What’s the difference between an autistic special interest in painted nails and a “normal” interest by a neurotypical?
After all, so many NTs are “obsessed” with nail colors, new designs every week and monthly manicures.
There are endless YouTube tutorials on nail designs that have tens of millions of views. No, most of those views are not by one autistic woman. MANY neurotypical women are really into nails.
Being that most women (and men) are not autistic, we can safely assume that the majority of the 48M views for the YouTube Short titled “My first acrylic nails” are indeed neurotypical (or at least, not autistic; certainly there are some ADHD’ers in there).
An Autistic Girl’s Special Interest in Nail Colors
What would distinguish an autistic-grade interest in nails from that of the typical woman’s?
Not too long ago I was at an indoor wave pool with the nonverbal autistic woman I was providing for.
A girl quickly came over to me, pointing to my feet — I had on sneakers — and motioning to my hands. Right on her tail was her mother.
I didn’t know what the girl was wanting (she wasn’t speaking). Her mother said she wanted to see my toenails to see if they were painted.
The mother then said her daughter wanted to view my fingernails to check for color. I flashed my silver painted nails for her. She was delighted.
I noted that the girl didn’t appear typical and was making hand gestures to her mother that I couldn’t tell if they were due to autism or possibly American Sign Language.
So I asked the mother, “Is she autistic?” The mother said yes, and also that she was deaf – which explained the lack of speech and the hand movements. She was 13.
I told her I didn’t have on any toenail polish. Her mother said that the girl’s special interest was definitely nail colors, and that wherever they went, she had to get a view of women’s hands. Needless to say, the girl had nicely painted fingernails and toenails.
From that point forward, it was easy for me to observe this young teen scrambling up to any new woman who entered the area from the locker room, pointing to her feet and hands.
The woman I was providing for was independently enjoying the water, while I was seated in the seating area, able to clearly observe the teen.
She even went up to the women sitting near me, pointing to their feet, and her mother was telling them she wanted to see their toenails.
One of the women said in a friendly but serious tone, “I ain’t takin’ off my shoes!”
No woman in that pool center went unnoticed. There were some who gladly displayed their painted nails to the excited girl.
THIS is how a special interest in nail work manifests. A neurotypical girl, even younger than 13, would know not to go racing up to strangers to see their fingernails and toenails.
This is not the same as a teen who just happens to be standing near a stranger and just happens to notice the stranger’s nails and says, “Oh my gosh, I love your nail designs!”
Certainly, this happens all the time. This is what females do. They compliment strangers, whom they just happen to be near, on their nails, their hair, their earrings, their shoes, their purse, their necklace, their top, their pants. It’s just what females do.
But to eagerly watch for new incoming women from the locker room, then race over to them to check out their fingernails and point to their shoes so they can take them off – that is a true autistic special interest – a hyperfixation.
I also want to add that this sweet girl was fully able to communicate via American Sign Language.
When she was in the water with her mother, I clearly saw a fluent exchange between them of ASL. Thus, the girl was not nonverbal. She was nonspeaking due to deafness.
You might be thinking that the mom shouldn’t have allowed her daughter to scuttle up to strangers to see their nails, that this was inappropriate.
However, the pair got away with this because she was so innocent, cute looking and overly enthusiastic.
It’s possible that many women there had no idea she was autistic and just assumed this was an over-enthused adolescent.
In fact, the hearing impairment was more obvious than the autism, as she’d use ASL with her mother during some of the interactions with the pool visitors.
Many autistic women and girls like to paint their nails, and like NTs, will notice others’ nail colors and designs.
Having an interest doesn’t always mean a hyperfixation, though. But in this case at the wave pool, that was classic!
