You’ve heard of a SPIN: special interest. You’ve heard of a stim: stimming or repetitive, self-stimulatory behavior. […]

Have you noticed that many autistic people love sharks and either know a lot about these creatures or in some way, express their interest such as collecting all sorts of shark themed paraphernalia? [...]

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

It’s genius: There are now coloring books with “special interest” topics that will have incredible appeal to kids with autism – even adults too! […]

Can an autistic person have a “normal” level of interest in a topic? […]

Here’s an uplifting encounter with a stranger who became teary eyed as a result of my autistic special interest (obsession). […]

Is a special interest in autism as much of a hyperfixation if it lasts only a week vs. many years? Just how short-lived can an autistic obsession ever be? […]

It’s all here: the differences in special interests between autistic women and men. […]

The answer to why it seems so many autistic people have train or dinosaur obsessions is actually quite simple. […]

My interest in sharks was once autistic level but is currently at neurotypical grade. […]

Despite the intensity of my past special interests, I’d never given them a second thought and assumed many people had the same experiences. […]

Here are real-life examples of autistic circumscribed interests. A circumscribed or “narrowed” interest is very rarely found in neurotypical people. […]

The autistic community is divided with the term “special interest.” […]

If only the Internet had been around at the time of my biggest autistic special interests! […]

It’s so wonderful and outright cool when an autistic person has figured out a way to make money off of a special interest (aka obsession or hyperfixation)! […]

I’m a prolific illustrator and never knew that my autism – which would not even be diagnosed until many years later – influenced my artwork in college. So there I was, in college art class, [...]

I’m autistic, deeply fascinated by racial ambiguity, colorism, the way people look whose parents are different races. […]

Just exactly how do hyperfixations in autism spectrum disorder arise in the first place? Are they foreseeable? Or do special interests “just happen”? […]

The line between what makes an interest “special” or “obsessive,” and what makes it “normal” can be quite blurry. […]