At what point is a special interest considered weird/bad?
emimeni
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A special interest is weird when it is shared with very few other people, or you express your interest in a way that differs a lot from most people. A lot of people are prejudiced against weird special interests, just as they're prejudiced against anything weird, but really it's just part of diversity and they should accept that. In fact, sometimes these interests can be quite useful - pretty much every person who is autistic or suspected-to-be-autistic and highly successful made a career out of a special interest, usually an unusual one.
A special interest is bad when it leads you to do things that harm yourself or others. For example, if your intense interest in poisons leads you to start poisoning people, that's bad. Or if your intense interest in World of Warcraft leads you to regularly forgo eating and sleep in an attempt to take down the hard bosses, that's bad too.
Remember that a lot of what is written about AS is colored by prejudice. We're an oppressed minority - people want us to rewire our brains for the convenience of NTs. Take what the mainstream says about AS with a grain of salt.
Thank you.
I often use the term "special interest", or something similar, too.
In my opinion, it's okay to be weird. Everyone is a little weird!
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ImAnAspie
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Funny you should mention that. After seeing your special interest is (and has been for a long time) The Kinks esp. Mick Avory, I actually looked into this a while ago. That's quite a good special interest. Very interesting history - and he's still going strong!
My latest one (for nearly a year now) is the Common Myna or Indian Myna (Acridotheres tristis).
Good on you CockneyRebel
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Your Aspie score: 151 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 60 of 200
Formally diagnosed in 2007.
Learn the simple joy of being satisfied with little, rather than always wanting more.
It is when you're obsessed with something like bus-drivers, and you get yourself involved with the bus-drivers then get a name for yourself, then knowing that you have their attention you so badly want to get this particular bus every day that you really want to quit your local job and want to find a job where you have to get on this particular bus to get to it, but you spend a lot of time worrying that this particular bus company might suddenly go bust and the bus services might stop or go into a different company and you plan on having a breakdown or committing suicide if that happens.
Just use that as a template example for whatever your special interests are, and then you will know that you're no longer in control of your special interests, they are in control of you.
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ASPartOfMe
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If your interest(s) are so repetitive that they get in the way of your functioning they will be considered a criteria for a positive diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
One of my favorite saying is: "You know you have a drinking problem when your drinking causes problems."
I apply that same logic to my special interests. As others have said, so long as something is not harmful, either directly or indirectly through neglecting basic life management, then what the heck - I allow myself to enjoy it.
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