Can NTs Have Special Interests?

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Yehhh! NTs do! Otherwise they wouldn't have anything to talk about or even have anything to do with their lives, except sit and stare into space like an old person with Dementia.

My cousin is NT, and from when he was 5 to when he was about 14 he was so obsessed with football it was unbelievable. He had lots and lots of mates, and he used to go and play football with them, but he seemed more obsessed with football than his mates.
He was so good at football aswell, and was always scoring goals, and he knew every single thing about football. He used to keep drawing pictures of a football pitch, and writing down which players go where, and used to imagine a little game, just be staring at the picture. He had all the right football gear in the bottom of his wardrobe where he wouldn't lose any of it. He collected a football magazine every week, without fail. He had got a set of little plastic football figures for his 8th birthday. He got playstation 2 games of football for his 9th birthday, and just wouldn't come away from the screen. He had collected all the football cards and stickers. His Dad had even took him to get his football autographed by one of his favourite football players. Oh, and he had a CD of football songs.
And every time I saw him with his mates, they were always talking about football.

He's 23 now, and has switched to another interest, which is karate, and he has lots of trophies.
But he still likes football.

So what you are saying is NTs can only have special interests in sports?

I kind of get this...like do they have the same types of traits when they are immersed in their special interest. I think sometimes they do when they have a little obsessive compulsive stuff going on. I think they also do when they are full blown crazy...

but regular NTs...naw...they have interests but don't do full body immersions into their tangents until every avenue is exhausted...first thought of the day, think about it all day, care about nothing else..then stage two of the interest could be moving in to the next level of knowledge...years of time spent on something.

I have one special interest which started to frustrate me because I couldn't continue my research without special permission to see certain studies. I figured it out and found a way to get to read the extra material. I could probably write a thesis on this subject but honestly I have NO desire...it was only because I wanted more information.

I don't know any NTs that have gone to the links I have, or spent the time I have --- sometimes years ---for absolutely no reason or personal benefit

One question I wanted to ask, actually...

What's the difference between being "addicted" to something versus having a special interest in something? Before I heard of ADHD or AS, I used to just think I had an addictive personality.

On that same note, I know one of my friends who has AS was always being accused of being addicted to computer games. But from what I saw, she just had a naturally addictive personality.

What are your thoughts on the topic?

And if being addicted to something is analogous, then yes, I'd say NT's get it too... but perhaps, people with AS are more hard-wired for it.

No, I am saying there is no rule for what NTs like and dislike. Lots of people have hobbies and everybody has an interest in something. My NT uncle likes Elvis, and he has pictures of him up on his living-room walls, and has collected all of his albums.

Where I come from, you have to write what your interests and/or hobbies are at the bottom of your CV, and if you ain't got any down, the managers aren't going to think, ''no hobbies, she must be NT. Oh, this one likes so-and-so, he must be on the Autism spectrum.....''

Let's not keep saying NTs don't have interests. Every NT who I know has an interest in something.

Yeah, of course they do. I was just joking. But are these interests "special?" What makes a special interest for an AS person different from an NT person's interest?

I have always wondered this and am confused about the degree. For example, when I am interested in something, it's like being in love. I live and breathe it and need to acquire as much information about it as possible. When I feel satisfied I've gotten enough my interest wanes away.

Is it different for NTs?

Yer, I thought it was a joke because of the laughing face, but I still thought I would explain myself again.

Anyway, this is also a complicated question, because both NTs and people on the spectrum get special interests. I think a NT wouldn't let their special interest take over their life, unless it was convenient - for example, say if a NT loved football (like my cousin) they would want to try and look into becoming a football coach like that. But if a NT had a certain type of special interest what shouldn't interfere with your life, for example their next door neighbour's dog or something, then they wouldn't try to fit their whole life around this one dog - they are able to focus on getting a job, getting married (if they wanted to), and not minding if they had to move out of their house away from the dog.
But take an Aspie, (me, for example), I am obsessed with the one bus I get to my volunteer job, and all the drivers what take turns driving this bus, and if I got a full-time job locally, I won't be able to get this bus any more or see the drivers, so that is why I'm looking for part-time work, so that I can still catch this bus sometimes in the week. I know it looks like I'm letting this bus rule my life, but to me (an Aspie) this one obsession is the most important thing in the world.
But if a NT loved her bus-drivers, she would still know that finding full-time work is more important, and would do it, and would be able to adapt living without her special interest, and without feeling lost.

thats not quite correct.

there is no one way of being for NTs. NT is a spectrum, too. there is a huge range for any specific behavior. there are some NTs that have more superficial interests, there are some that get completely obsessed. for some NTs, they would indeed be lost if they were kept from indulging in their interests.

i think for MOST NTs, but not all, its easier to maintain a balance between wants and have tos than it is for autistics. i have to work, i want to play video games, i try to maintain a balance that allows me to do both. there are times where i lose my balance accidentally or intentionally and it swings in one direction or the other. maybe i am trying to get a raise, so i put more time into my job and less into video games. or a new expansion just came out, so i skip out of work an hour early to get home to play. (i took 4 days of my paid vacation time when WoW Cataclysm came out =P my way of maintaining balance while indulging in more play time than usual)

i know the "from another planet" feeling is common in autistics, but its not actually true =P you really are just human, and you are experiencing human traits that you share with others in the population. yes, they are quite often traits found at the extreme ends of the range, and theres a specific pool of extremes that is common in autism, but they are still overall just human traits. when it comes to behavioral traits, you can always find NTs out there that do the same thing, even if yours are attributed to autism.

I don't know. Humans are weird.

I love it when people put things like that!
I hate it when Aspies call themselves aliens. Sometimes we may feel like aliens at times, but we are not aliens. We are people. With a disability.

Anyway - I like to balance out my wants and needs, and balancing them out will make me a more relaxed and less anxious person. If I had a part-time job where I worked, say, on a Sunday, a Monday, a Thursday and a Friday, those days would be scheduled and I would know what I'm doing, and that would be my paid job. Then on a Tuesday, a Wednesday and a Saturday I would be able to get on my favourite bus and see all the bus-drivers, which will make me happy (I know that may sound stupid to others but it's what I like). And then I could leave one day to have a quiet day in on my own, because having quiet relaxing days helps calm my sensory issues a bit.

And that would be my week done. That would make me less anxious, I know it.

An addiction is something which is destructive. A special interest is something that you spend much of your time thinking about, and which is not something that most people spend a lot of time thinking about.

For example: A person gambles only once a year, and rarely thinks about gambling at other times. When this person does gamble, they get deep into debt. That person is addicted to gambling, but does not have a special interest.

Another person thinks about gambling all the time, collects gambling memorabilia, talks about gambling a lot, and gambles regularly. However, this interest does not disrupt this persons work or personal life, and they never gamble money that they cannot afford to lose. That is a special interest, but not an addiction.

Of course, the boundaries are not so clear cut in real world situations, and something could easily be both a special interest and an addiction.

I see what you mean. I guess there's a lot of overlap between the two, as you said.

I want to write more, but I'm not thinking properly right now. Suffice to say, thanks for explaining. I'll meditate on it some and get back to you if I have anything more to say.