I love your special interests and want you to love yours too.
If you have ever been to one of my sessions you will know that I always talk about the benefits of special interests.
A lot of the old literature talks about these interests and autistic people in a very particular way. Often using words like odd, intense and rigid to describe us. I would definitely also use ‘intense’ to describe these interests, but to me it holds a very different meaning!
I know from my work and personal life these interests, actually these intense interests, can be so important to us. They help us develop skills, build like-minded connections with others and allow us to access workplaces or education and most importantly, are often great fun to engage in. For lots of autistic people, time with our interests is a bit of an escape, having that dedicated time where we can be in a low demand, ideally a sensory friendly environment, doing something we enjoy.
Maybe a little selfishly, as an autism and neurodiversity trainer, I love talking about special interests in my sessions, because every time I ask a group of neurodivergent people, or those around us, about special interests, people always share interesting things I had never even thought about before!
Some interests I hear are; pets, cats, dogs, nature, marine life, art, reading, music, fashion, makeup, trains, cars, planes, weather, history, ancient history, food, cooking, languages, board games, role-playing games, gaming, exercise, sports, running, gymnastics, ice skating, collecting rocks, interior design, mechanics, coding, quilting, pottery- I think you get the picture. We would be here absolutely all day if I was to list off the diverse range of interests our community has.
I'm always very envious of the people whose interests revolve around very useful life skills that I feel I may not personally possess. I would love to be interested in maths, or organising, mastering how to bake croissants, reading non-fiction, something about being financially savvy, or really just anything that would be very useful in my work.
I would say my biggest interest, one that's run through my life, has been cats. Not really learning about them (even though I have read a few books and watched some documentaries) but more being around cats, cat themed things, like art, home wear and clothing with cat patterns (which are really hard to find in a way that's not far too kitsch for my liking), and mostly being around my own cat Oaty. I find this interest to not really relate too much to the things I need to get done every day. In fact I regularly find it relates more to being distracted from or interrupted doing the things I need to do day to day. For instance, while writing this, I was just summoned to my garden by him meowing for attention, for no reason other than the fact I was not paying attention to him. Classic only cat move.
When it comes down to it, I could argue my job as a trainer is one of my special interests. And I've seen this in many other community members as well, with a lot of us saying it's easier to maintain a job, voluntary work, or a social hobby related to an area of interest.
To me, this is one of those parts of my Autism that really feels like a strength. The unbridled joy of getting a new cat themed blanket for my sofa (with cat themed cushions) will make my week. Similarly, being able to train a room of people all about neurodiversity with a passionate tone, because I simply am enthused by supporting our community, has really helped in my work. I was always quite a chatterbox once I found my voice, if you ask my mum about it she'd say I probably haven't stopped talking since. And as a trainer, this is a massive strength!
For a lot of us, living a good life is about finding the places that fit us best, and our interests can be a great way to explore this. It might be that for one person going to a café and meeting up with new friends feels impossibly hard, however maybe going to the local board game café with a group of friends and playing a game that they all really love is the way to go!
This is why I love your special interests. In fact, I want people to tell me all about them when I meet them. I would wager that for most of us this is significantly more engaging than our standard small talk. Sure, I am happy to chat about the weather, (especially if this is your special interest) but when it comes to small talk, I'd much rather hear about your obscure hobbies, facts, the book you just read, your recent hiking escapades or 7 year DnD campaign, than a scripted 1.5 minute grumble about the drizzle. It's England, it's always drizzling.
Really, one of my favourite topics to talk about is everybody else's favourite topic to talk about! Time with our interests is often important for everybody, but even more so for Autistic people.
And that's why I love your interests too, and I hope you do as well. Your interests are yours to use as you wish, there is in no way a pressure to work, study or socialise around them, how you experience them is up to you. If you want to rewatch your favourite show or reread your favourite book series in peace, be my guest.
Just know that we love your interests and I will keep asking about them whenever I can!
So, now it's your go, share your special interests in the comments below!
