How do people react to the subject of your special interest?

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i dont talk about my special interests much or at all because i know nobody cares but when i mention it because im only human and i really want to talk about it the response is somewhat awkward. one person has asked me questions about my interest upon seeing me reading a book about autism. this was after we had just met so he was like are you studying psychology? (im not) i was really happy when he did because i could talk about it. the others, when i mention what i'm reading or what movie i have watched, go quiet for a second. i dont know if this is because the books and movies are on autism. i always feel awkward so i say something else to deflect.
eg.
watched any movies lately?
yeah mary and max. it was the best representation of AS i have seen.
silence
and it was cute...

when it was herbs my friends mostly accepted it as me being weird as usual and others made you know what else is a herb? cannabis jokes.

Most people are completely puzzled when I tell them I collect and restore Cold War era air raid sirens.... And they really think I'm weird when I tell that I have one installed and operational on the house!

Charles

I'm very interested in serial killers, and people often misinterpret that as me feeling some kind of admiration for or affinity with serial killers, which is incorrect. I find serial killers a fascinating topic of study and devote a large amount of my time to that study.

If they don't think I'm a serial killer 'groupie' then they are most likely just disturbed by the topic in general and don't want to talk about it.

I can talk with my psychiatrist about serial killers though, as she did a unit of forensic psychology and is more knowledgeable on the subject than most people I talk to, and agrees that it is an interesting topic, though not to the same extent as I do.

Thanks..for...sharing...

Was weddingscene responding to my post, or giving an example of how people react to his/her own interests?

They either say that it's really stupid or fascinating.

Some people think that my ASD pursuits are neat. Most people aren't that interested, so I try to avoid bringing it up unless the person knows me well, or I feel like they are the type who would take an interest in it.

As for my more taboo interests...I'll only talk about them with my mom and my shrink.

At first, people seem to think it's cool (music and DJing), but they quickly grow tired of it unless they like the exact same bands / genres / songs that I do.

When I was a kid, generally "Animal Freak!" or "Science Nerd!" were the reactions of choice. Now that I work in a museum though, I tend to just get people asking me more questions. This goes on for an hour sometimes, or however long the visitor wants to stick around. It's actually quite nice.

No one really bothered me about my art interests, well except for my mother, who loved that I wanted to do that all day. She became obsessed with training me up to be a "real" artist one day. ...and then I ended up illustrating comic books. Poor Mom.

Hmmm, as for karate, my boyfriend sometimes has to grab my shoulders gently and say "Okay, time to separate karate from personal life." The first time I was surprised, but then when I thought about it, I realized that I had been talking about the history of karate in Okinawa on and off for several hours.... whoops!

And lastly music. Usually not many people complain about that until I've continued playing my flutes or singing Broadway songs too late into the night. Mostly I just obsess over that in my own mind. A private symphony 24/7.