Doing what you like to do

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A professional (works with people who have ASD diagnoses) I talk to says that when many people are engaged in a special interest they are really only focused on what they do in the moment rather than another goal eg a short-term or long-term goal.
Whenever I am engaged in an interest I have another goal than being happy with what I am doing in that particular moment.
If I read about something or practice singing than I may do something interesting but it's not the goal in itself. I am only really happy when I have done that reading or practice singing and now have the knowledge need or can perform that song.
Just reading in itself is never that interesting. It is mostly frustrating. It can be interesting if I feel like I am coming closer to my goals.
I am said to be very different from the people who have a special interest. I hope I understood this person who old me this. Perhaps I missundertood something as I am lo expert on this subject.

What do you think?

As long as your engagement in a special interest doesn't harm you, I see nothing wrong with pursuing it.

As long as it doesn't interfere with you keeping a job, or eating a meal.

I am not sure the professional is correct in what he says because while he is correct for some on the spectrum it certainly does not cover all. Many health professionals and others make big mistakes by forgetting that it is a spectrum and there is no single trait that in itself can define autism like one would find with most other health conditions be they mental or physical.

I am by no means a professional but my brief research I have done when I went on an autism research binge (A bit like Johnny Five. Remember him?) is that I am correct in what I say because if I am not then thousands of diagnosed autistic people have been miss diagnosed and less than half are on the spectrum which if research is correct, the complete opposite is true as some studies done all over the world indicate that the true figures are more like 6% and only a typically 1 to 2% happen to ever discover autism as the cause for their struggles and go forwards to be assessed, and a few who are on the spectrum have no real defined struggles, but are without doubt on the spectrum.

We each have our own reasons for doing what we do. No expert is allowed to decide what your reasons are for engaging in your interests.

I love arts & crafts. I'm doing paintings these days. I do five of them each morning.

I suppose you can compare yourself to me.

Whilst what I'm interested in takes up a lot of my free time, I still do things outside of such, and I don't let it interfere with things in my life that I need to do, want to do. I think of the future and plan for things. I don't even talk about my interest all that much, really (I talk about other things more). I even have hobbies outside of such, which is somewhat interesting.

I have interests that I can't talk to anybody about.

I think that if you are truly interested in something, you will enjoy most, if not all, of the process of achieving the goal.

For example, I'm not interested in fine art, but if I do achieve the goal of creating some beautiful stuff, I would still be very happy, though the process of achieving it is not fun.

However, I would enjoy the process itself of learning a foreign language because I'm interested in it. And of course, I will be very happy when I achieve a goal in it.

I keep the main goal firmly in sight as I work, but am mostly thinking about the particular task I'm doing. If I'm able, my extra attention goes to thinking ahead to the next task, but fairly often, I'm distracted by trying to figure out what people are really up to, and have to stop and think before going into each new stage. When I start a job, I have an image of perfection in mind. When I finish one, all I see is all the components I had to stop working on when they were still not right, but I couldn't do them any better. Still, the main goal is usually realized fairly well.

It all depends on what you mean by special interests.
What I hear when I read or listen to people speaking about this topic is that they like the process very much. Sometimes it's like the process itself is the goal. That's what the professional in question was talking about.
And that's not me.
My goal isn't the process itself.
I often find that when I research or practice I am doing so out of a frustration, ie I need to go somewhere. It is not enjoyable at times. It's not that practice can't be enjoyable but I am only satisfied when I have the reach the short or long-term goal.
What do you think about this?

It would be very unusual for a process to be uniformly pleasant. I like working with materials more than going to the store to get them. I enjoy working with materials directly, but to get the highest quality parts, I have to spend most of my time making tools. Many artists have to keep a day job to survive. Getting a certificate will generally involve jumping through some stupid hoops. There was a guy who wanted to sail to Hawaii. For years, he enjoyed building a boat, but as soon as he saw the open ocean, he turned around.
Good musicians practice their music. Great musicians practice doing things they have not yet mastered.

Are you reffering to the social part of it?
About the boat. Dreams are sometimes more interesting than reality.

No.

Your reason seems to be different but...
I find that most people actually want to be social with their interests but find it really difficult at times. When you're in a group you may have to engage in your interest in another way. Sometimes it makes things easier but sometimes more difficult. This is why most people say that they like their interest as long as they don't have to be social, right?
And that is what this professional talked about.
Some people don't have a bigger goal than eg just reading about ants. Some people have bigger goals like learning five songs that can be performed. It is easy for people to be more like the first guy and never really have specific short or long-term goals. They engage in an interest in order to relax from the difficulties in life. I don't.
Will the first guy.ever be good at what he/she is doing? Perhaps. The person might even become a professor. We don't know. There are dofferent ways of engaging in an interest.
But I think most interess aren't about being very good at something.