Your non-stereotypical special interests

I don't think any of my interests are autistic stereotypes, I'm not sure I really have any at all. I love medieval and ancient history, I read crime fiction, but not true crime I like my crime and detectives fictional rather than true. I like watching normal stuff on telly and I like cooking and gardening.

I feel a bit like not having a special interest makes less autitstic? Often when people ask me what I want to do or learn about I feel like I'm falling off the edge of a cliff, that there's too many options and even worse when I'm told I can be and do anything I want too, I feel like I've been thrown off a cliff. I think part of the problem is that I'm either really good at things or stunningly crap at them, theres no middle ground, I've spent a lot of money over the years on stuff that I can't use, like art materials, I can barely draw a bath let alone create a work of art, when I did do art, I always drew the same things and used to get told off for it.

Can barely draw a bath... Ha ha ha ha!  

(I'm what we used to call Jack of all trades, master of none!)

I wonder what autistic women in our age group are "supposed" to be interested in? I think I read somewhere that special interests are supposed to be "unusual" in content and intensity. Depends what you think is unusual.

A 2018 study into autistic adults special interests reported: 

"About two thirds of the sample reported having a special interest, with relatively more males reporting a special interest than females. Special interest topics included computers, autism, music, nature and gardening. Most autistic adults engaged in more than one special interest, highlighting that these interests may not be as narrow as previously described."

I interpreted HMO's question as: what are your interests that are non stereotypical by society's standards?, which is why I gave mine as gaming and sci-fi, as those are non typical for all women in my age group. But I have had other interests during my lifetime which are not usually thought of as stereotypical for Autistic people, such as knitting, cooking, hairstyles, clothes and makeup. These interests have not been as intense as some of the others I've had, but they've enabled me to find common ground to talk to neurotypical women.

Thinking of the women I work with, most of them don't seem to have many special interests or hobbies. Their out of work activities seem to be mainly spending time with family, socialising with friends, cooking, caring for pets if they have any, watching TV, possibly reading romantic novels. There are exceptions of course,; one has played some video games, one likes jigsaw puzzles, one enjoys drawing and one is interested in psychology. But the difference to me is that I've had a lot of different interests, and as I am still interested in lots of things I can hold discussions on many topics. 

Your interest in medieval and ancient history is certainly non stereotypical for women. It's not been one of my special interests so far, but I do think it must be interesting and I'm thinking about doing a few OU open learn free history courses: Art and Life in Ancient Egypt, Herodotus and the invention of history, and Introducing the classical world (Romans & Greeks)

Neurotypical people can be very intense in their interests, such as football, soap operas, music bands, golf, etc. But they seem to be mostly picked from the same list of "usual" interests for adults. It appears to me that autistic adults have more of a wide range of interests ?

There were probably an equal number of women and men on my history degree and quite a few in the classics dept too, quite a few of us were mature students too.

I've never been into gaming, not only can I not use the controls, it's all so fast! People have tried to get me into games but I wouldn't know where to begin and many of those I've seen have no appeal to me. I used to have a bit of an interest back in the 1980's, but I went off them when they started to rely more on the machine, than the imagination.

I wonder if your interests in fashion are seen as different for an autistic person because they're seen as female interests and autism in women has only fairly recently been recognised?

I know what you mean about the interests of a lot of women, I wonder if that's partly why I've always had so many male friends? Although not those who are interested in football and other sports. Like you I have a wide range of interests and can hold conversations on many topics, something I find seperates me from many women and can be problematic among men, especially my interest in politics, often because I'm not party political and people don't like that for some reason.

I suppose the interest I had/have that surprises many people is martial arts, I did do some years ago and whilst I've not done any for years I've still maintained my interest.

There were probably an equal number of women and men on my history degree and quite a few in the classics dept too, quite a few of us were mature students too.

I've never been into gaming, not only can I not use the controls, it's all so fast! People have tried to get me into games but I wouldn't know where to begin and many of those I've seen have no appeal to me. I used to have a bit of an interest back in the 1980's, but I went off them when they started to rely more on the machine, than the imagination.

I wonder if your interests in fashion are seen as different for an autistic person because they're seen as female interests and autism in women has only fairly recently been recognised?

I know what you mean about the interests of a lot of women, I wonder if that's partly why I've always had so many male friends? Although not those who are interested in football and other sports. Like you I have a wide range of interests and can hold conversations on many topics, something I find seperates me from many women and can be problematic among men, especially my interest in politics, often because I'm not party political and people don't like that for some reason.

I suppose the interest I had/have that surprises many people is martial arts, I did do some years ago and whilst I've not done any for years I've still maintained my interest.