Do you have any of the classic Aspie special interests?

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When I was a kid I was into trains, had a railway and was a member of a model railway club, but then so were lots of adults and kids who were NT (perhaps they weren't lol) But then I are out of it I guess (My favourite company was LMS I loved the Romany Red and Black livery and anyway they were my local branch line) I also had a thing for Cybermen on Who and yes, I did a few robots, again stuff you would expect kids to be into. I was a child of the 60s and can still remember the entire school sat cross legged in the hall with a massive TV on watching the first Moon landings and thats where my interest in Astronomy began, something I am still very much into if only the sky would ever be free from clouds. Joderal Bank was very near my home town and I went through a phase of going there most weekends until I had done the place to death, the staff at the visitors centre knew me my name

Literature, history and geography are special interests of mine. I like studying about specific countries I have an interest in at the moment. Right now, it's Russia and Uzbekistan, because of Denis Istomin.

Did you want to marry a bus driver?

I once wanted to marry a train conductor.

I'm interested in Star Trek and the internet.

I had house structures, and the concept of 'system' (no 'topics' except the act of categorizing and distinguishing differences and similarities, how it works, how it relates, etc...) as a special interest before. I was just a child then. Now, it's just an interest.


My lifelong special interest is crafting. Seems a typical female interest or hobby, but the true reason for said interest is not-so-typical.
I didn't like crafting for it's 'looks', or that because it's 'acceptable'. The art parts are just a bonus and a perk itself for getting away with said special interest.
Then it happened to be a versatile domain.

I'm more of a constant doer and dumper than a hoarder, info-hoarder or info-dumper.

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I love taking tennis lessons, watercolor painting, dance and public speaking. Not only do they key into my interests, they are all also things I thought I was unable to do because I was too anxious or clumsy. It was nice to see that wasn't the truth.

My special interests are Animals, Art and Video Games. Two older special interests of mine were Doctor Who and Warrior Cats. I enjoy Science Fiction/Fantasy and building my own worlds in my head.

Art is still my longest running and most intense obsession to date. It is my primary interest. Since I want to take up a career in concept illustration for Video Games, the interest has served me well and allowed me to have a very strong focus. I like digital sculpture and painting.

I would say Video Games are a fairly common interest for those aspies born in more recent decades. I have been obsessed with Pokémon in particular since I was very young. I like to collect Pokémon Merchandise, too. Pokémon is something I've noticed that tends to particularly appeal to aspies, It's wonderful. I do like many different kinds of video games. I like RPGs a lot. When I was younger I was absolutely fixated with Club Penguin, it was a means to socialise with other people.

Animals are another one. My favourite animal is the European Badger, but I love all animals. I like reading about animal husbandry, especially in regards to Dogs, Reptiles and Invertebrates. (Tarantulas!) I would say animals are not an uncommon interest for autistic people, as we often find solace and friendship in animal companions as they are not socially complex. If it were not for my dog's needs, I would not leave the house at all. Many also enjoy the ritualistic behaviour associated with taking care of Reptiles and Inverts.

I guess Science Fiction (Doctor Who, Star Trek, The X-Files, etc.) might be considered a "typical" special interest among AS people. I never really cared much for trains (my cousin on the spectrum loves them, however). I have always loved animals and they were definitely a special interest when I was younger. Most of my special interests have been TV shows or movies.

I was given model trains, but could easily have ignored them otherwise. I could tell you quite a bit about locomotive history, but as part of my other studies. My dad helped build trains. I built a large double-pendulum harmonograph on my train table, and took up custom model cars like my school chums. I grew up enjoying Meccano, but found it limiting and lost interest, while simple wooden blocks, as used for masonry architectural experiments came back out of the toy box. I ignore Lego, because it ignores gravity, and is so rectilinear. It also makes creativity expensive. Junk is more versatile.

I've read a lot of Science Fiction, but find Star Trek to be unimaginative and amateurish - not "camp." I saw one Star Wars, and a few minutes of Dr. Who. I love Monty Python, and loathe SNL. I don't know what Pokemen are, and am often puzzled over what branch of entertainment a celebrity is known for. I deliberately avoid blue jeans, the uniform of nonconformists.

My three favourite authors are Robert Persig, J.E. Gordon, and E.O. Wilson.

In high school, I was quite content to run dead last around the track for "warm up" but discovered the wonderful efficiency and speed of urban cycling at age 20, and now ride just for exercise, averaging 9 km per day. I was reasonably good at frisbee. At work, I'm rather slow at the commonplace jobs, but am not slowed down by novel situations, sailing right through instead of having to try three different ways. I'm a good, but far from outstanding craftsman, because I don't stay with any one craft for years.

I wonder.
I recently moved to a big city, got a monthly ticket for the whole area and since then I am travelling through the city everyday, discovering the pattern how trams and bus lines connect and how to get from one point of the city to another.
Does it count?
I don't think the interest will stay with me long though - I will drop it as soon as I learn routes of all of them(it will take a while), know how all stops look like and which stop each tram or bus passes through. I won't waste my memory on remembering the schedules of all of them, especially since they rarely go on time, except for their starting stops.

I have a few, the biggest being biology and art.

I had the trains thing in the late 1970s, and just last week bought five 1980s railway magazines from a market stall....In 1977 I bought the British Rail Timetable (a book of over 1000 pages) and it became my summer reading project. How sad is that?

I've been through periods of watching entire series of Star Trek, Space 1999, UFO, etc.

Over the last couple of years I've built up a collection of 15 computers, and have 14 gaming consoles, 9 VHS recorders, 8 hard drive recorders and 5 dvd players and recorders.

Computer science, cryptography (not a special interest but something I find interesting), astronomy (also no special interest), different kinds of riddles/puzzles, reading music reviews (I also know many album ratings of one indie music webzine by heart) and "alternative" music in general. I also like Star Trek, but it's far from a special interest. I once had a bit of an obsession with Franz Kafka, don't know if that's typical? Or geocaching?

I also have some interests considered as more neurotypical like swimming in lakes, meeting people or going to music festivals.