New Word for "Special Interests"

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I sat down and thought about "Special Interests," and something about that has a kind of "negative connotation" about it. So, ive been thinking of other things to call the trait: Intellectual Obsession, Intellectual Interest, Obsessive Interest, etc since we in the spectrum do as we do not because we like it, we're addicted to it on an intellectual basis (ie learning about it, exploring it, finding out some things on our own, etc). What do you guys thinks?

I don't really see anything wrong with "Special Interest"... But i have used "Obsessive Interest" a bunch of times before to explain my interests, because that explains it better to most people who wouldn't know what i mean by "special interest."

I agree!
I think it should be something a lot cooler sounding, maybee "loop".
Its kinda a noun and a verb.
My loop is......
Im just looping...
"Loop" does'nt look good in text though, so not good for interweb.
I got it! we could call it "sub". Like short for submarine, as in silent, deep and isolated.
Or short for "subject", even.
Subloop? I dunno. I'm with you, I want a word that conveys the awesomness I feel about my """SPECIAL INTEREST"""
My "Moby Dick" My......whatever. Hopefully someone can come up with something cool in latin. I'm kinda drunk right now, but I love this thread.

I like to call them "fascinations". I think "obsessive" can also carry a negative connotation.

I am definitely fascinated by my special interests. Good word.

"Fascination" really captures the sense of wonder and peace when I am doing my favourite thing.

"Fascination" comes ultimately from a Latin word "fascinum", which means "spell" or "witchcraft". That is exactly right: I am enchanted by my fascinations, I am under a spell, I am lost in admiration and beautiful peace. It is like being in love, where every glance at your beloved gives you a glowing, happy feeling. For me, following my fascination almost gives me the same burst of sighing happiness as being in love. I can't get enough of it. I just want to spend time in its presence, soaking up its company. Someone must have slipped me a love potion when I first encountered my special interest, and I was hooked ever after. It's an addiction, it's a drug, and I don't want it to stop.

But in my more blunt moments, yeah - I would say I have obsessive interests. And I am proud of it, if occasionally embarrassed too ("You like what???"). Boring people don't find anything fascinating.

I don't mind special interests. I'm not as obsessed by them as I once was. Also, I don't think I'd call them intellectual interests, because they don't seem very intellectual.
Then there are those interests that I still think about even when I'm not spending time on them. Even when I'm socializing or must concentrate on my work.
I shall call these: Interests that I Can't Get out of my Freaking Mind (or ICGFM).

I vote for "Intellectual Interest" or II for short

Fascination is a good euphemism for the behavior. It sounds much better than mania, fixation, compulsion, obsession, neuroses, and craze. At some level, I prefer 'obsession' because its more accurate. The relabeling of people from 'disabled' to 'special' has made 'special' a byword for 'ret*d' (at least in America). I don't want to beat around the bush-- its an obsession.

Is this thread a fascination or an obsession?

ITA!
LOL, you should see people's faces when I tell them I love Bollywood. They're either like, "What is THAT?" or "Um....do you even understand Hindi?" Not ALL of it, but I have picked up some. I prefer not to understand WHAT they say (words) I am able to enjoy the FEEL of the movie better that way. I just really like the way the language sounds...but other people don't seem to get it LOL. Obviously I am fascinated by it though. Perfect word!

"Fascinations" sounds great! I'm totally going to start using it!

I usually call mine "obsessions", but I'm actually becoming less obsessive about things than I was in the past.

For the record, I've always hated the term "special interests", because it implies that the interests of aspies are more "special" than the interests of NTs. NTs can get pretty fascinated with stuff too, ya know!

I ussually call them obsessions, or say the word interest but really emphasized like "INTEREST". "Oh it's you know, one of those, interests".

i made up a word many years ago which i thought was descriptive of my minds tendency to subdivide and endlessly compound the complications of perception i see, and that word is "ramifychosis".
just look up the meaning of the word "ramify" and you will see what i mean.

in a spontaneous sense, my mind tends to split what ever i am thinking about into 2 new things to think about, and they both also get split into 2 aspects which makes 4 things to consider and they also get split up ..... ad infinitum, and before long, i have to shut down because the amount of things i am considering surpasses my ability to do so.

i must most often ignore many aspects of my sensorium so i can concentrate on a singular line of thought, but i always feel that i am ignoring important potentials of consideration i could otherwise ponder. who knows.
i like to get tired because everything seems unimportant then.

How about passions.

"pash un's" may be a breed of people who do not like pashing,

I call mine obsessions....it's what they are Why deny it?

~Kate

In English Special Interests are ok, but I don't use translation, because it's long and sounds quite formal. I use obsessions (obsesje) and fasci nation (fasci nacja).