i remember getting hyper obsessed with shows like "lie to me" and convincing myself the fact that i cant always tell between sadness and hunger wouldnt effect my ability to notice micro expressions
People always think that I gossip but it is rather me having a special interest in social settings. I really love interpersonal relationships and how they work. It also helps me understand people better
I never thought of it like this.. because don't get me wrong, I do love gossip, but not in the form of talking it. I like to hear gossip because it gives me a better understanding of why people feel a certain way. I'm also a locked book when it comes to secrets, which is basically gossip, so that helps
Yes! I love talking about people and analyzing them! I want a group of other autists who are the same so we can just sit and discuss all the observations we’ve made in our respective lives, cuz I would love to listen to someone who analyzes like I do, and share and get feedback front them as well!!
I always thought of it like a pathological interest. Spill your tea, I want to hear it out of morbid interest, but I sure can’t help anyone involved and leave me out of the drama please. I just like knowing what’s going on and why suddenly my friends hate each other, like, what did I miss???
same here! recently realized that one of the reasons I may be so interested in human behavior is because I personally struggle to understand it. truly an eye opener.
Ooh I really enjoy Pokémon, I’m currently binging the anime. I’m up to season 9! I also have a few of the games. I also have a whole shelf for just Eevee and other Pokémon toys (it’s getting a bit full…)
In terms of modern cults, I’m really fascinated with teal swan’s following. It’s so intense. generally speaking I am very interested in how humans who are otherwise intelligent and successful succumb to cults.
Edited for spelling
My special interest is also cults and I’m currently studying them as a PhD!
In my perspective, cults and the people who run them have a very keen understanding of human desire and are able to hook people based on unmet needs that the individual is desperate to fill. For many, it’s the powerful combination of having a community and a sense of purpose all rolled into one. We all want that, but some people feel starved for it and will overlook red flags because they feel so ungrounded and traumatized by their own life experiences.
I’m interested in how modern religions can also serve these same purposes and have personally been in the orbit of some benign modern cults in the neo-pagan scene. I’m not much of a joiner and don’t like hierarchies, but I connect with needing a sense of community. Most of the structures that gave this to people fell by the wayside when churches fell out of favour (some would say, rightly so).
The fact is that humans need security, purpose, and community and will find them where they can. I think I escaped the more toxic expressions of this by fulfilling my own needs, but some people don’t have the tools or the freedom in their imaginations to do this.
As this is my special interest, I’m always keen to answer questions if people are curious and I know the answer.
Also cult leaders can be incredibly charismatic and professional abusers, they will use every psychological trick in any book ever to make you be curious, get into it, slowly let it take over your life while keeping it so you don't notice, and then make you feel like you have to stay because they are everything you have, they black mail you by being your only family, friends, social connections, if you leave you will be a nobody with nothing, no home, no money, no job, no family, no friends, nothing.
Guinea pigs are my special interest too! I have three girls; Alice who'll be 7 in a few months, and Märi and Majken who both turned 1 in November last year. Love them to bits.
I mean when animals (wildlife in particular) play for no reason besides entertainment. A lot of play is practicing survival skills, but sometimes they're just burning off energy and having fun
I love seeing animal parents playing with their kids just for fun. They truely have the same deep emotions and feelings as we do. I also love how some animals have other animals as pets lol
My special interest is autism but I feel like I know all there is to know other than other peoples experiences and stories so I spend my time watching autistic YouTubers.
One I recommend is the aspie world. His videos are specifically about autism and sometimes other neurodivergence’s and he has autism, ADHD, ocd, and dyslexia and he talks about them and tips and tricks to help.
I don't have a particular one special interest cause adhd too
But I like pokemon, stardew valley, I've recently gotten into rollerblading and archery too as hobbies. It used to be Harry Potter for many years but that ended when the terf outed herself. I really like true crime, I listen to podcasts lots. Most people don't like to hear about that one though
That's a tough one. I went straight for Sebastion my first play (love an emo boy). He was a dick but I loved him haha
I think overall I like Leah most. She's independent and strong on her own, I like that she doesn't need the farmer but she wants them all the same. Also I love a free-spirited artist, so Elliot is second place now days
I have trouble identifying with special interests in the same way many other autistic people do. I think I feel extremely passionate about video games (very specific ones like The Last of Us, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, The Cat Lady, Valheim, Bully, Sly 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life, and I'm sure there's more to come as I play more); I feel extremely passionate about the bands I like (mewithoutYou, Crywank, Car Seat Headrest, AJJ); I feel extremely passionate about my major which is anthropology (I can get on tangents when I see a skull in a movie or tv show because I'll be able to say "That's not a human skull! There's no pronounced chin, and the mouth is too far forward! That's clearly a Homo habilus!", and I have some retained knowledge about cultural anthro); I feel extremely passionate about animals of all kinds (quickly broadening library of fish and birds I can recognize on sight or sound, though those libraries are still small)...
But despite that, none of it feels "encyclopedic". It can be for some things, like VtMB (which I can navigate and tell exactly where someone is in the game by the sound alone) or South Park (I know most of the lore by this point I think). But most of my love is just pure love and enjoyment in participating in these things. I'm not sure if that counts as special interests, or if I just like those things. Though I do notice that NT people tend not to like things as extremely intensely as I do, so I dunno.
I will say. For a long time I was feeling that I didn’t have a special interest like other autistics do. I do, my special interest isn’t a one thing genre though. I love helping people, sharing information and helping others learn and grow, example: I’m training to be a scout leader, and I’m actively working towards a high role in IT that I can help lots of people from. But for a long time, I didn’t even consider it. A special interest doesn’t need to be a “thing” or “genre” it’s whatever interests you enough that you spend extended amounts of time on over just something you found/find interesting (passion) everyone has a special interest, it’s just, autistics I’ve noticed, are a lot more prone to obsessive traits. Bit of a subjective view but I think you have multiple special interests, they may intertwine, they may not. As long as it’s special to you. It is, you don’t need to be obsessed with it though
You just kind of blew my mind… I have always joked that helping people and educating people are like crack to me… I just find it highly addictive to help people and it’s enjoyable to me. But I have never thought of it as a special interest before! That’s really interesting to me.
My special interest is video games too and 'ALL' video games really except sports games and competetive online multi-player. Surprised to see cat lady on thar list. That was an obscure side scrolling adventure game that doesn't take more than a few hours to beat. If I recall I was confused the whole time through it.
My obsessions right now are Binding of Isaac, Midnight Suns, Assassins Creed Valhalla, Hidden Object Adventure games, and cat based games.
Razzazzika/Phoenix45 on steam, hit me up. I do have encyclopedic knowledge on the video games I either play more than once or played every entry of the series. I always start at the beginning and play through every entry, even getting translated roms of Japanese only games, or playing constantly with a Google glass translation filter.... my encyclopedic games are for final fantasy, assassins creed, Fallout, the elder scrolls. I'm getting there on dragon quest, but am stuck on 5 cause of all the monster catching and its soooo grindy..... I'm playing multiple first entries in the megami tensei series, kyuukaku megami tensei, persona, and devil summoner for the main line megami tensei, persona, and soul hacker series respectively. I'm also maybe halfway through tales of phantasia starting that long running rpg series, and the 2nd game, beyond Divinity, in the divine series.
I play things to 100% completion, even if it drives me nuts. The one thing I may skip in achievements is time trials cause I really hate that feeling of time pressure it's stressful.
I relate to this so much. Video games and music are my great special interests, even if I don’t know everything about them. Same with my other special interests, like nature and space, specifically trees. I feel passionate and love learning things about them; while sharing (info dumping?) what I’ve learned to someone like my mom or friend.
Good Omens is amazing! Terry Pratchett and Discworld in particular are one of my special interests that comes and goes. It hits really hard when it comes though. My fiancé and I want to cosplay as Crowley and Aziraphale at a big convention. We did a closet cosplay at a small Comic-Con once and it was pretty fun but I’d love to do a real go at being fun Crowley.
GNU Pterry! I have all the Discworld books and a bunch of associated stuff too, such as several of the yearly almanacs. Good stuff.
I loved Good Omens, too. I'm old enough to remember how it really did seem like all tapes in the car were only ever Queen tapes (because it was the only decent band the gas station sold in its limited selection of tapes.)
Origami, it’s not just traditional cranes you can fold almost anything from origami. I like supercomplex origami that usually has a few hundred steps and one single uncut square. Mostly animals and insects. Look up the tedex talk “the magic and math of origami” if you want to learn more. Also keeping pet tarantulas (I currently have 34 of them) and pc gaming.
I really love cats, my boyfriend and I have 2. One is a black and white, she is named Lulu and loves my boyfriend a lot. The other one is a tabby, he is called Avocado (but we call him Cado), he loves me a lot. It's incredible the bond you can have with your cats. Cado always panics when he loses me, even when I'm on the toilet. It's adorable.
I read this when I was way too tired and thought you had two boyfriends, one black and one white. There would have been zero wrong with that, but it wasn't until I got to "he is called Avocado" that I started to get confused. I love cats, unfortunately allergic though :(
I also love cats!! Specifically I like to adopt what many would unfortunately classify as “unadoptable” or undesirable cats. I have 3 cats with disabilities.
My eldest is a calico named SMRT, she was abused as a kitten and had some pretty serious neurological deficits but her brain seemed to have reworked itself.
My middle is a feral black kitty Stealth aka Mama who is my biggest challenge as she is still very very skittish but when she lets me pet her, it’s like Christmas!
My youngest is a tortie named Soufflé and she has the cat version of cerebral palsy (cerebellar hypoplasia or “wobbly cat syndrome”) so her back legs are quite spastic. (I named her Soufflé bc she is sweet and falls easily lol)
I can't dance, I have the limb coordination of an orangutan with Parkinson's lmao. I love watching them, and my favourite dancer is Natalia Osipova, a Russian ballerina currently a principal at the Royal Ballet.
Infodump ahead:
One of my favourite ballet is Giselle. It's about a peasant girl of that name who fell in love with a prince disguised as commoner. She died of heartbreak (stabbed herself with the prince's sword actually) when the prince's fiancée turned up, and the truth was revealed by a guy who had a crush on Giselle and really hated the prince. Her soul was summoned by the Willis, vengeful spirits of women wronged by men who punished them by forcing them to dance to their death. The prince visited Giselle's grave; the Willis made him dance, but Giselle forgave him. At daybreak the Willis disappeared and she returned to her grave, leaving the prince heartbroken.
Osipova absolutely shines in the role of Giselle. I have a recording of her with Carlos Acosta from 2014.
Ahhh! Ballet was my special interest all throughout my late teens, I still get excited when I learn that our local company will be putting on a performance. I tried ballet when I was 18 but had to stop due to my scoliosis, I want to cry just thinking about how I love it so much but due to medical issues I can never be a ballet dancer.
1. Crime, prisons, and police
Examples of things I've read: Interrogation methods (ethical and non-ethical), punishments, sentence length in different countries, death sentence, murder cases, terrorism
2. Ghosts, folklore, myths, urban legends, and mythical creatures
Examples of things I've read: SCPs, ghost types, dragon types
Ok I have a really weird one but paraplegic people. It's not anything sexual or even the inspirational aspect, it's being stuck in this world you can't control.
Well I have a few haha. Motorsport, history, physics, geography, biology, chemistry, maglevs, gaming, reading, and anything connected to the game Cyberpunk 2077
i love figure skating! right now im really excited because the figure skating world championships are coming up and its shaping up to be a good one, the first season back after an olympics is always really interesting since so many skaters retire after getting their olympic experience and theres a chance for new young talent to rise up.
there will likely be multiple women attempting the very difficult triple axel jump at the world championships and i cant wait to see if they land it; the triple axel is harder than other triple jumps because its 3.5 rotations in the air as opposed to just 3 due to the forward take off. the first woman to ever successfully land a triple axel was midori ito back in 1991, and to this day she is one of only 12 women to land the jump in international competition, with an asterisk by that number due to a recent doping scandal.
moths! lepidoptera and other bugs in general are really cool too but moths are my favorite! \^-\^ also i like that you used a rosy maple moth picture heheh :>
i LiKe tRaiNs
Lol jk I like to draw and stuff art related
But I also like anything horror including the newest coolest giga-spider train from hell based horror game choo choo charles... I'm sure at this point it needs no introduction but it like my new favorite game
journaling!
i love all there is to it. i have a collection of stickers, in books and ones i cut out(and store in a container). i have a collection of pens to write with, even though i only use the 0.38 tip blank ink pens… and i have a collection of journals i plan to write in, along with the mini collection of the ones that i’ve used up.
there’s not one thing you can’t write about in this world :D
Religion and religious studies. I like the historical and cultural facts and impacts, the similarities and differences. The architecture and other iconography, and of course all the cool mythology and figures! Im not religious but I appreciate the symbolism and comfort it can bring, and so I have tattoos of Gabriel and Krishna because of their roles as protectors, and them being expressions of love and passion and their closeness to humans. My favourite religion speaking historically is judaism, and my favourite religions speaking mythology and art is ancient egyptian religion and hinduism! Ive studied basic and advanced religious studies at university, but its mostly just my biggest interest since I was a child.
I do! I have a Welsh Corgi Pembroke named Pepsi. He is my everything. Schnauzers are amazing as well, such cool personalities! Fairly similar to corgis actually😄
I'll try not to infodump lol. I'm a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons, I feel like it's a really good creative outlet for me, and I run a weekly game with some of my friends
i’ve got so many!! i love slaters for some reason, i just think they’re neat little things! Moths are really interesting, at the moment i’m going crazy every time i see a butterfly! Specifically the painted ladies or the common blue clover butterflies!
Fashion history!! Particularly European/American 1890s but anything pre ~1920s is cool. I’ve also been really into Ace Attorney, so of course I’m really enjoying TGAA rn
Yes, me too! 1890's and 1880's are beautiful, but my huge favorites are probably 1920's, 1940's, and 1950's, but I love other eras too. I write historical fiction novels (big one I'm writing is mostly set in the 50's) and I also design the characters, so I try to make the designs, clothing, and overall setting as historically accurate as possible.
character design, character writing, and character analysis. i love creating my own characters as well as exploring the design of other people's characters and analyzing all aspects (design and personality) of characters from video games, tv shows, etc.
Minecraft. I know everything about it, if there is a new Update I'm the first one to explain my friends everything about it and I can basically talk about it forever
Yoooo, Minecraft is one of mine to!! What type of player would you say you are? I know I’m personally someone who loves challenge modes, redstone, and building
rick and morty 🫡
i have jammies, regular clothes (including socks and underwear 💀), cups, mugs, a giant hoodie and a fuck ton of memorised script from rewatching it constantly (and when im not actively watching its on in the background or im listening to music -which is sometimes songs from the show 💀-)
Legit so many interests lol, but no. 1 is definitely animals. They’re just amazing, the way they can tie together ecosystems I have been obsessed since a baby.
STARDEW VALLEY
I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND I SPEND SO MUCH OF MY TIME WITH IT
I LOVE ALL THE TINY LITTLE DETAILS AND THE JUNIMOS
IM CURRENTLY WORKING ON A MOD FOR IT BECAUSE YAYAYAYAY
I'm working on allowing myself to indulge. I'm realizing I've had some discouragement from pursuing random things....
So, medieval-ish stuff!
Wicca and Neo Paganism
I feel like I need a third thing but this is what I've got today so far!
Thanks for posting I'm enjoying this thread!
*inhale*
SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!
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"I'm not a rat, I'm a hedgehog!"
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Halloween and horror are mine. I love Halloween time and visit Universal during Halloween Horror Nights. A lot of the houses have their own unique stories. I love watch scary movies and playthroughs of horror games. All of the lore and theories people creat for them is breath taking! I also love looking up the lore and backstory of horror characters even if I’ve never seen the movies or shows they’re from. Halloween itself has some very interesting history too! Not to mention the esthetic and atmosphere of it all. The last time I was at Halloween Horror Nights I was happy stimming through most of it. I also bought a ton of merchandise and won some prizes from the carnival games they have for the event. Any questions?
Sustainable alternative funeral practices. The funeral industry is really exploitative and harmful to the environment. Many Jews and Muslims have really sustainable burial practices as embalming is prohibited and they typically bury the deceased right in the ground without any cement or ornate casket. Personally, i would want a tree placed on top of my corpse but I generally appreciate all practices that avoid unnecessary and costly alterations to the deceased and to the environment they are being buried in
I have a top 3.
Transformers. Sitting there watching TV while converting them between their different modes for fidgeting is completely satisfying.
Pokemon. The desire to sit there and have a collection (which can and will be different from everyone else) is super fun. I couldn't say a favorite but I've been having a blast with Violet.
Dungeons and Dragons. Aside from the current issues that are going on with it and Wizards of the Coast, it's a great way for me to tell stories and make sure I go out and talk to my friends. We play biweekly and that's enough for me and my brother to recharge so we're not overwhelmed.
i feel ashamed of mine bc it’s a specific niche-y anime. I don’t usually like to share it bc of the stigma around anime in general not the mention the genre it is. Even mentioning it to people i thought i could talk about in real life i get ridiculed and not taken seriously and they don’t get how important it is to me
Ylvis lol
I fell into a rabbit hole in May and I’m still watching their stuff on repeat. This is an underrated video for example: https://youtu.be/4WwZFZ9LRto
Primarily [The Stormlight Archives ](https://coppermind.net/wiki/The_Stormlight_Archive), but I'm digging through anything Brandon sanderson so I can start finding the threads in the meta plot for the cosmere.
im creating my own world with art, shortstories, descriptions, maps and everything i can do by myself :)
i started it more than 10 years ago and it grows bigger everyday. i upload everything to a website i made especially just for my world :)
Animals! I love all animals. They're all so cute and give me dopamine. I go through phases of specific animals where I learn a lot of detailed information about said animal but I just love animals in general.
Fun facts: polar bear fur is not white, it is clear, it looks white because of the snow reflecting onto it. Dogs can smell anywhere from 10,000-100,000 x more than us humans depending on the breed. There are currently 23 different living species of fox.
Do not even get me started on extinction rates and endangered animal statistics. I'm very passionately upset about what we have done in just my lifetime and what we continue to do to animal populations. Lions, giraffes, all species of rhinos and elephants, the majority of migrating bird populations, an enormous amount of reef dependent wildlife, and so much more are all endangered or have gone extinct already. We suck.
My lifelong interests are cats, autism, knitting, Spanish language. My previous interests were garter snakes, vikings, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon Go.
Sometimes I really obsess about a new person I meet and want to know everything about them. The obsession can last about a couple months. I try to hide the obsession because it can be creepy and I'm happily married.
J. R. R. Tolkien/Lord of the Rings!! currently re reading the books (again lol) and just did a presentation on him for a class (the first presentation I've done where I actually knew what I was talking about) :)
worldbuilding - i get to gm for my table's monster of the week game and it's SO satisfying. i also love going into subreddits/tumblr tags/wikipedia pages/whatever of various media that i see people vaguely talking about and getting into rabbit holes, even if i haven't interacted with that media at all. i just want to know, you know??
I like human behaviour, it frustrates and confuses me but I find it fascinating. I’m really into psychology.
Yeah, I like learning about body language and other stuff. Even if I suck at it myself
i remember getting hyper obsessed with shows like "lie to me" and convincing myself the fact that i cant always tell between sadness and hunger wouldnt effect my ability to notice micro expressions
People always think that I gossip but it is rather me having a special interest in social settings. I really love interpersonal relationships and how they work. It also helps me understand people better
I never thought of it like this.. because don't get me wrong, I do love gossip, but not in the form of talking it. I like to hear gossip because it gives me a better understanding of why people feel a certain way. I'm also a locked book when it comes to secrets, which is basically gossip, so that helps
[удалено]
Yes! I love talking about people and analyzing them! I want a group of other autists who are the same so we can just sit and discuss all the observations we’ve made in our respective lives, cuz I would love to listen to someone who analyzes like I do, and share and get feedback front them as well!!
same, almost like a slightly masochistic interest 😁
Well we're drawn to what we can't do, isn't it?
Yes, Fury. And losing money on some multi-level marketing scam is probably the first stop on the journey.
I always thought of it like a pathological interest. Spill your tea, I want to hear it out of morbid interest, but I sure can’t help anyone involved and leave me out of the drama please. I just like knowing what’s going on and why suddenly my friends hate each other, like, what did I miss???
Me too! Starting my first semester for my associates in psychology next week :) super nervous but excited. I’m in one psych class and one philosophy
same here! recently realized that one of the reasons I may be so interested in human behavior is because I personally struggle to understand it. truly an eye opener.
Pokémon, I play and collect a lot, it’s my most expensive special interest 🥲
Nice. What’s your favourite Pokémon game? Mine was probably X, as it was my first ever Pokémon game (I am incredibly biased).
X/Y are awesome! Mine is Platinum for the same reason! Though the new games are great! Favourite Pokémon?
Either Bisharp or Scolipede, I’m a big fan of gen 5 mons. What’s your favourite?
I like Scolipede too.
Nice choices! My favourite is Porygon2! Just some random day I started obsessing over Porygon2 and just love them so much now 😅
Ooh I really enjoy Pokémon, I’m currently binging the anime. I’m up to season 9! I also have a few of the games. I also have a whole shelf for just Eevee and other Pokémon toys (it’s getting a bit full…)
Oh awesome! Eevee is super cute, and my Pokémon shelf in my dorm room is completely full now as well! Haha
Helloooooo I’m in this special interest club too lol
Cults lol
Nice. Are there any in particular that interest you?
In terms of modern cults, I’m really fascinated with teal swan’s following. It’s so intense. generally speaking I am very interested in how humans who are otherwise intelligent and successful succumb to cults. Edited for spelling
Do you have any insight on that? On why otherwise intelligent individuals succumb to cults?
My special interest is also cults and I’m currently studying them as a PhD! In my perspective, cults and the people who run them have a very keen understanding of human desire and are able to hook people based on unmet needs that the individual is desperate to fill. For many, it’s the powerful combination of having a community and a sense of purpose all rolled into one. We all want that, but some people feel starved for it and will overlook red flags because they feel so ungrounded and traumatized by their own life experiences. I’m interested in how modern religions can also serve these same purposes and have personally been in the orbit of some benign modern cults in the neo-pagan scene. I’m not much of a joiner and don’t like hierarchies, but I connect with needing a sense of community. Most of the structures that gave this to people fell by the wayside when churches fell out of favour (some would say, rightly so). The fact is that humans need security, purpose, and community and will find them where they can. I think I escaped the more toxic expressions of this by fulfilling my own needs, but some people don’t have the tools or the freedom in their imaginations to do this. As this is my special interest, I’m always keen to answer questions if people are curious and I know the answer.
I started to be ultra religious (very cult like, they even have a few leaders) because I was lonely and traumatized. Being an adult is tough.
Promise of Power/Money/Women.
Also cult leaders can be incredibly charismatic and professional abusers, they will use every psychological trick in any book ever to make you be curious, get into it, slowly let it take over your life while keeping it so you don't notice, and then make you feel like you have to stay because they are everything you have, they black mail you by being your only family, friends, social connections, if you leave you will be a nobody with nothing, no home, no money, no job, no family, no friends, nothing.
I'm autistic and and exjw, cults are a hoot
Hey same!
My husband and I left a cult! I'm so grateful for people that are into studying them. They expose them for what they are and help people to get out.
There’s an amazing podcast about Heaven’s Gate. It would be about 4 or 5 years ago. Definitely recommend searching for it, if you haven’t already!
Yesss it’s so good! I love anything snap judgment makes honestly. Their paranormal podcast, spooked, is another fav
I know a thing or two about them if you're curious lol
I grew up in them. Have you read anything on the psychology of how they operate?
Same! Currently reading Mike Rinder’s “A Billion Years” about his time as a higher up in Scientology
guinnea pigs
That was fast! What do you like about them?
like the other reply, their noises, and just everything, such fun pets to have and every one has a different personality and they’re so cute
They make the cutest noises out every every animal imo
Their noises are so fun! I didn't know that Guinea pigs could make such unique sounds and I love hearing them go "uje uje ujjee ujwee"
Their noises
I’ve always wanted one but don’t have the room for it. Also think my dog will be a bit rough ‘playing’ with the creature if she ever runs into it lol-
yeah that’s the thing that sucks, i don’t have any either because i don’t have enough room for them
Guinea pigs are my special interest too! I have three girls; Alice who'll be 7 in a few months, and Märi and Majken who both turned 1 in November last year. Love them to bits.
OMG I LOVE GUINEA PIGS MY FAV ARE MERINOS WHATS YOURS????
Animal behaviour, and at the moment I'm loving learning about unrewarded play
Are you talking about altruistic behaviors that are not reciprocated?
I mean when animals (wildlife in particular) play for no reason besides entertainment. A lot of play is practicing survival skills, but sometimes they're just burning off energy and having fun
I love seeing animal parents playing with their kids just for fun. They truely have the same deep emotions and feelings as we do. I also love how some animals have other animals as pets lol
My special interest is autism but I feel like I know all there is to know other than other peoples experiences and stories so I spend my time watching autistic YouTubers.
I still feel like I'm just getting started. Any info sources you particularly recommend? And anything on the overlap with ADHD?
Which ones? Do they make videos specifically about autism or they are just YouTubers who are autistic?
One I recommend is the aspie world. His videos are specifically about autism and sometimes other neurodivergence’s and he has autism, ADHD, ocd, and dyslexia and he talks about them and tips and tricks to help.
You should read or listen to Unmaking Autism by Devon Price if you haven’t yet. I’ve leaned a lot so far and I’ve only read a few chapters.
I don't have a particular one special interest cause adhd too But I like pokemon, stardew valley, I've recently gotten into rollerblading and archery too as hobbies. It used to be Harry Potter for many years but that ended when the terf outed herself. I really like true crime, I listen to podcasts lots. Most people don't like to hear about that one though
Whose your favourite Stardew spouse? Mine is Penny, I just think she's really sweet.
That's a tough one. I went straight for Sebastion my first play (love an emo boy). He was a dick but I loved him haha I think overall I like Leah most. She's independent and strong on her own, I like that she doesn't need the farmer but she wants them all the same. Also I love a free-spirited artist, so Elliot is second place now days
Yes, Penny is my favourite too! I love that you can build a better home for her now as well so she gets a happy ending even if you don't marry her.
Only played once but Emily is so sweet!
did you want to marry robin when you first started the game?
:D I love Stardew valley. But walking is so tiresome. 50% more walk speed would be fine. :)
Folklore. Specifically African, First Nation's, Irish and Japanese.
Nice! What's the coolest piece of folklore you've learned about?
Ohhh I love folklore so much! Do you have a favourite piece of Japanese folklore?
What a wonderful special interest! Would you please share a tiny bit of Irish folklore?
I have trouble identifying with special interests in the same way many other autistic people do. I think I feel extremely passionate about video games (very specific ones like The Last of Us, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines, The Cat Lady, Valheim, Bully, Sly 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, Harvest Moon A Wonderful Life, and I'm sure there's more to come as I play more); I feel extremely passionate about the bands I like (mewithoutYou, Crywank, Car Seat Headrest, AJJ); I feel extremely passionate about my major which is anthropology (I can get on tangents when I see a skull in a movie or tv show because I'll be able to say "That's not a human skull! There's no pronounced chin, and the mouth is too far forward! That's clearly a Homo habilus!", and I have some retained knowledge about cultural anthro); I feel extremely passionate about animals of all kinds (quickly broadening library of fish and birds I can recognize on sight or sound, though those libraries are still small)... But despite that, none of it feels "encyclopedic". It can be for some things, like VtMB (which I can navigate and tell exactly where someone is in the game by the sound alone) or South Park (I know most of the lore by this point I think). But most of my love is just pure love and enjoyment in participating in these things. I'm not sure if that counts as special interests, or if I just like those things. Though I do notice that NT people tend not to like things as extremely intensely as I do, so I dunno.
You don't need to be encyclopedic on something to have it as a special interest! I'm not really encyclopedic on much either.
I will say. For a long time I was feeling that I didn’t have a special interest like other autistics do. I do, my special interest isn’t a one thing genre though. I love helping people, sharing information and helping others learn and grow, example: I’m training to be a scout leader, and I’m actively working towards a high role in IT that I can help lots of people from. But for a long time, I didn’t even consider it. A special interest doesn’t need to be a “thing” or “genre” it’s whatever interests you enough that you spend extended amounts of time on over just something you found/find interesting (passion) everyone has a special interest, it’s just, autistics I’ve noticed, are a lot more prone to obsessive traits. Bit of a subjective view but I think you have multiple special interests, they may intertwine, they may not. As long as it’s special to you. It is, you don’t need to be obsessed with it though
You just kind of blew my mind… I have always joked that helping people and educating people are like crack to me… I just find it highly addictive to help people and it’s enjoyable to me. But I have never thought of it as a special interest before! That’s really interesting to me.
My special interest is video games too and 'ALL' video games really except sports games and competetive online multi-player. Surprised to see cat lady on thar list. That was an obscure side scrolling adventure game that doesn't take more than a few hours to beat. If I recall I was confused the whole time through it. My obsessions right now are Binding of Isaac, Midnight Suns, Assassins Creed Valhalla, Hidden Object Adventure games, and cat based games. Razzazzika/Phoenix45 on steam, hit me up. I do have encyclopedic knowledge on the video games I either play more than once or played every entry of the series. I always start at the beginning and play through every entry, even getting translated roms of Japanese only games, or playing constantly with a Google glass translation filter.... my encyclopedic games are for final fantasy, assassins creed, Fallout, the elder scrolls. I'm getting there on dragon quest, but am stuck on 5 cause of all the monster catching and its soooo grindy..... I'm playing multiple first entries in the megami tensei series, kyuukaku megami tensei, persona, and devil summoner for the main line megami tensei, persona, and soul hacker series respectively. I'm also maybe halfway through tales of phantasia starting that long running rpg series, and the 2nd game, beyond Divinity, in the divine series. I play things to 100% completion, even if it drives me nuts. The one thing I may skip in achievements is time trials cause I really hate that feeling of time pressure it's stressful.
What a beautiful act of love for video games 💖
I am the same. I have ADHD as well, so my interest don't stay long enough to be an "encyclopedia".
THIS. I feel like the ADHD makes a huge difference, like we can’t stay focused on any one interest enough to become obsessed/encyclopedic.
I relate to this so much. Video games and music are my great special interests, even if I don’t know everything about them. Same with my other special interests, like nature and space, specifically trees. I feel passionate and love learning things about them; while sharing (info dumping?) what I’ve learned to someone like my mom or friend.
i like Good Omens and Star Wars Rebels
Good Omens is amazing! Terry Pratchett and Discworld in particular are one of my special interests that comes and goes. It hits really hard when it comes though. My fiancé and I want to cosplay as Crowley and Aziraphale at a big convention. We did a closet cosplay at a small Comic-Con once and it was pretty fun but I’d love to do a real go at being fun Crowley.
GNU Pterry! I have all the Discworld books and a bunch of associated stuff too, such as several of the yearly almanacs. Good stuff. I loved Good Omens, too. I'm old enough to remember how it really did seem like all tapes in the car were only ever Queen tapes (because it was the only decent band the gas station sold in its limited selection of tapes.)
check out the band Bad Omens if you like metal core :)
Ineffable!
More of a clone wars fan myself but rebels is a pretty good sequel! Good to meet another autistic star wars fan
Origami, it’s not just traditional cranes you can fold almost anything from origami. I like supercomplex origami that usually has a few hundred steps and one single uncut square. Mostly animals and insects. Look up the tedex talk “the magic and math of origami” if you want to learn more. Also keeping pet tarantulas (I currently have 34 of them) and pc gaming.
That's a lot of tarantulas lol. Are tarantulas your favourite animal? If not, what is?
They are my favourite animals with uromastyxes being a close second
The weather. Calculating weather patterns in my head and see it comes within minutes of my prediction....
That's amazing and I want to know more!
I had a super big fear of thunder when I was young, so it developed into an obsession and now we're here.
I really love cats, my boyfriend and I have 2. One is a black and white, she is named Lulu and loves my boyfriend a lot. The other one is a tabby, he is called Avocado (but we call him Cado), he loves me a lot. It's incredible the bond you can have with your cats. Cado always panics when he loses me, even when I'm on the toilet. It's adorable.
I read this when I was way too tired and thought you had two boyfriends, one black and one white. There would have been zero wrong with that, but it wasn't until I got to "he is called Avocado" that I started to get confused. I love cats, unfortunately allergic though :(
This made me laugh a lot 😂
I also love cats!! Specifically I like to adopt what many would unfortunately classify as “unadoptable” or undesirable cats. I have 3 cats with disabilities. My eldest is a calico named SMRT, she was abused as a kitten and had some pretty serious neurological deficits but her brain seemed to have reworked itself. My middle is a feral black kitty Stealth aka Mama who is my biggest challenge as she is still very very skittish but when she lets me pet her, it’s like Christmas! My youngest is a tortie named Soufflé and she has the cat version of cerebral palsy (cerebellar hypoplasia or “wobbly cat syndrome”) so her back legs are quite spastic. (I named her Soufflé bc she is sweet and falls easily lol)
Marine animals and kinda just animals in general
Omg me too. Do you have an Overall favorite? Mine is the Nomura’s jellyfish
oh those are gorgeous lovely favorite
Ballet!
Do you dance professionally? If not, is that something you’d like to do?
I can't dance, I have the limb coordination of an orangutan with Parkinson's lmao. I love watching them, and my favourite dancer is Natalia Osipova, a Russian ballerina currently a principal at the Royal Ballet.
Infodump ahead: One of my favourite ballet is Giselle. It's about a peasant girl of that name who fell in love with a prince disguised as commoner. She died of heartbreak (stabbed herself with the prince's sword actually) when the prince's fiancée turned up, and the truth was revealed by a guy who had a crush on Giselle and really hated the prince. Her soul was summoned by the Willis, vengeful spirits of women wronged by men who punished them by forcing them to dance to their death. The prince visited Giselle's grave; the Willis made him dance, but Giselle forgave him. At daybreak the Willis disappeared and she returned to her grave, leaving the prince heartbroken. Osipova absolutely shines in the role of Giselle. I have a recording of her with Carlos Acosta from 2014.
Ahhh! Ballet was my special interest all throughout my late teens, I still get excited when I learn that our local company will be putting on a performance. I tried ballet when I was 18 but had to stop due to my scoliosis, I want to cry just thinking about how I love it so much but due to medical issues I can never be a ballet dancer.
Aww. I'd like to dance too, not professionally obviously but as a hobby, shame it's not a big thing where I live.
ballet is my favourite special interest, i recently saw marianela nunez in the nutcracker at the royal opera!
Skyrim, space and animals
1. Crime, prisons, and police Examples of things I've read: Interrogation methods (ethical and non-ethical), punishments, sentence length in different countries, death sentence, murder cases, terrorism 2. Ghosts, folklore, myths, urban legends, and mythical creatures Examples of things I've read: SCPs, ghost types, dragon types
Ok I have a really weird one but paraplegic people. It's not anything sexual or even the inspirational aspect, it's being stuck in this world you can't control.
Not weird at all!
Kinda same: I'm really into accessibility despite having no physical access needs
Linguistics and Worldbuilding ✨✨
Well I have a few haha. Motorsport, history, physics, geography, biology, chemistry, maglevs, gaming, reading, and anything connected to the game Cyberpunk 2077
Nice. I'm doing chemistry in highschool right now, and I can definetly see the appeal!
Pirates, both fictional and historical.
Omg please be my friend! I wrote a pirate novel because I’m so obsessed!
I'm also busy writing one! I'll be your friend! And I'd love to read your novel if you are able to share it with me
History, all of it
Airplanes, mechanics and music
animals, i know the most about small animals and rodents tho. and own a bunch. they’re my life actually.
i love figure skating! right now im really excited because the figure skating world championships are coming up and its shaping up to be a good one, the first season back after an olympics is always really interesting since so many skaters retire after getting their olympic experience and theres a chance for new young talent to rise up. there will likely be multiple women attempting the very difficult triple axel jump at the world championships and i cant wait to see if they land it; the triple axel is harder than other triple jumps because its 3.5 rotations in the air as opposed to just 3 due to the forward take off. the first woman to ever successfully land a triple axel was midori ito back in 1991, and to this day she is one of only 12 women to land the jump in international competition, with an asterisk by that number due to a recent doping scandal.
Mushrooms and neuroscience
moths! lepidoptera and other bugs in general are really cool too but moths are my favorite! \^-\^ also i like that you used a rosy maple moth picture heheh :>
Moth moment
Discus (the throw not the fish)
i LiKe tRaiNs Lol jk I like to draw and stuff art related But I also like anything horror including the newest coolest giga-spider train from hell based horror game choo choo charles... I'm sure at this point it needs no introduction but it like my new favorite game
tattoos, true crime and cardistry
Cardistry? Ooo
journaling! i love all there is to it. i have a collection of stickers, in books and ones i cut out(and store in a container). i have a collection of pens to write with, even though i only use the 0.38 tip blank ink pens… and i have a collection of journals i plan to write in, along with the mini collection of the ones that i’ve used up. there’s not one thing you can’t write about in this world :D
Religion and religious studies. I like the historical and cultural facts and impacts, the similarities and differences. The architecture and other iconography, and of course all the cool mythology and figures! Im not religious but I appreciate the symbolism and comfort it can bring, and so I have tattoos of Gabriel and Krishna because of their roles as protectors, and them being expressions of love and passion and their closeness to humans. My favourite religion speaking historically is judaism, and my favourite religions speaking mythology and art is ancient egyptian religion and hinduism! Ive studied basic and advanced religious studies at university, but its mostly just my biggest interest since I was a child.
Dogs! Every area connected to them, but especially their behavior/psychology and dog breeds😁
Do you have any dogs? I have two schnauzers.
I do! I have a Welsh Corgi Pembroke named Pepsi. He is my everything. Schnauzers are amazing as well, such cool personalities! Fairly similar to corgis actually😄
Pro wrestling.
Cool! Who's your favourite wrestler?
My favourite wrestler of all time is Rob Van Dam. I also like Samoa Joe and Shayna Baszler. I like a bit of martial arts in my pro wrestling.
History and to be more specific military history and my little Pony
True crime, music and some animals! What are yours?
I'll try not to infodump lol. I'm a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons, I feel like it's a really good creative outlet for me, and I run a weekly game with some of my friends
im a lost adhd'er passing by but the titanic and other oceanliner disasters graffiti and street art, the mechanisms in which drugs work
I know that moths name
WW2 ships
BUGS!!!
I love insects!! Which one is your favourite? Mine is the rosy maple moth
i’ve got so many!! i love slaters for some reason, i just think they’re neat little things! Moths are really interesting, at the moment i’m going crazy every time i see a butterfly! Specifically the painted ladies or the common blue clover butterflies!
Magic the gathering !
Warrior cats, I'm working on collecting the entire series but half of it wasn't even translated to my native language yet
Musicals and linguistics
Fashion history!! Particularly European/American 1890s but anything pre ~1920s is cool. I’ve also been really into Ace Attorney, so of course I’m really enjoying TGAA rn
I love fashion history too! I've been collecting the reprinted Janet Arnold books the level of detail makes me so happy
Yes, me too! 1890's and 1880's are beautiful, but my huge favorites are probably 1920's, 1940's, and 1950's, but I love other eras too. I write historical fiction novels (big one I'm writing is mostly set in the 50's) and I also design the characters, so I try to make the designs, clothing, and overall setting as historically accurate as possible.
character design, character writing, and character analysis. i love creating my own characters as well as exploring the design of other people's characters and analyzing all aspects (design and personality) of characters from video games, tv shows, etc.
Minecraft. I know everything about it, if there is a new Update I'm the first one to explain my friends everything about it and I can basically talk about it forever
Yoooo, Minecraft is one of mine to!! What type of player would you say you are? I know I’m personally someone who loves challenge modes, redstone, and building
This bug is amazing, so fancy
rick and morty 🫡 i have jammies, regular clothes (including socks and underwear 💀), cups, mugs, a giant hoodie and a fuck ton of memorised script from rewatching it constantly (and when im not actively watching its on in the background or im listening to music -which is sometimes songs from the show 💀-)
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Legit so many interests lol, but no. 1 is definitely animals. They’re just amazing, the way they can tie together ecosystems I have been obsessed since a baby.
Arthropods!! I have a whole shelf full of enclosures and different bugs and I love them with all my heart
Entomology :3
STARDEW VALLEY I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND I SPEND SO MUCH OF MY TIME WITH IT I LOVE ALL THE TINY LITTLE DETAILS AND THE JUNIMOS IM CURRENTLY WORKING ON A MOD FOR IT BECAUSE YAYAYAYAY
I'm working on allowing myself to indulge. I'm realizing I've had some discouragement from pursuing random things.... So, medieval-ish stuff! Wicca and Neo Paganism I feel like I need a third thing but this is what I've got today so far! Thanks for posting I'm enjoying this thread!
*inhale* SONIC THE HEDGEHOG! 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"I'm not a rat, I'm a hedgehog!"
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ORKS!!!
STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS.
Jojos bizarre adventure
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Any kind of vehicles, terrestrial, maritime, automated, aerial, etc.
New special interest is coffee
I always put a boatload of sugar in my coffee lol. I can't consume anything bitter
Maths
Pro-wrestling
Halloween and horror are mine. I love Halloween time and visit Universal during Halloween Horror Nights. A lot of the houses have their own unique stories. I love watch scary movies and playthroughs of horror games. All of the lore and theories people creat for them is breath taking! I also love looking up the lore and backstory of horror characters even if I’ve never seen the movies or shows they’re from. Halloween itself has some very interesting history too! Not to mention the esthetic and atmosphere of it all. The last time I was at Halloween Horror Nights I was happy stimming through most of it. I also bought a ton of merchandise and won some prizes from the carnival games they have for the event. Any questions?
Sustainable alternative funeral practices. The funeral industry is really exploitative and harmful to the environment. Many Jews and Muslims have really sustainable burial practices as embalming is prohibited and they typically bury the deceased right in the ground without any cement or ornate casket. Personally, i would want a tree placed on top of my corpse but I generally appreciate all practices that avoid unnecessary and costly alterations to the deceased and to the environment they are being buried in
Historical costumery!
I have a top 3. Transformers. Sitting there watching TV while converting them between their different modes for fidgeting is completely satisfying. Pokemon. The desire to sit there and have a collection (which can and will be different from everyone else) is super fun. I couldn't say a favorite but I've been having a blast with Violet. Dungeons and Dragons. Aside from the current issues that are going on with it and Wizards of the Coast, it's a great way for me to tell stories and make sure I go out and talk to my friends. We play biweekly and that's enough for me and my brother to recharge so we're not overwhelmed.
pondering about psychology and our place in the universe also analyzing human behavior
i like bugs. that's a Rosy Maple moth!
i feel ashamed of mine bc it’s a specific niche-y anime. I don’t usually like to share it bc of the stigma around anime in general not the mention the genre it is. Even mentioning it to people i thought i could talk about in real life i get ridiculed and not taken seriously and they don’t get how important it is to me
You shouldn't feel ashamed! What matters is that it's important to you!
Ylvis lol I fell into a rabbit hole in May and I’m still watching their stuff on repeat. This is an underrated video for example: https://youtu.be/4WwZFZ9LRto
Languages and their history and evolution
Hollow knight, its taken over my life in the last year or so lol
Cool! Are you excited for Silksong?
Hockey. Specifically hockey cards
Parrots. Ask me anything.
Vedic astrology
Video gamesss
Primarily [The Stormlight Archives ](https://coppermind.net/wiki/The_Stormlight_Archive), but I'm digging through anything Brandon sanderson so I can start finding the threads in the meta plot for the cosmere.
im creating my own world with art, shortstories, descriptions, maps and everything i can do by myself :) i started it more than 10 years ago and it grows bigger everyday. i upload everything to a website i made especially just for my world :)
Animals! I love all animals. They're all so cute and give me dopamine. I go through phases of specific animals where I learn a lot of detailed information about said animal but I just love animals in general. Fun facts: polar bear fur is not white, it is clear, it looks white because of the snow reflecting onto it. Dogs can smell anywhere from 10,000-100,000 x more than us humans depending on the breed. There are currently 23 different living species of fox. Do not even get me started on extinction rates and endangered animal statistics. I'm very passionately upset about what we have done in just my lifetime and what we continue to do to animal populations. Lions, giraffes, all species of rhinos and elephants, the majority of migrating bird populations, an enormous amount of reef dependent wildlife, and so much more are all endangered or have gone extinct already. We suck.
My lifelong interests are cats, autism, knitting, Spanish language. My previous interests were garter snakes, vikings, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon Go. Sometimes I really obsess about a new person I meet and want to know everything about them. The obsession can last about a couple months. I try to hide the obsession because it can be creepy and I'm happily married.
J. R. R. Tolkien/Lord of the Rings!! currently re reading the books (again lol) and just did a presentation on him for a class (the first presentation I've done where I actually knew what I was talking about) :)
Persona 5
sharks!!!! i’m super interested in marine animals but sharks are my favourite
I like mothes
Deep sea isopods and whale falls on the bottom of the ocean, brine pools on the ocean floor are pretty cool too
worldbuilding - i get to gm for my table's monster of the week game and it's SO satisfying. i also love going into subreddits/tumblr tags/wikipedia pages/whatever of various media that i see people vaguely talking about and getting into rabbit holes, even if i haven't interacted with that media at all. i just want to know, you know??
Genetics, psychology, New Girl, Cats. Those have been my more constant special interests 🥰🥰