can your special interest change?

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My interests have always been odd. I wasn't interested in things that most psychologists talk about what most AS interests are. When I was young, I was interested in clamps with thumb screws on them. I was fascinated with the shape of the grip of the screw, because one of the clamps on my bed frame used a thumb screw. I was fascinated by radiator vents(I called them valves, incorrectly, and the thumb screws "bumps") and had quite a connection. I also took a liking to radiators(the old ones), down spouts and vintage rain gutters. I was fascinated by vintage wooden doorstops and had quite the collection. I loved phone jacks, outlets, BX house wiring, lightswitches, vintage and modern, washing machine discharge hose, cast iron pipes, junction boxes, light sockets and related, matches( loved the look, never struck them. I liked the Ohio blue tip, with the actual light blue tip) tea bags and loose tea, coffee and coffee bags, laundry detergent and fabric softener, I was fascinated with chemistry, blue 1 dye, tape recorders, radios, microphones, super Mario brothers 3, Mortal Kombats, then as I got older, more video games, computers, And mainly electronics.

Now it's c-band satellite reception, commercial satellite receivers, commercial cable tv equipment, and cisco networking. Right now, I'm playing with a Weatherstar 4000, which is a computer system installed at the headend to provide the Weather Channels local forecast. I'm able to get it operating without having a commercial account with the Weather Channel. My interests go from topic to topic, ranging from a month to a few months to years, never completely losing interest. It'll start, peak, decrease until I find a new interest, and will to the same, sometime repeating pasts interests,

But one thing that I must say, interests are the forefront of my life. They are primary, not secondary, and make me very happy. There is me, then my interests. Without my interests, life becomes very boring and my performance in tasks that require attention, such as work, seem to suffer. When I had a girlfriend, she wanted all of my attention, which completely took me away from my interests. Everything in my life became painfully boring, including work, which I had completely no interest in doing. Once I got back into my interests, things improved. So all in all, without my interests, I don't get depressed, but I find life extremely boring.

Jonathan

For me, the answer is both "yes" and "no." One of my first (and biggest) special interests as a kid was the human body and its organs, which began around age 3. Science is still one of my biggest (and lifelong) passions, but my interest in anatomy/physiology has changed throughout the years. When I was four, I was into obstetrics/pregnancy. From age 12-17, I wanted to be a cardiologist. My interest in the neuroscience of psychiatric disorders began around age 15 1/2, but I didn't choose a career in neuroscience until I was 18. So, science has always been with me, and it always will.

As for my other big special interests, they also are lifelong, although none of them started until I was 12 or older. What happens with me is that a specific special interest will be the one that I monologue about for 1-3 years. Then, when I switch to a different special interest to monologue about, I only monologue about the older interest when prompted. But they always stay with me.

Mine pretty much stayed the same...they just got stronger as an adult. And... I no longer had to deal with people telling me to shut up about them.

Most peoples interests, including special interests, change over time.

Mine have changed over time, but not really because I basically just stockpile things until I feel like revisiting them. But I really like tropes and story-telling in general so I guess those interests do kind of fall under one very broad, vaguely defined umbrella category.

I would say yes to a special interest changing. I read a lot when very young, now I seem to enjoy nature more.

The idea that some people can latch onto a special interest for so long amazes me. Mine tend to be rapid-fire (a few weeks to two months), with a few exceptions that have lasted a few years at a time. The one big exception was horses - I thought/spoke about and engaged with nothing else from the age of four until I was twelve. It was intense enough that doctors were consulted.

Mine change all the time, sometimes lasting for years and sometimes only lasting for a few days, or anywhere in between. Anything that has been a special interest for me typically stays as a regular interest, and may rise to the level of "special interest" again later. A few of the ones that didn't last for very long, I didn't even actually like, but I still felt compelled to learn everything I could about them, and mention of them will still get my attention.

I've had one special interest stay with me from the earliest memories I can recall. But I've had side interests or related interests that have fluctuated. I would still say most of them still are interests but not something that's at the same intensity of 'special interest'. When they were prominent I was obsessive with them but at one time or another it was shelved. Sometimes they may reemerge for awhile and then go back to obscurity again.

Mine hasn't changed for most of my life and I'm unable to completely change it, though I am able to very loosely push into other fields related to it and it doesn't occupy every moment. It's a framework my brain has designed for certain kinds of information and this framework can modify slightly to allow for a distinct yet similar kind of information.

In this way I have been able to engage in more fields yet remain most strongly obsessed with the primary field.

Yes. I have few fleeing special interests over the course of time, that can be more intense than my long term and barely changing special interest.

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Special interests were not "known about" when I was a child. I would get really interested in something and then was shamed out of it by my father who would publicly tease me about an interest. I wonder what would have happened if I had been allowed to focus on an interest. Just wonder, not regret in any intense way. Residual effects include not talking to others about my interests and not being able to fully devote myself to an interest, such as described here.

Mine have definitely changed over the years, but some have stayed constant: animals (especially cats); history; literature; world cultures (the country of interest has changed over time, but I am always interested in reading about different places) and medical topics. I first began researching autism when I was in sixth grade.

I have been interested in different sports and in the Olympic Games since 1984. That's odd for someone who just began taking formal tennis lessons at age 50.

Chess and violin (w/classical music) have been my interests since young. For a while I was interested in fractals, but now I am into election theory. Anything seems better than Plurality wins (runoff or presidential primary), sometimes called First Past The Post (FPTP). Wife calls it obsessive, but that's par for me.

I've been interested in The Olympics since 1984 as well. I think it's a real treat to see countries compete with each other in peace and harmony for 16 days at a time.

I was interested in The Kinks for a second time from the ages 35 to 41.

I went into a bit of a dark stage between the ages 41 to 44. I was into Germany and war.

Ages 44 to the future: The hippie philosophy, The Kinks, The Monkees and I'm still very much into The Olympics. The Olympics reflect the world as I think it should be.

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