Special Interests and researching?

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Hi there,

I was wondering if this is something that happens with people with Aspergers Syndrome (or any ASD).

Basically do you have special interests of subjects which you research quite deeply , but after a period of time (weeks, months - years?) you lose the "single focus" interest in it?

It seems I have an interest in things - I'll research them quite deeply, discuss them with friends etc but then move on to something else after a while... ofcourse usually I still have the interest but it's just a lesser amount of interest. Ande sometimes I can get very interested again...

Yes, I'm like that. Especially with the Internet, all of a sudden something will fascinate me and I'll start researching about it and this can go on for hours, days, weeks, months and eventually years. You can usually find my laptop with about 10 different tabs open from me getting interested in something and researching something on the side and eventually going back to something I found a few hours ago. Stumble Upon is perfect for this kind of hobby. haha

I spent the entire afternoon to get a 1990s game to work. I had to install a virtual machine to run it, mess around with data and .iso files for hours because of failing sound drivers, but I did it because the setting - the Titanic shortly before it sank, trying to prevent two world wars and a communist revolution - really interested me. That said, the Titanic - which was a major interest of mine eight or nine years ago - is a major interest of mine again (and no longer a phobia!). I hope the Australian guy carries on with the plan to build a full-scale replica, and I hope he sends it to Rotterdam so I can see it.

I have a very similar experience for games. Sometimes for a long period of time I'd become very obsessed and interested in a particular game which I own and would spend a lot of time each day playing it and researching other people's input about the game. But weeks or months later I'd lose interest and shift my interest to a different game and so on. The process for me seems cyclical as usually about a year later I would renew my interest in that particular game and so on.

For researching topics I also have a similar interest in it. For the most part of last year I had a deep interest in the subway systems in where I live and I'd spend a lot of time each day researching and browsing forums about it. But after months of focusing on that topic, eventually it becomes no longer my main focus.

Yep! I have always been wondering and curious about many things that I see.

Absolutely! Eventually some of the interests cycle around again, too. Right now I'm fascinated by climatology and geology, both of which have fascinated me in the past, but that fell to the side once something else intensely interesting came up. I'm sure that after climatology and geology have had their run, I will drop them suddenly and switch onto something new, too.

I do the same things with websites. I often become suddenly and intensely into a site, refreshing it every few minutes, reading everything on it, etc etc... But then, almost out of nowhere, I just stop going. I feel wrong about it, too, since I usually make friends on them, but I can't help it- the idea of going to the site suddenly sounds like a chore. I've actually become a mod on forums before, just to seemingly drop off the face of the planet a few months later.

Even worse, this intense interest/instant boredom cycle even applies to my professional life. I have a lot of trouble staying interested at my job for more than a few months. I don't really know what to do about it.

I have been a (published) expert on "hair metal." For 10 years on. I don't even like that kind of music.

See that world out there?

Make it go away.

There was a period where I watched every Montreal Canadien hockey game. I knew the goal total of basically all players, the point total of most. I posted regurlarly on four different hockey fora. Then, I stopped. I haven't watched a full hockey game for years.

Right now, I'm all about history. I basically only read history books, and even on some countries I haven't really read about (like Spain or Tunisia -- both happened), I could give a basic exposé of five to ten minutes, with an quick outline of economic, political and cultural history. I hope I never lose this interest, because I'm studying it and hope to make it to the doctorate.

I go nuts when a governmental entity screws me. I then begin a letter wriiting campaign in order to get even. I sometimes may send over 500 letters during the next year of my anger. (I must devote alot of time researching the addresses where I will be writing.)

Good luck! Sticking in there for 8-10 years to get a doctorate doesn't sound like something I could ever do, so if you're able to do it, I applaud you!

hmm.. I would have to say yes, constantly. Had a 12 hours marathon once where all I was looking for was a answer to why Walt Disney pictures was named after Walt and not both of the brothers. Don't even remember if I got to a conclusion.. And as that situation may well have been, some times it's researching something I just got out of thin air, not even knowing if the starting argument is true/real. Frustrating yea

I do that all of the time...arguments or questions sparked by anything/everything and then I have to research them.

People closest to me always ask "why do you even care about that?" or "how did you even come up with that?" I believe it comes from wanting to know about everything at a deeper level (always questioning and curious). There are many things that others take as common knowledge or what they call "common sense", but they simply aren't logical and I want to know how someone came up with it in the first place. I've done this since I was a kid, which proved to be more difficult without a computer. I was always reading the encyclopaedia and dictionary for random information.

I also do extensive research on my revolving interests, which can result in piles of paper (and books) that I will store away until I come back to that particular interest.

I do that all of the time...arguments or questions sparked by anything/everything and then I have to research them.

People closest to me always ask "why do you even care about that?" or "how did you even come up with that?" I believe it comes from wanting to know about everything at a deeper level (always questioning and curious). There are many things that others take as common knowledge or what they call "common sense", but they simply aren't logical and I want to know how someone came up with it in the first place. I've done this since I was a kid, which proved to be more difficult without a computer. I was always reading the encyclopaedia and dictionary for random information.

I also do extensive research on my revolving interests, which can result in piles of paper (and books) that I will store away until I come back to that particular interest.

Is this a common AS thing? I've done it all my life and it's destroying me. So many times a psych, counselor or friend will tell me: "You're really good at that. Maybe you should pursue it as a career". Or the: "You've shown me you can do anything you put your mind to". What they don't understand is what's interesting and important to me can change withing a millisecond. But I don't know why that is. Is it related to executive dysfunction? Or is it, as many psychs have said, fear of failure?

Yes. I can be into a special interest for days or weeks, even years, but these things usually have an end.

I think a big factor with me is that I know how difficult it is for me to pull away from something once I'm immersed in it, and once I've broken away, I'm mindful of the risk of succumbing to the obsession again. I often feel contempt for past special interests, because of the way they became detached from practical "big picture" issues and because they made me lonely. It's hard for me to start a thing anyway, so once I've taken a break, hopefully I won't be back if the project is just a waste of time.

I'm not so sure if it's an AS thing. I must say that I am don't diagnosed with an ASD.

However, I think it possibly could be - especially with the responses on this thread. I don't think it's a fear of failure as such (although I have wondered about that with regards to things before) but with me the interest just becomes less intense and another interest is sparked and becomes more intense which is how I move on - particularly in my reasearching of topics.

Perhaps someone with a confirmed ASD could give their thoughts on this?