Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello,
I got diagnosed 7months ago, just before my 28th birthday. Ever since people have been telling me that all my social issues will be solved by going on forums and finding people who share my interests, but the problem is I don't really have any. I like things but not so intently that a person's negative opinion about them wouldn't make me consider dropping that interest. And I don't know lots about stuff I like. I like movies but like I've never seen most of the big ones people seem to always want to talk about. I remember when I heard my friends watched Community I was like "Oooh I've seen that!!" And then they made all these references I didn't get and I started to wonder if I'd missed half the show.
So yeah, here's me trying to join a community forum when I don't even know what I want to talk about with you
I don’t think everyone has a special interest.
In a lot of cases, it could simply be a subject you know more about than the average person. Be that a film, or simply a type a cat!
I didn’t even know I had special interests, as I was just doing what I enjoyed at the time, for example, card making. What makes it special is that you know/do more than what’s classed as average. That’s my interpretation anyway.
This resonates with me.
Many years ago (before I knew I was autistic) I had an interest in computers and seemed to have a knack of resolving minor issues. My parents and close friends seemed to consider me to be some kind of PC guru (I wasn't), and I became their 'go to' person when they required PC help. As far as I was concerned, their PC issues were easy enough to diagnose and resolve. It wasn't rocket science, but when I attempted to explain things to them (so that they would know what to do if there was a next time), it went completely over the top of their heads. From my perspective, it was easy enough to understand, and I couldn't understand why it was so difficult for them.