather sometimes, and even the History Channel. So, I am wondering if there is an average age at which we start to see this interest develop.

Thanks.

my son's interests have changed over the years...........when he was really little, he was obsessed with rhyming words. would read books with words that rhyme, talk in rhymes, sing in rhymes...........as he got older, his interests changed to : dinosaurs, then pokemon, then magic cards, most recently he's interested in all things mechanical and technical~how do things work? how can he create something that works the way he wants it to?.....he's tried making all sorts of things..............one really good magazine is Make. has lots of ideas for inventing crazy inventions.

Don't think there is an "average" age for anything with Aspies (or even NT kids for that matter) is there? My son is now 11 and he over the years has been preoccupied (sometimes obsessed) with so many idfferent things I started to try to list them but couldn't. Just when you think this is "the one", this is the interest that is going to stick, the one that he will study in college and make a good living with - he just stops and is done with it. Of course, at that point you give yourself a reality check and repeat to yourself "He's only 6, he's only 6, he's only 6"

Currently, my son is into 24 (the TV show), time travel, cartoons (he likes to watch them and read about certain ones) and many others I can't even list. It seems like as he gets older he can "juggle" more interests at once whereas when he was young is was only 1 thing at a time.

My advicei s, whatever it is worth, let him be with his interests- he is picking it for a reason. and don't worry, it will change.

My son picked up Lego bricks (Duplo, to be specific) at age 3, and has never put them down.

He is now using the regular bricks, the specialized pieces, and the computer and robot programs. He has entered building contests, and subsequently seen aspects of his work in new designs. He is 14.

He just discovered that he can get a job at either a Lego store or a "Lego Land" when he turns 16, and he is very excited about that prospect.

Who knows? Besides Lego, the "interest of the month" really has been the "interest of the month"


2

As soon as he can sit up and move around and manipulate objects,
He will gravitate toward interests. They will change over time.
My boys chain looks something like this.

blocks
legos
connecx

computer games
{
rollercoaster tycoon
reailroad tycoon.
the sims
zoo tycoon
runescape
warcraft 3
bots
}
pokemon
computer programming
HTML
Harry Potter
animorphs
inuasha

So basically, you should expect an aspy to move from one obsessive level interest to another over time. Some of them are of short duration, some are very long.
You can use this to your advantage. If legos have become a lower priority interest,
move them into the attic, and pull them back out, 6 months later. They may be of interest again.


In my case, i was very lucky. In 10th grade, my math teacher arranged a computer for me to learn programming. It turned into an aspy obsession, which helped me get through college, and into a steady job since then.

Obsessive interests are a part of being aspy. You can't just turn them on or off. It is something that as a parent, you need to accept.

Learn to roll with the changes, and work hard to encourage good ones.

I think I had hundreds obsessions from infancy to now but my hugest ones were America's Most Wanted when I was 11, Myst when I was 13 to 16, airport security when I was 17, medical things in grades 2, 4, 6, and 8... and another huge one or two, but I forget what they are; how could I?

My sons main obsession has been dinosaurs since he was 2 years old (hes almost 5) ever since he saw disneys "Dinosaur". He actually was afraid of it but fascinated at the same time and watched it while peeking over the recliner in the beginning then that led to a full on obsession and watching the movies all day long and stomping around like a dinosaur with no end in sight! Hes had other obsessions come and go like peter pan was a pretty big one, feathers, eggs, rocks and godzilla but dinosaurs has been a constant in his life.
O and actually I cant believe i forgot, right before dinosaurs he was totally obsessed with Finding Nemo and would throw a fit if he didnt get to watch it a hundred times a day and this was before he could really talk and hed just go around saying "Memo" all day long.

oh...how could i have forgotten The Lion King???...........son HAD to watch it every day. at least once. he could recite lines, songs,....but always hid during the scene where the dad dies......

Mine will be 9 in a couple of months and so far I don't think we are there yet. He has a huge obsession with video games (especially Pokemon right now) that has been going on for a few years, but all of his other obsessions change. He also tends to have different obsessions at home and school.

Lately he has been focused at school on drawing cartoon characters (mostly Pokemon), computers, and and science-related topics. The last big science topics were astronomy and geology. He won't discuss them at home though.

In kindergarten mine was dinosaurs. I would memorise their names, the era they would live in and whether they were carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. Deinonycus was a particular favourite.

Shortly after it was astronomy. I would also memorise facts on distances between bodies, average speeds and, after watching a kiddie's show on how long it would take an astronaut to travel to each planet in the solar system, I memorised that too.

Then came animals, dogs in particular.

All of this from ages 4 (more or less) to 9.

AS DD will be 10 soon. She's been obsessed with cats since she was 3. She has quite an impressive stuffed animal collection! From the time she could write, she'd write stories about cats. Her interests have changed and developed, but cats always remain at the center of it. She plays Warcraft and that bleeds over into her other play, her artwork, her stories, her schoolwork, and her cats obsession.

My 5 y/o MMR son with a LOT of autistic traits was stuck on Buzz Lightyear from age 2-5. It was a very obsessive obsession. LOL! He still plays with his plethora of Buzz toys, but he's moved on to Disney Cars and now Transformers. He will insist on the same movie over and over and over again for months- it was CArs for about 6 months, then Transformers since November, and now Scooby Doo movies and cartoons. He only seems to really be in to one or two things at a time and they bleed over into all his play, school etc.

I was obsessed with Routemaster buses, since I was five. I'm thirty three, now. That doesn't bother me, because my other obsessions have changed, over the years. I've been obsessed with London, since I was eleven. It's just a part of my personality.