Voluntary control of special interests?

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Is anyone here able to change special interests at will or is it totally involuntary?

For me, it feels like something in between voluntary and involuntary. I voluntarily expose myself to different things (usually works of fiction) to see if anything sparks my interest, but ultimately I never really know what will stick and what won't. There are some things that I wanted to have as special interests that never really caught on, and other things I became totally obsessed with that I would have never pictured myself becoming interested in in the first place, if that makes any sense.

I'd say it's mostly involuntary. People with Aspergers syndrom are often very obsessed over their special interests. It may even be compared to love (when translated to neurotypical terms). Those things cannot be changed voluntarily. Maybe it could happen if the person has several almost equal special interests and it's possible to change into another of those. But you cannot tell an aspie to change their interest. Never. It will not work.

I have switched my interests several times. Old ones are forgotten and new ones have arisen. But it was involuntary. I never planned to get sucked into those interests. Whenever I try to do something that I dislike or don't care about, it feels dull.

I cannot control them. It's like falling in love to me. Whenever I attempt to control one of them, I always fail and get very frustrated.

I cannot choose what to get interested in. And sometimes I can get badly obsessed with something that was not interesting to me up until that very moment...

I don't know, it just happens. And it happened ever since I can remember my life. My earliest special interests were cats and making stories. I still love cats dearly and am still a writer to this day. But I have fallen in love countless times with many other special interests. I feel they make life so worth living... Whenever I tried to stop myself from engaging in a special interest, I felt I was bordering on depression, so I always ended up embracing the said interest...

I can influence them, but not control them entirely.

There are certain things which, when I come across them, I can immediately tell that this could become a special interest of mine. I decide at that point if I want to pursue this interest.

Other things just get stuck in my mind and I can't control being interested in them at all.

Recently, I started getting an interest in 'adult baby syndrome' (where an adult feels like they're a baby on the inside, and feels an urge to role-play as a baby). I decided I didn't want to be interested in that condition, but still felt compelled to research a bunch. Then it passed after only a couple of days, though if I wanted I could easily respark that interest.

My special interests, which kind of come along by themselves, are usually time based; that is, when I start something it may take me 6 months to a year to complete. That's one of the positives of being an aspie: that single-minded dedication to see a work through to its conclusion, come hell or high water.

It's pretty involuntary for me, but for the most part playing music has been my primary special interest for about 14 years.

One time a friend and I were talking about special interests and described them that way. This was a long time ago and we had never heard of aspergers then and instead of calling them special interests we called them obsessions.

Yeah.

I have described my special interests that way before - and that is how I feel about them. I for me, special interests are also like "love at first sight" - meaning, they have always been things I've been interested in from the very moment I was exposed to them, strongly. I've never been able to change them at will - it's involuntary.

Involuntarily for me. I have never picked my obsessions. I have only stopped them by trying to ignore them and not have anything to do with them and it eventually goes away. If I like the obsession, I stick with it and not ignore it dealing the the urges and the thoughts.

Partially voluntary - I think I have more control as an adult. I definately can't choose what they are, but I do have some level of control over which ones I spend my time pursuing - sometimes - many times I find myself just carried away in certain things.

I know when I was a child there was a time when I was really into ghosts and all things occult. I spent alot of time researching it and for some reason it alarmed my religious and traditional parents. They were very very strict and after a few years, they eventually got me to stop.

Involuntary, I'd say its somewhere between love/infatuation, never thought of it that way before though.

Change the interests; NO. Control them so as not to make foolish business decisions or ruin my marriage; YES. There is a certain inner feeling of gratification that comes from a special interest for me... Whether just thinking or reading about it, or doing/having whatever the subject of the interest may be. Clearly, I cannot simply "decide" not to be drawn to a special interest anymore, nor can I create that gratification for something I introduce myself to on an intellectual level.

Charles