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.” […]
I’m autistic and one of my biggest obsessions ever was that of wood chippers. […]
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. […]
