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What “counts” as a special interest?

Inah

I am newly diagnosed with autism. I still struggle with identifying what “counts” as a special interest and I am still trying to find out for myself what it is. Like I understand the passion aspect of it, but I am not sure how long you need to have it so it counts (I am using “counts” even though I am sure there is no official measurement or judge obviously), if anything can be a special interest (I read somewhere that someone’s special interest was breast feeding which made me question my initial assumptions about what special interests are), as well as whether you need to be an “expert”. I hear the last part over and over, even in the post-diagnostic psycho education, and it put me off really. Like, I like learning about space but could in no way explain things to others!! I kinda hate this even because it puts one under some pressure to excel in something you might “just” like doing (perhaps it’s just me!).

Also, does being obsessed with working out what is “wrong” with me for basically the last 20 years of my life count as a special interest? Might sound odd and ego centric but really wondering that :) 

Equally I have been hooked by the idea of living in England since secondary school (I am not an English native person) and for the last 10 to 15 years have done everything to be able to do so (including deep diving into improving my English - even dating some English speakers and I am currently in a long term relationship with one*, studying, living and working in the UK) and the thought of going back to my country of birth is a devastating thought, among others because of the loss of daily exposure to English. Does this make “being in an English speaking environment” a special interest?

*just to be clear, I obviously love my partner and am not just together with them because they are an English speaking native, but I think I did consciously narrow the pool of possible partners to English speaking natives at the time and would find it difficult to broaden it again, especially to people who speak my mother tongue

Parents

  • For me Russian was my special intrest for around 10 years, I took a high place in Olympic competition in the capital of my country of birth *not UK, English is not my first language either. My intrest was so intense, that I spent any minute of my free time to study it, the grammar, the vocabulary,  spelling, I was fully in love with the language,  country and culture. While pacing my room I also repeated words or imagined that I talked Russian to my imagined friends. I used to listen only to Russian music, watch only Russian movies or movies in Russian (there are many nations, that use Russian as their first or second official language) menu in my phone must have been in Russian, so I left it to the service point to install the menu language package with Russian. If it was impossible and i had to use the phone in my first language,  I was sick for weeks and months, couldn't eat and sleep, couldn't calm down till the menu of the phone was in my beloved language. I became so good at Russian that russian-speaking people didn't recognise I'm not one of them.  Just an example of my special interest. Earlier were trams and floor plans. Now I have aliens and space. It can be anything it's not about topic but intensity.

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  • For me Russian was my special intrest for around 10 years, I took a high place in Olympic competition in the capital of my country of birth *not UK, English is not my first language either. My intrest was so intense, that I spent any minute of my free time to study it, the grammar, the vocabulary,  spelling, I was fully in love with the language,  country and culture. While pacing my room I also repeated words or imagined that I talked Russian to my imagined friends. I used to listen only to Russian music, watch only Russian movies or movies in Russian (there are many nations, that use Russian as their first or second official language) menu in my phone must have been in Russian, so I left it to the service point to install the menu language package with Russian. If it was impossible and i had to use the phone in my first language,  I was sick for weeks and months, couldn't eat and sleep, couldn't calm down till the menu of the phone was in my beloved language. I became so good at Russian that russian-speaking people didn't recognise I'm not one of them.  Just an example of my special interest. Earlier were trams and floor plans. Now I have aliens and space. It can be anything it's not about topic but intensity.

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