Do people with ADHD have special interests?

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17 Mar 2014, 10:42 pm

Most of my symptoms seem to be more ADHDish than ASDish. The one symptom I have that is extremely ASDish is special interests. Do people with ADHD and no ASD experience special interests?

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Verdandi
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17 Mar 2014, 11:45 pm

People with ADHD tend to get really enthusiastic about a topic, but they can shift topics rather easily especially when the older interest is no longer interesting, or just not as interesting as the new one.

I had a therapist who believed that autistic people and people with ADHD both had special interests the same way, but I haven't seen it.

DevilKisses
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18 Mar 2014, 12:11 am

Verdandi wrote:

I often shift quite quickly. All my long term special interests are on and off.

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wozeree
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18 Mar 2014, 12:22 am

Doesn't every group of people have some people with special interests? I would say even the mythological NTs probably have them sometimes. Think about getting obsessed with toy trains or stamps or coins or building your dream home or whatever. I don't think that's all Autism or OCD.

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18 Mar 2014, 1:17 am

Is special interest a perseveration?

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According to Mark Ylvisaker, Ph.D., “Perseveration is the uncontrolled repetition or continuation of a response (e.g., behavior, word, thought, activity, strategy, or emotion) in the absence of an ongoing occasion or rationale for that behavior or emotion (e.g., the topic or task requirements have changed). Perseverative behavior generally interferes with learning and adaptive behavior (e.g., effective interaction, on-task behavior, flexible shifting among topics and activities), and is believed to result from neurologic impairment.”

pensieve
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18 Mar 2014, 2:55 am

wozeree wrote:

Believe me in ASD it's more intense and narrowed focused. It becomes the person's whole world. For example right now real life to me feels like an extension of Gotham City.

To answer the OP's question people with ADHD do have special interests but are more short term and yes can be on and off over the days, weeks, months. Even sometimes within a few hours.

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18 Mar 2014, 1:43 pm

yes they can. my husband is adhd and has obsessions. he gets obsessed with creepy abandoned buildings and has annoyed others at work because of talking about it too much. also he likes to take electrical things apart and has a fascination about tellys.

he also likes snooker, but i think that is just a casual interest.

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