Do AS people always have "special interests"?

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I'm diagnosed with an ASD but honestly, I don't really have a "special interest". I go through phases of being interested in some things and spending lots of time on them but as a teenager I think that's pretty normal. I don't really have the "intense focus" on one particular subject that people with AS are supposed to have. For instance I play music, but I wouldn't say I was obsessed with it. I play the piano and the guitar, I write quite a lot and read a lot about certain things from books/the internet, in a fairly typical way.

I don't have a special interest, and everyone else seems to be talking about having one. In a way I almost wish I did have a special subject or talent of some kind. It seems that that would be a positive part of having AS and a way to get away from things.

So, do you have a special interest and what is it? And how do you think you distinguish between a normal interest and an AS "special interest"?

I don't know what the difference is between a general interest and an Aspie special interest. Everybody's got interests, not just Aspies (some people on WP don't seem to know this). I know an NT who is really into guitars, and is looking into playing in a band. That's an interest.

I'm not sure if I have a particular interest or not. I've always been obsessed with certain people. Some Aspies get obsessed with certain people, and I will never know why.

I'm on the spectrum and I have a special interest. I don't need to tell you what the main interest is, but I have a few that are related to the London of the 50s and the 60s. I also have special interests in a couple of other things as well. Computers and The Olympics.

I didn't really have a special interest up until a couple of years ago. It only seems to happen when I suffer from periods of depression/ isolation/ illness or severe anxiety. During these times I don't tend to socialise at all except with family and I become obsessed with a subject . last time it was manga, cosplay, japan, I started to learn japanese for a couple of years but I have since given up due to socialising again, going out and meeting friends.

I do believe there is a positive correllation, at least in my case. My son has no special interest and he also is an aspie.

I agree with a lot of this. I have been almost obsessed about people before (however creepy that sounds) but not in a creepy way! There was one thing that I spent a lot of time finding out as much as possible about, writing about, talking and thinking about all of the time, but I think a lot of girls my age are kind of obsessive about the same thing.

I don't always have a special interest, but I do become intensely interested in different topics at different times. Some of my happiest experiences are when I teach myself something new.

I have a few main interests that are constant, then the rest vary in subjects and time spent on them.

I have many interests, but they are unusual for my age and gender (15, female) because they are primarily of the academic nature. There are some that are not, but it's safe to say I'm extremely comfortable in the world of academic subjects (such as literature, sciences, history, linguistics, philosophy, etc.) while a large majority of people of my age and gender (teenage females, basically) find such topics "boring."
I have had a strong special interest in Presidents of the U.S., though, that had a duration of about eight years. But currently, my interests are more "eclectic", for lack of a better word.

My special interests have changed over the years, but If I happen to stumble across certain older ones, I have the ability to pick right back up on it, in most cases. Usually with my obsessions/special interests, I tend to send so much focus in it, I spend more time researching/watching it than I do associate with people, and/or I talk excessively about it. I don't talk about these things as much as I did when was young, since I usually keep my comments to myself. But I still can ramble about it if someone brings it up a subject related to it.....

Pretty much this...

Last edited by LuckyLeft on 24 Jul 2011, 8:42 am, edited 1 time in total.

This applies to me as well, except for the fact that I soon figured out that nobody else I knew my age liked the Presidents as much as I did (nobody I knew period, actually) so I "hid" my interest when I was around them.

I use to have an obsession with the U.S. presidents, too! I use to wake up in the morning to see if I could name all 41 Presidents (at the time; Bush was in office) in less than a minute when I was young. I love History, it was my first non-obscure obsession. I didn't know anybody else that liked History, and I think I enjoyed it more than my teachers. But I "hid" my interests around them. Until they found out that I usually got the highest grades in the class from the teacher

I think an Aspie is lucky if he gets obsessed with cars of football, or if she gets obsessed with make-up and fashion. You get socially accepted more.

That's true. I found it easier to appear 'normal' once I found to be obsessed with basketball and football stats. It's not as obvious. That's probably why my parents didn't believe I still had my ASD. My mother said, "Everyone likes sports." I told her, "Not the way I do."

I vary between lots of stuff. I hate the words special interests. It makes it sound as if only a special person would be interested in them. not that I am that especially interested in strange things. I like practical or intellectual stuff: Spanish, History, Biology (specifically zoology).

I have strong interests, but I'm not all that consistent with them. They change a lot over time. When I pursue them, I pursue them with intensity. But I have trouble maintaining that same interest over a long period of time. For example, if I'm interested in learning something, I won't give up until I've learned everything I want to know about it. I will become knowledgeable on a topic, if only for a little while. But then I'll move onto something new and obsess about that for awhile. In this way, I learn a lot about a lot of things, but what I don't get the benefit of being an expert in any one topic.

I wish sometimes that I was more of a "one trick pony" because, if i were to pursue one topic with the intensity, I'm sure I could be an expert on it. And maybe if I was, I wouldn't have had such a problem figuring out what I wanted to study in college. A friend of mine has studied astronomy for years and years and years, because that is what she loves. So, she got to college, studied it there, and is now doing a PhD program.

I can't say I've ever had something I'm that passionate about over time. There are interests that I return to, but nothing that I'm able to pursue over time without interruption. Oh well! I guess for now I can just continue to be the "jack of all trades". xD

I have two types of "special interests" those which are long term but cyclic, and those which are short term. With both of these I will spend considerable time engaging in the subject and will think about the subject in a way which some would call obsessive when I'm not actively engaging in it. For the short term ones, I will ultimately learn everything I care to learn about it (in other words, all my questions have been answered) and I will then be done with it. It generally takes me a few weeks or a few months for me to satisfy my curiosity. They are usually in non-expansive fields and so a finite amount of information exists about them.

Long term interests are in more expansive fields of continuing research so I will typically learn the information in chunks as it becomes available.

But to answer your question, no, one does not need a special interest provided one meets other criteria in the same DSM-IV category.