Are ALL an Autistic’s Interests Obsessive or “Special”?

Ever wonder if every hobby or passion that an autistic person has actually meets the criteria for “special interest,” obsessive or hyperfixation?

Yes, we Autistics are highly prone to, at any given time, having at least one object of intense fixation, hyperfixation, infatuation, obsession or “special interest.”

For example, at a social event for Autistics, I asked an autistic woman what her current special interest was. She said Taylor Swift.

I replied, “My niece, who’s neurotypical, claims to be obsessed with Taylor Swift. Many neurotypicals are obsessed with her. What would be the difference in your case that would make it a special interest or true obsession?”

Her response: “I know way too much about her.”

Yes, that kind of sounds hypefixated. Autistics and NTs can have the same topics of interest, but sometimes, the line between “normal” interest and outright obsession can be blurry with topics that are globally extremely popular.

With that all said, a person on the Autism Spectrum can easily be very passionate about something – yet not to the extent of overly-fixated or obsessive.

For example, I’m an expert at cultivating a type of succulent called Mother of Thousands.

Mother of Thousands. ©Lorra Garrick

There are actually different variations of this plant, and the one that I focus on is the Kalanchoe daigremontiana variety.

One look at my amazing collection of these highly proliferative plants, and you might conclude that they’re one of my autistic special interests.

But actually, my level of passion for growing these wondrous plants is about the same as an NT’s level of growing a favorite houseplant, or cultivating a rose garden, for that matter.

My NT sister loves orchards and always has several thriving in her home. Her passion is no less intense than mine is for Mother of Thousands.

I also have a high interest in true crime and faithfully watch the ID Channel.

I’ve probably seen every episode of “Forensic Files.”

I could talk at length about true crime.

• Don’t get me started on why people who are being stalked by an ex go to sleep with their doors unlocked.

• Don’t get me started on why able-bodied women take rides from strangers.

• Don’t get me going on why people in middle age suddenly get pressured into having a life insurance policy taken out on them by a new spouse, who wants to be the beneficiary, without any alarm bells going off, or why they don’t cancel the beneficiary when the marriage goes down the tubes!

Holy crap, this stuff utterly fascinates me. Yet I, with a clinical diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, do not consider this intrigue in the realm of autistic special interest or infatuation.

One look at Reddit’s subs and you’ll know there are NTs who are far more into true crime than I could ever be.

They actually can cite specific seasons, episode numbers and episode names for docudramas, and can remember the names of the murderers and victims.

Statistically speaking, these true crime aficionados can’t all be on the Spectrum.

Conversely, we shouldn’t assume that all the topics that an autistic individual is very knowledgeable of are at an obsessive level.

A show that I’m faithful to is “Law & Order: SVU,” but I’m nowhere near infatuated with it.

I love white German shepherds – my favorite dog breed – but I’m not hyperfixated.

I enjoy watching documentaries on big cats and, as a result, have amassed a lot of knowledge on how they survive. But this is not a special interest driven by my autism. It’s just a “regular” interest.

I’ll never miss a documentary on PBS about the human brain. Yet it’s not a special interest.

I’m deeply fascinated by the concept of extraterrestrial life and the evidence that we were visited by aliens several thousand years ago.

But again, I don’t consider this to be a special interest.

This may sound like an esoteric or strange passion to have, but more people than you think are at least equally intrigued as I am over the concept of intelligent life on other planets millions of light years away.

There’s even a successful series called “Ancient Aliens” that explores the idea that Earth has been visited by multiple extraterrestrial beings over the ages.

Now, if an autistic person tells you they’re fascinated by the different colors of vehicle registration stickers – hmmm … this is probably at special interest grade because it’s such an unusual thing to get excited about.

The autistic woman who shared this interest with me got excited talking about it. Yup, I’d say it was a special interest for her!

I do have several special interests going myself, and two are lifelong. One of them is racial mixes. A third one is at least 10 years old – big, badass ponytails.

This store employee was gracious enough to let me take a picture of her voluminous ponytail.

I’ve had many other, shorter-lived, special interests over the decades, all sharing space in my neurodivergent mind with my “NT-grade” interests.

And many of my special interests have been downgraded to neurotypical level, such as my intrigue with what humans would look like in a thousand years if they colonized a planet with 2x earth gravity. Oh man… but no longer autistic grade at this point.

I used to be obsessed with shark attacks. I’ll read every article I spot about the latest shark attack, but so will a million NT people spotting the same headline. It’s now a regular interest for me.

So in conclusion, not all hobbies, passions or areas of knowledge in an Autist would qualify as a special interest or true obsession.

Autistic people can have “regular” interests as much as neurotypicals.