Dispel this myth about autism for me, please

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I don't know many people in real life with Asperger's and autism, I just know people on this forum and from what I seem on videos but one thing I'm not sure about is if people with classic autism (even HFA) are eager to share their interests with others and talk at length about them like people with Asperger's syndrome are known to?

The reason why I ask is because I'm writing a book with the central character being autistic (HFA) and so far he is almost math illiterate, more artistic but interested in science but struggles to understand science because of the math problems. Most of his personality comes from me and one thing I love doing is telling people about my interests or some random fact. I actually went from not talking about them to talking about them too much, so maybe it has to do with how much one socialises, and self confidence or how comfortable one feels with a person to share that information.

I just wanted to do an accurate portrayal of autism which I know is difficult because everyone with autism is different, and I definitely don't want to stereotype. So, I thought I'd ask it here first as a question rather than saying 'well I think people with AS do this and people with autism do this.'

If you are autistic (classic) and talk about your interests please tell em or if you have an autistic child who loves to talk about his/her interests I'd like to know that too. An dif possible, give examples.

Dispeliarmus!

I'm diagnosed with Asperger's and don't discuss my interests unless others explicitly start it. Even then I do so far less than the stereotypical aspie.

I've met someone with classic autism who definitely seems to discuss her special interests a bunch.

When I was a kid, I would lecture to anyone who would listen about my special intrests/obessions. As an adult, I don't want to dicuss them with anyone. I am actually really creeped out by people who want to know about my obsessions. I think it's because as a kid, I was never freely allowed to talk about them. Certian obsessions I only share with people who share said obsession.

I don't talk about my special interests much, because I would rather pursue them by myself than talk about them with other people. I usually think about them all the time, but not much of that thinking leaks out of my mouth.

When I was a kid, I never talked about my special interests, because I almost never talked.

I still get really surprised when people are genuinely interested in my special interests. As a kid people were always telling me to be quiet (when I actually talked) and get some normal interests or not be as obsessed.

Mith.

Oh, sorry. I thought that said misspell. Or was it mythspell?

Seriously though, you've lost me. What's the myth we're supposed to dispel?

As far as telling you about our interests, I don't understand how that's going to help you with your writing. They are our interests. Not yours. You should write about what you know. Give your character one of your own interests. The interest topic isn't all that important when it comes to accurate portrayal of Autism. How the character talks about it is more important. I wouldn't worry too much about that either. First, you can't tell how we talk from what we write. Second, while some of us are somewhat "robotic" speakers (I'm told I was very robotic as a child), a lot of us are fairly animated.

Do us all a favor. Just write the character as you would write it. If the character turns out appearing "too normal" that's perfect. It's about time non-Autistics in general are exposed to fictional characters that are more like the reality than the stereotypes. Just have the character talk a lot about whatever it is. It really isn't important how he talks about it. Don't try to "make" him Autistic. Just LET him be. The mere mention of it is enough. If you try to mold him into something, it's just going to end up being another one of the many dismally inaccurate portrayals already out there.

I think that's the real problem with all the bad Autistic portrayals. The writers tried too hard to make them Autistic. When you do that, that's when the stereotypes and overdone symptoms come into it that we all hate.

Given the last time I saw an autistic character in a novel, she never mentioned a single interest, this would be a nice contrast.

Admittedly, it was a Mass Effect novel.

Does this special interest talking stereotype come from some autistic people rambling when they talk? Because I do ramble a lot, just not about one thing all the time. Anytime I talk about anything, I tend to ramble.

I like to talk about my interests if someone else brings it up first. Other than that, I try to stay away from these topics. I'm medium to high functioning autistic.

"Help! I'm talking, and I can't shut up!" That's how I feel sometimes. At other times, I can't get a word in edgewise in a conversation. At still other times, I really don't want to talk at all. When I get going, I can pour out a great deal about whatever's in my head at the time. I do have interests, and I can go on at length about them, but I can go on about anything else, too, such as an opinion about whatever topic is being discussed. I do it in writing, too, as anyone who's read my posts here can attest. One time, I was writing an e-mail from a friend's computer, and she asked if I were writing a novel. (Part of what made it take so long to finish, though, was that I was editing, which I can also do to death!)

I'm not ready for anyone to take any of that into account just yet, though. I find out if I have Asperger's, something else, or just a goofy, annoying personality on Tuesday, so let's hold off on whether or not this counts until then.

In the meantime, I'll repeat a quote for the second time today, which I recently read in a book: "If you've met one kid with Asperger's, you've met one."

I talk about them a lot for how much I talk... but since I don't talk that much, it's still not really a lot. I like to talk about autism, Food Network, and cats. I'm not really able to discuss anything else.