Special interests of students with autism

[Anonymous]

Second the idea to just survey parents. Others from my experience:

-train and transit system maps
-Harry Potter & all of its spin-offs & fan fiction
-cats (pet and big)
-pets like Guinea pigs and especially small pet care
-reptiles (especially ones from far away, or dangerous ones like Komodo dragons)
-baseball and hockey facts
-sports cars
-electric cars especially Teslas
-Disney parks facts, park tour videos

[Anonymous]

This how obscure the interests can be and why it’s hard to find two alike - DDs:

- Autism traits (ha!)
- gothic horror movies
- Insane Clown Posse
- BoJack Horseman
- romantic goth fashion

[Anonymous]

Basketball - players names, teams, stats, previous players, coaches, championship winners for many years, rivalries, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised as a teacher of Aspies that you aren’t hearing about their specific interests in great detail and All. Day. Long. Anime and comics. My Aspie likes My Hero Academia. Dungeons and Dragons. Video games such as Minecraft and Roblex. Metro train and bus routes. Space was a big one at social skills class.

When I worked with younger kids, I did hear about their interests ALL DAY LONG. There are a couple of my current students who share a lot, but in MS, I see less of the students because they change classes. Also, I think that they have some of that pre-teen/early teen desire to keep some things private.

I think if their desire is to keep something private you should respect that, not try to force past the boundary.

— HS special educator

[Anonymous]

Many of the above but also marvel. Coding also maybe. And for girls, surprisingly, makeup. My daughter watches a lot of makeup tutorials and gets very into the art of it.
Because you can’t list anything, you might want to have categories like:

—- anime, including ________
- manga, including _________
— sports, including _________
— role playing games, including _____

[Anonymous]

Anyone have a child with ASD who does not have special interests?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a child with ASD who does not have special interests?

mine. he has always stored up a lot more detail than other kids but never a really all-encompassing interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many of the above but also marvel. Coding also maybe. And for girls, surprisingly, makeup. My daughter watches a lot of makeup tutorials and gets very into the art of it.
Because you can’t list anything, you might want to have categories like:

—- anime, including ________
- manga, including _________
— sports, including _________
— role playing games, including _____

Collecting things, especially …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a child with ASD who does not have special interests?

mine. he has always stored up a lot more detail than other kids but never a really all-encompassing interest.

Special interests is part of the diagnostic criteria so very, very common in autistic kids.

[Anonymous]

Female age 14

Moving off of My Hero Acadamia

Genshin Impact
Cats (lifelong)
The sims
Minecraft (building amusement parks. Hates amusement parks in real life)
Mini Brands
It’s worth saying cats again
Baby names that “go together”
Manga

New-ish:
Mean girls
The Heathers
Google Earth go to a random place

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would ask their parents. There’s no posible way to create an inclusive list. One thing I know about children with autism is no 2 share the same interests. Even when they do share common interests it can be much more object specific than topic or interest specific. So kids might all love Minecraft, one might only like playing it, another might like watching YouTube videos of it, another only likes it because they went to a birthday party and Minecraft was the theme so now they say they like it because they have friends that like it.

This.

My daughter’s interests themselves are only slightly quirky. It’s the intensity with which she’s focused on these special interests that stood out clinically.

[Anonymous]

Could be literally anything...music, star wars, fashion, sports, photography, video editing, dance, native American history and culture, baking. Etc
Anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a child with ASD who does not have special interests?

mine. he has always stored up a lot more detail than other kids but never a really all-encompassing interest.

Special interests is part of the diagnostic criteria so very, very common in autistic kids.

no it’s not

[Anonymous]

Game design

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a child with ASD who does not have special interests?

mine. he has always stored up a lot more detail than other kids but never a really all-encompassing interest.

Special interests is part of the diagnostic criteria so very, very common in autistic kids.

no it’s not

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/hcp-dsm.html

Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests