Are special interests really a defining feature of an ASD?

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First of all I'm really sorry if this has already been posted here, but doing a quick search didn't reveal anything, so here goes nothing.

Now I'm pretty sure that almost all of you know that special/intense interests are a defining feature of an ASD (if not, what planet do you live on? Oh -- I know -- the Wrong Planet! Ha! Ha!).

Ugh, here I go making puns again... can I write one post here without making a pun of some sort?

Puns or no puns, special interests are one of the defining features of an ASD. But should that be the case?

Thanks to Mozilla Firefox, I was led to this page. Basically, it describes a young boy's obsession with garbage trucks. If that doesn't qualify as a special interest, well then I don't know what does. When I did a little searching on that page, I came to another page, describing why so many children like dinosaurs. That led to the original research article, which is here.

In the articles that I have read regarding this topic, I noted the following. 1) Special interests are very common, nearly a third of children have them when they're younger. 2) The most common areas of interest are vehicles, followed by dinosaurs and machines. 3) They are typically most intense between the ages of two and six. 4) They may actually be beneficial, boosting working memory, and concentration, both of which are beneficial (of which I'm seriously lacking in the former department).

After reading this, I had a question; what is it that makes most children's special interests dissipate, but remain in those with an ASD?

Well, the articles note that a common reason why special interests fade is because of two factors. The first one is school, which seriously cuts down on the time most children have for focusing on what interests them most. In addition, their interests start to spread out more. But what might be more relevant is peer pressure. Many children stop pursuing their special interests because they realise that other children won't appreciate the fact that they go on and on about something that only they're interested in (sorry about the trash talk, but how likely is it that they'll find someone else obsessed about garbage trucks?). Finally, in order for the special interest to be sustained, the family had to be supportive of it, and free play opportunities had be accompanied by family discussions.

It's that second and third point that I'd like to point out. My theory (and this isn't proven by any scientific papers), is this; that people with an ASD retain their special interests for two reasons. Firstly, they don't interact with children their own age as much as usual, owing to a weaker ability to socialise. As a result, they're more likely to not visit their friends (if they have any) after school as are other children, and talk with their family about their special interest -- and this is exactly what research has shown is needed to sustain a special interest!

I'm not trying to ditch special interests here, as they can be quite useful and important, but I suppose I'll tell you my story, in the next post as I'm out of time (for now).

I think this is a really interesting discussion and I will start with the fact that I haven't really thought about it before now.

BUT I think it may largely to do with the empathy factor. I personally don't see why I should bend to peer pressure when it is something I like. I think often we find people exhausting and confusing so we look to something we know and understand to calm down. If you think of it the other way round, everyone else's special interests are to do with people and interaction with people. What makes our special interests stand out is that we don't need social interaction to enjoy them.

Well that's a half formed thought and feel free to disagree but really interesting topic!! !

Since I'd promised I'd tell my tale of special interests, here goes nothing.

From what I've been told, my first special interest (probably around the age of two) was trains. I would read literally every book about trains I could find, drive trains in train simulators (Microsoft Train Simulator, Trainz 2006), build railways to move goods (Chris Sawyer's Locomotion), and go to railway museums (yes, I did watch some of Thomas the Tank Engine, but I am no expert on it). While I don't obsess over trains anymore, I do enjoy watching them drive by, and I still drive trains in train simulators and play Chris Sawyer's Locomotion from time to time. Perhaps it makes me nostalgic...

A secondary interest that appeared, maybe a year or two later, were big machines, especially construction equipment and ships. I liked anything describing machines and watching big machines go about their business; I must've watched every single episode of Theodore Tugboat, Mighty Machines and Bob the Builder at least three times. To this very day I enjoy using, repairing, and rebuilding big machines, so that hasn't died away yet. It's not an obsession anymore by any means.

Machines and trains prevailed for another two years or so, but then my mother (I was educated at home primarily up until university) introduced me to chemistry. She didn't know much about it, and so passed it onto my father. I also watched a lot of Magic School Bus and read many of the books around the same time. Chemistry never became as deep an obsession as trains, but my interest in it remained very steady over the years, and it happened to be the interest that got me a career.

Interests continued to broaden in the year 12010, when Hurricane Earl threatened to make landfall. Now I had always been interested in weather ever since Hurricane Juan made landfall seven years earlier, but Earl turned it into an obsession. For nearly three years, that became my main obsession. It was nearly as strong as the trains obsession years earlier at its peak; I'd watch The Weather Network for an hour a day when I could afford the time. To this day, I still enjoy watching weather, with a specific focus on the Atlantic hurricane season.

At about the same time as I got into weather, my mother read Lord of the Rings to me in French. I then listened to the 1981 BBC radio drama while driving. The interest in LotR didn't start immediately, but about a couple years after getting into weather, I became very interested in LotR and anything Tolkien-related (still haven't read the Silimarion, or watched the Hobbit Films -- the only movie I ever watched was LotR). Lord of the Rings remained a major interest for many years, and I still enjoy LotR to this very day.

Finally, I was introduced to the world of [b]neurodiversity[b/] by my organic professor last year, and this has been the closest thing to a special interest since then, although I never got into it nearly as much as trains.

So... what's changed in regard to my special interests over the years? Well, they seem to have become less intense (even at their peaks) over the years. This is partly because I never completely lose interest in old interests, leading to less resources available for investment in a new interest. Interests for me tend to start slowly, peak out for a while, then gradually decline to a more moderate level, until they're no stronger than those of anyone else interested in what I'm interested in. For example, I don't believe that my interest in LotR is any stronger than that of the next LotR-loremaster these days.

Apologies if this is long and rambly. If it wasn't me writing this, I'd probably never read a post this long.

I think it's defining when it's accompanied by other symptoms.

I'm glad you find this discussion interesting, and you might be surprised to know that I haven't really thought about it before now either. And you may be right with your theory that everyone else's special interest is people -- most people (especially teenagers!) care way too much about what everyone thinks of them. Why else would they spend so much time (and money) obsessing about their appearance, and doing what their friends do, even if they themselves don't care about it?

Personally I don't dislike people, or find them tiring, and if I can get social interaction from my interests, all the better, man! What I do find tiring sometimes is people's behaviour. As my old lab manager said "people are stupid". Now I don't agree with that all the time, but there are times where I definitely agree with him. The high temperature tech, has a great attitude in that regard. He told me "I don't have to look great, I just have to work". If everyone followed his example, the world would likely be a better place.

Finally, I agree with not backing down to peer pressure! If someone ever pressures you into doing something you don't agree with, never back down!

They are for me. My special interests bring purpose to my life.

My argument is that special interests are a consequence of having an ASD, not really a defining feature. I've been told that girls/women are less likely to have special interests at all, NT or ASD.

The analogy I have for you is: It's like bad reading comprehension in dyslexics is because they have a hard time decoding. Bad reading comprehension doesn't make you dyslexic.

I've always been curious what separates a "special interest" from a "regular interest", when does an interest cross that line? Personally, people have called me "obsessed" when it comes to certain things, but....when does an interest qualify as special, or an obsession?

Maybe it's a case by case thing? People say I'm obsessed because I know 200+ songs word by word and can sing my playlists off by heart, but what's the average amount of songs that people know off by heart? I've stayed up till 3am researching sea animals out of curiosity, because my mind started to wonder, is that a standard interest?

I'll admit that I was (and still am) a tad obsessed with cats, I have a cat mug, dressing gown, mirror, wind-chime, jumpers, pyjamas, encyclopedia, socks, an actual cat, I volunteered at a cat shelter for several years, did work experience at the same cat shelter, went to the library to read about cats, I end up talking about cat breeds and random facts about cats, and at one point I used to research cat genetics and body language. Also I used to watch cats 101 and go on the Animal Planet website, and read articles on cats and do quizzes, not to mention the fact I have a cat calendar, and possibly a fridge magnet. I considered becoming a cat behaviourist, or owning my own cattery or shelter.

Maybe I have a problem.

The differences between a NT passions and Autistic Special Interests is why they occur and the narrowness and intensity of them

In Autism they are way of dealing with overstimulation and trouble with change.

Nah. As long as your interests aren't unhealthy, then I don't see a problem. And yes, I'm also really confused as to what differentiates a "special interest" from an "obsession". If a NT girl is constantly listening to Taylor Swift songs often, and talks to her friends about Taylor all the time, do her parents say Taylor Swift is her "special interest"? Probably not. If an autistic girl listens to Taylor Swift songs all the time and talks to all her friends about Taylor Swift, then it's a "special interest".

The only difference that I can find between ASD "special interests" and NT "interests" is that those with ASD are more likely to talk about their interests to everyone, whether they care to listen or not, making them more obvious. It's also possible that those with ASD's have slightly more unusual "special interests" than NT's. Going back to the Swiftie analogy (I believe that's what fans of Taylor Swift call themselves; I'm not one of them), it's highly unlikely that a NT Swiftie would talk to an older man about her special interest. Why? Because she knows he won't be interested. But the autistic Swiftie meeting an older man is likely to tell him about her favourite artist, because she doesn't know that he won't likely be interested.

So, to summarise everything I've posted and read so far; both NT's and ASD's have "special interests", and both talk about them in the same way until they're about five or six. At that point, NT's are more likely to keep their special interests to themselves, while those with ASD's are more likely to make their special interest(s) known to everyone around them.

Thank you for your comments so far; this has been one of the most interesting discussions I've seen in a very long while.

Huh, this actually gave me a better understanding. Thank you. Also, yes they are indeed called Swifties. I'm just indifferent to her music mostly.

I'd say there's a stark difference. NTs get obsessed, but I don't think I've met an NT who gets obsessed like I and other Aspies do.

For example, one of my special interests is GOT. I visit forums for GOT and know many others who are obsessed with it too.

But I highly doubt the GOT obsessed NTs listen to the same GOT scenes as background noise, in headphones every night, recite the lines both alongside the scenes and otherwise, talk about it constantly and always find a link in the conversation to bring it back to GOT, post the same things over and over again in the same thread to every new person, play the scenes in their head and think about it constantly etc etc.

Special interests are something I fail to fully understand - I have obsessive interests (interests that make me unable to think or talk about anything else), little professor interests (ones I know way more about than other people with the same hobby) and repetitive interests (ones that are a part of my routine I have trouble getting rid of), often with one interest fitting all 3 categories but sometimes I don't seem to have any abnormal interest anymore. They come and go.

But there is one thing I would like to share with you.

I have a cousin that used to watch Shrek repeatably when he was 4. He was begging for it 6 times a day, for a few months straight. It was much more obsessive and repeatable than anything I ever did in my life.
And I am Autistic. He isn't.
Actually he is more NT than anyone I know. He seriously might end up being a politician or something. His executive functioning and social skills are extremely good and he can seriously lead people. Recently he organised a 4 days abroad trip for 20 people to celebrate his 18th birthday. All by himself.

So, I get the impression from this thread that my interests probably wouldn't fall under the special interests category.

When people say "special interests" they are often talking about an autistic individual, and from what I understand of this thread these interests are often done as a way of coping with the World, perhaps sensory wise and to deal with social rejection/hardship.

Could a stim behaviour be a special interest? For example; if someone read up about a particular stim, and obsessed over it...ect.

I apologise for my ignorance on such topics, but I am trying to learn.

Personally, I do have ways of dealing with being overwhelmed by my senses, but I don't think any of my behaviours would count as stimming.

My therapist describes what I go through as dissociation, and I have ways of grounding myself back in reality (such as focusing on a wall) when things start to feel unreal, I zone out and nothing that anyone says when they are speaking to me seems to register fully, that is until I ground myself.

Usually I remove myself from the situation before I get that far though, since I can recognise the signs of when it's about to happen. However, it's not always possible to do so.

I think special interest are more common and pronounced in those with ASD because they are a coping mechanism, like a safe and comfortable place to go to escape from all the uncertainty and discomfort of everyday life. To borrow from ADHDAspie, listening to GOT scenes every night might not be as much to do with loving GOT (although I'm sure they do), but more because it's predictable and soothing. I definitely find that talking about things I like makes it easier for me to interact with people, so this is perhaps why people with ASD talk about their special interests all the time.

I like learning lists of information about interests of mine (like memorising the Periodic Table) because I can ground myself or distract myself from unwanted stimuli by reciting it to myself. I also like researching my main special interest (ASD) if I'm feeling stressed or upset as it helps me to calm down.

So, as ADHDAspie commented, NTs get obsessed, but not to the extent people with ASD do, perhaps because those with ASD are compelled to use their interests as coping mechanisms.

^^ That sums it up pretty well for me too. I have told people since long before I knew I'm autistic that I'm not just "doing something", I "go somewhere". They're my "sanctuary".

Something else that may be significant is that I have never been able to do any of my special interests as part of a group, despite trying this with at least two of them. I will talk about them to other people, but they are always solitary pursuits. I have had other interests that I did do as part of a group, but they seem different to me, more like the usual definition of a "hobby", even when they overlapped with the other kind. I wonder if this is also common?