Special interests ?

Could someone explain to me what defines special interests ? How is it different from hobbies?

I don't think I have special interests but will explain what I do do.

For years I have been frequently checking my rss feeds and later Twitter for articles to post on forums. These are primarily mental health related and secondarily political and general articles .

I also save many of these articles to my usb drive .

Whilst thinking this does not qualify as special interests I have a feeling it is not typical NT behaviour either.

  • "Hobbies" are something people do when they have spare time, and there may be a number of them. "Special interest" is the hobby that you do all the time, and the only thing you talk about with others, and you probably go into great detail when talking about it or when doing it.

    I believe the term "special interest" is people's polite way of saying "obsessive interest". It would be typical for someone with autism to have an interest that they go into 'obsessive' detail about, thanks to the singular focus that I believe is a common autistic trait.

    Although for me, whilst I may have one interest that I like to do and learn about in great detail, this is just my way of exploring and enjoying that subject. To a normal person they would see it as being obsessive, because it's the only thing I ever talk about, and I want to do it all the time - and they class it as 'obsessive' because they don't go into their multiple interests in such detail - but to me it's not obsessive because I don't have obsessive behaviours about it (such as losing sleep, neglecting to look after myself, skipping meals just to do it for 5 more minutes etc). It's just that I enjoy doing one thing, and my nature is to do everything I do in detail, because it's through the details that I understand the world.

  • To me, special interests and hobbies are synonymous.

    At present mine are long walks through the woods and photography.

    From today's walk.

  • lamme81 said:

    Sorry I got my laws muddled. It was s60 subsection 3 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/2-3/47/section/60 

    Funnily enough ~ I thought it might be subjection 3, bonus ~ thankyou.

  • Sorry I got my laws muddled. It was s60 subsection 3 of the Metropolitan Police Act 1839. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/2-3/47/section/60 

  • lamme81: said:

    Special interest and what counts confused me too. It is not a requirement to have one. Mine if it is one probably sounds boring. I walk a lot every day and as I live in a city that is along roads not in parks or anything similar. I see a lot of people breaking the law in little ways. I count how many I see do it and what laws they break (like s72 of the highway act 1835). Sometimes I add new laws to what I include. The most I ever saw in one day is 53 on 24th October. That was mostly in Camden naughty them. Today is only 7. The funniest law I saw broken is s60 of the metropolitan police act 1854.

    When you state this 'probably sounds boring' ~ I actually find it really interesting reading societal rules, reg's and laws etc, and swapping anecdotes involving them. I am not though all that good at the detailed section and number stuff due to dyslexia (muddling letters and numbers) and nominal aphasia (forgetting names etc.). It was though fun to look up section 2 of the highway act 1835 on the internet and rediscover it once more ~

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Will4/5-6/50/section/72 ; Penalty on persons committing nuisances by riding on footpaths, &c.

    ~ due to having been when younger an "especially interested" or "aspergenically avid" Skateboarder, and on account of which having met several unkindly and a few kindly police officers ~ who demanded or advised going elsewhere, here and there. 

    When though you state: The funniest law [you] saw broken is s60 of the metropolitan police act 1854. ~ I have not as yet been able to find it on the internet, and section 60 has a number of listings, but none for the year 1854 ~ unless as is more often the case with me and numbers I am mistaken. Would you for mutual appreciation perhaps share the anecdote please?  

  • Special interest and what counts confused me too. It is not a requirement to have one. Mine if it is one probably sounds boring. I walk a lot every day and as I live in a city that is along roads not in parks or anything similar. I see a lot of people breaking the law in little ways. I count how many I see do it and what laws they break (like s72 of the highway act 1835). Sometimes I add new laws to what I include. The most I ever saw in one day is 53 on 24th October. That was mostly in Camden naughty them. Today is only 7. The funniest law I saw broken is s60 of the metropolitan police act 1854.

  • I've started to use the term 'special interest' as a replacement for the way others or myself have come to say over the years that some of my hobbies are 'obsessive'. For example, I am no longer obsessed with bicycles, bicycles are my special interest. Besides, being obsessed about something makes it sound like it's an unhealthy mental occupation.

    When something stressful has happened, my partner has identified that I can retreat into occupying myself with a special interest in order to process the stressful situation. This week it so happened a very stressful situation arose that caused me to shutdown. Soon after I was able to start processing the stressful event by engaging in a special interest activity for a number of hours, i.e. bicycle wheel building.

    This feels positive as I now understand that I use a special interest as a tool to process difficult situations.

  • firemonkey: said:

    Could someone explain to me what defines special interests ? How is it different from hobbies?

    In the autistic sense ~ it relates to a narrow or singular range of interests (which I consider to be fascinations rather than as such obsessions as neurotypicals tend to think of them) that are more personal in nature than as such social. As for being different to hobbies ~ not so much, really.

    firemonkey: said:

    I don't think I have special interests but will explain what I do do.

    For years I have been frequently checking my rss feeds and later Twitter for articles to post on forums. These are primarily mental health related and secondarily political and general articles .

    I also save many of these articles to my usb drive .

    Whilst thinking this does not qualify as special interests I have a feeling it is not typical NT behaviour either.

    I think this could be counted as a special interest, but of course there is to be considered that autism is a spectrum range condition so you may not be as devout to it as a subject matter as another autist or aspergian is theirs.

    If you have a tendency to go into or have to resist going into the details of this particular interest longer than others might find interesting, then this would apply in the sense usually being referred to.

    Consider for instance the main reason I chose the Easter Island Avatar head, and the user name Deepthought ~ was on account that often by the time I realise I have been thinking or speaking in too much depth and detail for far too long, usually about the state of existence and so fourth, a great deal of sedimentary dust has settled and I am stuck up to my neck in "it" ~ with "it" being uncomfortable social-dilemma scenarios.