Special interests (also known as obsessions or intense interests) are common in autistic people. Special interests can be about anything, but they differ from ‘normal’ interests or hobbies due to their intense, highly focused nature. They can change over time, or can stay the same your whole life.
When I was younger, my parents say I had a special interest in Dinosaurs. Once I was around 9 or 10, my main special interest was Sylvanian Families, and I loved collecting them and playing with them. I would often play alone rather than with other kids, because the ‘game’ would be internal (I think other kids say what the toys are doing out loud, such as ‘Billy is going to have dinner, and his mum is going to watch TV’. I would just invent the stories in my head and act out the physical motions with the toys, because speaking it aloud meant it took longer, and was harder to pick the right words. It felt more unnatural to speak what they were doing aloud, and became more of a performance than a game). Because the games were internal, it was hard to tell others what they were ‘supposed’ to do next. Other children were unpredictable, and it was more fun to do alone.
My longest running special interest is Pokemon. I have at least 700 cards, most of the games, and some of the manga books. I don’t like the anime as much, but the earlier ones can be quite nice. I love the collecting aspect of the series. I can find all of the Pokemon, or can Google where to find them. The art is also cool, especially on holographic cards.
But my favourite part of a special interest is learning. I only recently found out that many kids don’t really enjoy the process of learning, but instead like the positive feedback from their teacher (apparently). This seems odd to me, because I’ve always just enjoyed learning for the sake of it. A good teacher is important, but for me the vital part is their patience and teaching style, rather than their encouragement. If they teach in a way I can comprehend and understand (IE not just speaking, because I find it difficult to remember things I hear) and are patient in answering my questions, then I’ll do fine. If a subject can relate to one of my special interests, I’ll always want to learn more about it.
For example, my current main special interest is Autism and, in a more general sense, Psychology. This helped immensely when doing an A Level in Psychology, because I would actually want to absorb as much info as possible, and would go away and learn more. I’m sure this will also help when I start my degree in Psychology, and will be vital for my career.
As an employer, you would much rather have someone who genuinely enjoys their work and spends their free time learning more about it, speaking to people about it, and just being enthused about the subject. But you cannot force someone into a special interest. And often, they can seem ‘useless’ on the surface. It would be difficult for me to have a career in Pokemon, for example. But it would be possible to use that intense interest to learn more about how the games were made, and get into game design, programming, coding, etc. Skills learned from a special interest can often be generalised. But I’m still going to enjoy playing Pokemon more than I would enjoy coding.
So encouraging special interests can be helpful in your career, especially if you can learn about the more general aspects that can be applied to other jobs. But what about socialising?
Some people are concerned that if someone spends too long on their special interest they won’t socialise enough.
First, how are you defining ‘enough socialisation’? I find that non-autistic people have higher expectations of the amount of socialisation you ‘should’ do. I find that after a day out, I do not want to socialise any more. And it’s easier to socialise frequently online and meet up infrequently (for example texting your friends daily but meeting up once a month) than it is to meet up frequently. If I had to socialise every single day for hours with no break (to stim or spend time on my special interest), I would burn out quickly. Stimming and spending time on your special interest replenishes ‘social energy’ (my tolerance for sensory overload and social interaction), but socialising depletes it, so it’s a balancing act.
Secondly, special interests can actually help with social interaction. Joining clubs, societies, or online groups about your special interest makes it easier to socialise because you already have something you can talk about without worrying about boring or annoying the other person.
Special interests can also help non-autistic parents bond with their autistic children. Often, I see parents saying they don’t know how to connect with their child because they may not speak, or may not communicate in a way that is easily understood. Special interests are a great way to bond with someone.
Consider a non-autistic child with their non-autistic parents. If the child is interested in football or sports, the parents bond with them by taking them out to sports games or football matches. If the child loves cooking, the parents can cook with them. If the child loves to play with dolls or soft toys, the parents would play with them.
Autistic children may play in different ways, and have less common, more intense interests, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bond over them. My parents play Pokemon Go, and it makes it much more fun to talk about Pokemon since they can actually understand what I’m talking about now! So actually taking an interest in the special interest, trying to find out why your child loves it so much, and learning about it can help you find something to bond over.