Autistic Special Interests are NOT what you think...

Thank you so much for watching!! Apologies that this study is not the most inclusive when it comes to gender. Remember that it is not all black and white and many of my (apparently stereotypical autistic girl) special interests are shared by my male autistic relatives! Also, remember that the study emphasises that, overall, the presentation of autism does not differ all that much between males and females. Aside from types of interest, the main difference is that 'female' individuals seem to mask more. If you want some relatable autism and ADHD Memes: https://youtu.be/r8G00JJWdd4 Are you masking? Take the CAT-Q Autistic masking quiz: https://youtu.be/-RgYyi6SgWg

As an autistic person who wrote my master’s thesis on the create-a-sim part of The Sims 4 that went on for 79 pages, I can confirm the stereotype lol

Does anyone else feel insecure about their special interests? Not because they're weird, but because every other autistic person seems to know every intricate detail about their special interests, but for mine I just happen to love specific details about them and not the whole picture? Like I might appreciate the visuals or the simple concept of something but nothing else about it (such as its history, technical features, etc.)?

i’m an asian afab person so i always find it funny that my special interests are the stereotype (trains, math, legos, dino’s, pokemon) but nobody thought i was autistic until i demanded a diagnosis appointment at age 17. i fit most autism stereotypes but solely because i am asian and born female it was never a thought. i was just a weird tomboy

As a Mum (of an autistic daughter) I have really enjoyed most of my daughter's special interests. Her enthusiasm has enthused me and the way they give her joy has given me so much pleasure. When she was little it was the life cycle of the frog, then dinosaurs, and then a really fabulous and intense one of dragons. It made me and her father look out for dragons and get excited about them ourselves. I would say from our experience with her that there are major interests and minor ones, rather like large planets with small ones circling round them. I think her longest standing one has been cats and they make her so happy that I will be forever grateful to all the cats in the world.

As a autistic girl from gen z where 90% of my special interests are online things like video games, tv shows, and movies, thank you! I often get made to feel like I'm not "autistic enough" because my interests are more normal for people my age, but it really is more about the intensity. (And yes I know that the fandoms for all these things get intense online, but I'm willing to bet a good percent of hardcore fandom people are nerodivergent too)

i have autism and also maladaptive daydreaming, i get special interests about mostly video games or series i like- but i then automatically put them into my daydream world- which is really the point where i start to love it fully, so i can kinda say that my one true special interest is just my own imaginary world since that has everything i ever liked in it lol

I'm AuDHD, and my special interests tend to be on the more ADHD side. I will get intensely interested in something for a few months, get the materials, over-research it, then I'm bored and move onto something else. There are a few things that I don't get bored about, I just get a little burnt out and have to stop reading about it for a few months. But that doesn't stop me from talking everyone's ear off about it, like my dogs ♥️ can't get me to shut the hell up about dogs.

My special interests: -notebooks, journals, planners -planning every major event over and over -cleaning -babies/pregnancy/birth etc -creating lists/ charts Etc

As someone with both autism and ADHD, it can be hard to tell whether something is a special interest or a hyperfixation (the main difference I’m aware of is that a hyperfixation doesn’t tend to last very long)

I’m one of the 2.3% of girls with an interest in transport. I love it because I love studying the systems and patterns that come with public transport. Studying people’s transport behaviours is also super interesting to me. Also the fact that something so seemingly mundane is so complex (human achievement) and I get to do it every day

21:03 “It’s about the intensity.” It’s about drive, it’s about power, We stay hungry, we devour,

Thanks to media and TV, I'd always assumed that having a special interest meant that you were obsessed with one specific topic your entire life. I really appreciate the casual and accurate debunking, and I'm so glad we have people like this on the internet.

It would be interesting to know how the study compares to interests in neurotypical kids of the same age.

As an autistic woman, I love public transport. I put my head phones in, and form my own bubble amongst all the social interactions going on around me. I practice cold reading (something that I do as part of masking), there's mainly positive interactions happening, people leave me alone in the corner without being left out. I can sit and read, listen to music and podcasts, and no one is going to interrupt me.

Strangely enough it was my kid’s special interest that kept me from seeking an autism diagnosis for them. From the time they were three years old to now at 15 they have been obsessed with character design. I homeschooled and literally COULD NOT get them engaged in learning anything unless I incorporated some type of character creation in it. They have always been obsessed. So at times I would notice things that made me think “maybe autism” and I’d look it up and read on the internet “does not participate in imaginative play” and then I’d dismiss the whole idea because they were so imaginative with character design. We are currently seeking an autism diagnosis now though.

A couple of my special interests are psychology and counseling. I like seeing the patterns in people's behaviors and connecting those patterns to how thier earlier experiences shaped their view of the world.

'Horse girl' is one of the stereotypes that means autism in girls often goes undiagnosed! Special interests that are seen as age/gender appropriate by neurotypical society will often just be put down to 'girls being girls' etc.

I am male and it took me 21 years to be diagnosed with aspergers syndrome, for many of the same reasons you outlined in your video. There was another boy with aspergers at my school and his special interest was trains, he was the most archetypal autistic boy you could ever imagine and he had no issues at all being diagnosed however in my case my special interests were not in anything like that, but I did have one most notably in magic. I have been obsessed with magic my entire life and I love examining and comparing different magical systems from different universes, whenever I play a game I HAVE to play a wizard. I used to think it strange but in a way it is really not as the world can seem so difficult, strange and nonsensical to people on the spectrum that a concept like magic which when you think about it is manipulating reality through intellect, mental processes and the senses would surely be attractive to more than just me.

I just developed a new special interest (mosquitos and mosquito borne diseases) and it feels so great. I’d been so burnt out on learning since dropping out of uni last year, it feels like I’m getting back a core part of myself.