Childish interests is an Aspie thing? Feeling embarrassed?

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So TIL having obsessive interests in somewhat obscure and childish things happens to be an Aspie trait. Well... personally I seem to have a wide variety of "childish" interests. For instance, cartoons (shout out to Cartoon Network!), wrestling, retro video games, Disney Parks....

Despite that I still have "normal" age-appropriate interests too, albeit extremely nerdy and I probably do take them to obsessive levels tbh such as programming, economics, neurology, biology etc. etc. (typically science related)

Also, for me I don't indulge into all my interests at the same time. Usually it's cyclical, maybe like Neo Geo and the endocrine system one month, then Epcot and macroeconomics the next if that makes sense... is the cyclical nature common?

I feel embarrassed about even talking about my interests to people despite probably spending 90% of my free time with my interests.

I never was ashamed of my special interests, even if they were deemed "childish". I was just resentful that I wasn't allowed to talk about them all the time when everyone else was allowed to talk about the same thing all the time. I just talked about them anyway. How do you punish a kid for talking about meerkats anyway?

Wow, your username is a mouth full (and a screenful)

I am pretty much the same way with special interests. I also divulge in things that seem childish to my peers, like Poptropica or cartoons that I watched as a young child, such as rugrats, spongebob, the grim adventures of billy and mandy, hey arnold, and various others. Then there is the issue with my interests that are way to mature for my peers such as genetics, nuclear chemistry, agricultural science, criminal psychology, and various others. I just can’t seem to meet in the middle. Because of these things, I am often very reluctant to discuss my interests IRL and somewhat so on WP. This is why I am often very quiet IRL, if I talk it would end up going to my current special interest, and that has always ended in rejection in the form of “that’s boring” or “that’s for little kids”. So I just avoid talking all together most of the time. I also relate to your deal of cyclical interests, I have so many that they cycle widely (years apart for most). My favorite interests usually come back very often and last longer.

I must type very slowly, on more than one occasion, I try to post somewhere and 1-3 people post in the time it takes me to type. I should get a scribe.

I like the adult colouring books I love retro games too, collecting figures, plushies, dinosaurs. Whenever I'm out gardening 99% of the time I get distracted by the cool and interesting insects I find (hence why I don't do the gardening very often... It never gets done) I'm like a kid who has to examine everything and learn about the species and such!

my special interests are pokémon, my little pony and for a period of time my special interest was sesame street and i'm almost a legal adult embrace your special interests even if they are a little childish!

I'm a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog and Pokémon mainly. I also tend to gravitate to furry communities which for many of its subcultures consist of My Little Pony, Pokémon, Sonic, Digimon and so forth. I'm big into video games of course like Super Mario Bros. And I wouldn't have encountered the lovely people who I can consider friends today if I didn't have such interests.

I sleep with stuffed animals, such as my Shadow the Hedgehog plush. I don't really like to consider these things "childish" - in the sense that liking these things show immaturity. These are just things that I like, that makes me happy and keep me sane. Unfortunately, I don't take it too well when I'm called a child unless I'm portraying a child character in a role play of some sort. My mother for years has always criticized my interests in cartoons and video games. She has even punished me once by having me throw away everything Sonic related in my room when I got in "trouble" at high school for trying to stand up to bullies. She would throw around comments like, "You need to grow up and get rid of these stupid childish stuff! Be like everyone else and stop being weird!" ...My mother is definitely notorious for always calling me out as a child for liking these things and her insults just become worst as the older I get.

Feeling ashamed for the things I like is a terrible demon I'm trying to overcome. As stubborn as I am with telling people to NEVER let people make you feel horrible for liking things like this, I have trouble with it myself sometimes...

I love teddy bears. It is reassuring to know that some people do actually collect teddy bears, so it's not really childish to love teddy bears, but the way I love them is similar to a 5-year-old. I try to make sure all the teddies in my room are sitting or laying 'comfortably', so that they can 'sleep' or 'converse' with each other. I also deeply believe that teddies have feelings and even breathe in their own way.

How's that childish or embarrassing? Those colouring books are for adults (hence the name), and seem to be the trend lately. My mum loves her adult colouring books. I do too.

My interests are reasonably adult, but some of my stims aren't - like the disney version of "Beauty and the Beast" (on crazy repeat sometimes, hence the stimming) and kites. I don't go around broadcasting that unless the other person is autistic, because it's "weird" for someone my age.

this is one of the most relatable sentences about special interests that I've ever read xD I love the solidarity that autistic people (and some people with adhd) have when it comes to odd obsessions, it's a beautiful thing!

I'm 54 and I also love my teddy bears and have to have each one in the right place.

I also still re-read the Tove Jansson Moomin books on a fairly regular basis.

Being the forever child is definitely an Aspie and Autistic thing I believe very strongly. Most of the time I feel that my emotional development is that of a 9 to 10 year old child and feels very much stuck or stunted.

However, I have come to embrace my childish interests and I no longer feel embarrassed about them but it did take many many years to do so. Even at 42 years of age. I still enjoy cartoons, playing with Lego, video games from 1979 all the way up to present day, model trains and I even sleep with a teddy bear.

In case you're wondering, his name is Bruno O'Bear and he's a ferocious grizzly bear from the Canadian Rockies.

Because I'm a guy? lol plus I always use felt pen, not pencils.




This. This so much, and it frustrates me!! I just feel like I'm not on the right adult level, emotionally, as people even 10yrs younger than me



I have several. One in particular is called Nesquik that I snuggle at night. Reason being he belongs to me bf and we sleep in separate beds (yes, we live together) for reasons we both have. I also have another teddy dragon which was handmade, bought him from a jumble stall when I was 5 and he's been with me ever since. His name is Duncan

I strongly recommend that every ASD sleep with a teddy bear at night. Because it isn't just a stuffed animal (or stuffie for all my fellow Brits out there), he or she will become...

*** That Which Has Been Missing From Your Night-Time Routine ***

(Que dramatic music)

Last edited by xatrix26 on 05 Dec 2017, 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

Never had a teddy bear when I was a kid. I got a Steiff bear a few years ago... he's called Rory.

I have some stuff related to the original Gerry Anderson Thunderbirds series in the 60s. I've got all the programmes on DVD and other stuff like books and manuals. I'd quite like to get some models as well, if I can find the right thing. I don't care what anyone else thinks and it's not a big secret, I'd happily bore anyone about it.

Celebrate the inner child, there are enough crappy adult things going on in the world