Do you know what I know?
Why autists’ interests should be embraced
I dislike the expression ’circumscribed’ when applied to the interests shown by autists in a particular subject. I also dislike the use of the word ‘obsession’ in this context too. For me they are both examples of neurotypical interpretation and both carry heavily negative overtones.
One of the signs that a child might be on the spectrum does involve hyper focused behaviour and intense interests, but to suggest that every individual with ASD is obsessive about their interests is simply not true. Neurotypical clinicians claim that “restricted and/or circumscribed” interests can have socially isolating effects. But why does this need to insinuate blame on the part of the autist or the interest?
Studies increasingly suggest that the majority of autistic people feel enriched and not controlled by their interests.
Many people with Asperger syndrome have intense and highly focused interests and often say that the pursuit of such interests is fundamental to their wellbeing and happiness. There seems to be a stereotype about autistic people’s “intense interests” revolving around computers, math/science, video games or anime. I don’t have much interest in any of those. I know plenty of neurotypical individuals who do though. Sometimes we call those people ‘teacher’ or ‘professor.’ We even turn to them when we are sick — doctor — or want to build a spacecraft — engineer.
A ‘subject matter expert,’ or SME, is a person who possesses a deep understanding of a particular subject. SME may have collected their knowledge through intensive levels of schooling, or through years of professional experience with the subject. The SME has a level of understanding regarding their subject that is not common.
Basically, when a neurotypical person develops a significant interest in a subject they are considered an SME but when an autist does then they are ‘obsessed’, and the interest is ‘circumscribed’.
Talk about double standards!
When I reflect on my own interests, I am more than comfortable that they do not dominate my life and aren’t a negative influence either. If anything, they help me make more sense of the world or my job. My interests are mainly related to social commentary or satirical descriptions (see Star Wars, Discworld Series), I love people watching (helps with masking!) and I mainly watch or read fact-based content.
During the early days of the pandemic, I took a very keen interest in zoonotic viruses and how they are transmitted. I read several books (I would definitely recommend Spillover by David Quammen) and developed a spreadsheet tracking Covid cases in my country. I was soon predicting the next day’s new case count — comparatively accurately — and was able to predict what actions the Government would take and what impact they would have. I am maintaining it still. But then health systems, and predicting future health events, are part of my job.
In 2020 the blogger Pete Wharmby, himself autistic, asked “Anyone #autistic managed to make a living from a special interest?”. This question resulted in numerous responses showing that such interests had led to autists securing roles as diverse as librarian, TV producer, tattoo artist, train conductor and palaeontologist. This in world where only 16–20% of autists are employed at all.
In addition to helping people gain employment, our interests can really help us to build self-confidence and give us a place to retreat when we need help coping emotions and overstimulation. Studies also suggest they can help autistic children gain social skills including a reduction in fidgeting and increasing speech towards more complex, vocabulary-rich statements. You know, some of the very issues which ABA fails to achieve, and without the torture and trauma. Once again it appears that research and academia are finally catching up with what many people with autism have long known.
Imagine what we could achieve if people actually listened to us about our main special interest — autism itself.
“There’s been a lot of negative language used around special interests, things like ‘inflexible’ and ‘obsessions.’ The real paradigm shift is thinking about special interests as more positive.” — Dr Rachel Grove
