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Why do we obsess?

Eponine

Hi all,

I have been thinking a lot recently and I've begun to wonder why we obsess as Aspies. A lot of people say it's "a control thing", but I think that sounds horrible, like we're all manipulative and playing power games. I prefer to think of it as anaesthesia, because life has been so wicked to us we need to feel something that takes us off into our own world so we can keep the pain a bit under control. I know that sounds ridiculously negative but that's what I think. What do you think?

Hope you're all well,

Eponine <3 xx

Parents

  • Undeniably autism is associated with intense and narrowly focussed obsession, but the point is that it is a distinction of intensity, not phenomenon.

    The way it is usually approached is that people on the spectrum have narrowly focussed interests as if NTs do not. Because NTs are socially obligated to have multiple interests on a broader front, whereas people on the spectrum are more socially isolated, AS is more likely to develop more narrowly, and consequently more intensely.

    If you do something a lot and with intensity you develop skills and aptitudes which will themselves tend to narrow the focus. Having a lot of time to do one specific thing is an opportunity for people on the spectrum, as a huge portion of the lives of NTs is taken up with social interaction, and if on top of that you aren't working or studying, having time on your hands fuels the focus.

    You mention the results of brain scans. A lot of research on AS using this technology is about investigating AS phenomena in isolation. Can you find me any comparable studies of NTs who have deep and time consuming interests?

    I'm not trying to suggest that autism research is wrong and I'm somehow right, with a clever spin asnd no data to back it up. What I am trying to do is to "play devil's advocate" and question whether the assumptions about autism are valid, given the research is often exclusively within autism and predictive.

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  • Undeniably autism is associated with intense and narrowly focussed obsession, but the point is that it is a distinction of intensity, not phenomenon.

    The way it is usually approached is that people on the spectrum have narrowly focussed interests as if NTs do not. Because NTs are socially obligated to have multiple interests on a broader front, whereas people on the spectrum are more socially isolated, AS is more likely to develop more narrowly, and consequently more intensely.

    If you do something a lot and with intensity you develop skills and aptitudes which will themselves tend to narrow the focus. Having a lot of time to do one specific thing is an opportunity for people on the spectrum, as a huge portion of the lives of NTs is taken up with social interaction, and if on top of that you aren't working or studying, having time on your hands fuels the focus.

    You mention the results of brain scans. A lot of research on AS using this technology is about investigating AS phenomena in isolation. Can you find me any comparable studies of NTs who have deep and time consuming interests?

    I'm not trying to suggest that autism research is wrong and I'm somehow right, with a clever spin asnd no data to back it up. What I am trying to do is to "play devil's advocate" and question whether the assumptions about autism are valid, given the research is often exclusively within autism and predictive.

Children
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