I used to have special interest in some people like from history who I couldn't stop reading about.. I was especially interested in old artists like Vincent Van Gogh. I obsessed over him, his work and didn't stop until I knew all his stuff and everything about him.
I'm still interested in certain people. I'm very interested in the Royal Family. All members especially the Queen are a special interest and I love to read about them and see pictures.
I've always found people and their lives really interesting.
That’s one thing that annoys me about Aucademy’s otherwise very nuanced and sensitive videos: when they have someone on they ask them first off ‘what is your special interests’? Like they must have one and pass this test or they’re not part of the club. Once or twice I’ve seen people apologetically come up with something fairly generic or confess they don’t have one as such- other than maybe researching autism! Always feels super awkward and needlessly prescriptive to me. They also end by saying ‘what’s your favourite stim?’ Again making it seem mandatory. I appreciate many of us do have stims, even if subtle sometimes.
Anyway, I’m a lifelong Doctor Who obsessive, so that’s definitely been mine for some four decades. Nearly everything else I’ve become secondarily obsessed with has spun off from it - sometimes connecting in ways that others wouldn’t even be aware of.
If you have a recent diagnosis you will need to to process it. I've read of a person who needed 4 years.! I needed 2 years before I felt my (improved) self again.
I have MANY special interests several of them are people related. I find that applying excessive effort or resources to a particular activity drains me and sucks the joy out of the task (and my life) and doubly so if the result is unpredictable or not "perfect". So many human related tasks & activities are essentially and fundamentally somewhat unsatisfying to me, and can be very "work like".
On the other hand as I type this I can see under the shelf a round fabric basket like deal from which is poking a golden, and beautifully formed ear, with Maine coon like tufts on the end. He is my constant companion. HE provides me with stuff to do that I'm not that keen on, true, like hairballs and cleaning his litter and getting up from a particularly absorbing activity to go feed him 'cos he's hungry and really, really can't wait. But I am clearly HIS human. He is there when I wake up and when I go to sleep. Cats offer such a simple and selfish seeming relationship (which many of us never seem to get past) but over time it gets to be a deep and mysterious and rewarding experience, where the more you learn the better it gets and yet there is always more to know.
Now THAT's a special interest that works well. Cat's never betray you. But they do have the gumption to leave a situation that isn't working for them, and they do CHOOSE who they like and trust. It can take years to win over a cat who instinctively does not like you, mind, so I like rescue cats. At cat's protection you can usually view a vast selection, and see which one(s) choose(s) you....
