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No special interest?

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dmvguy
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17 Sep 2010, 5:25 pm

I'm currently unsure if im an aspie or not. It seems like I am based on everything I've read about it I think I have it. The only thing that makes me doubt if i have it is the lack of a special interest. I don't have one and I really don't have any hobbies. So my question is can you be an aspie with no special interest?



MathGirl
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17 Sep 2010, 5:29 pm

I didn't have any special interests when I was depressed. Even when I'm in one of my depressed phases right now, I find it more difficult to bring myself to do anything, including occupying myself with my special interests. Asperger's without special interests is considered to be NLD. There's a sticky about NLD in this section, it might be helpful for you to read it.


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jaspie
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17 Sep 2010, 5:40 pm

Having no special interests does not mean you do not have AS.I had the same experiences as MathGirl when I had depressive moments.Now I do have interests that I proactively occupy myself with astronomy-related subjects and anime.



alex
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17 Sep 2010, 5:56 pm

You only need to meet some of te diganosis criteria of asperger's to be diagnosed so, yes, you could still be an aspie withou special interests.


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scubasteve
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17 Sep 2010, 5:59 pm

This is interesting. I've had the same experience as MathGirl and jaspie. Does depression cause people with AS to lose their special interest? Does it come back when the depression is treated? Seems worth researching if it hasn't been already.



Tollorin
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17 Sep 2010, 6:04 pm

scubasteve wrote:
This is interesting. I've had the same experience as MathGirl and jaspie. Does depression cause people with AS to lose their special interest? Does it come back when the depression is treated? Seems worth researching if it hasn't been already.

Depression make lose their interests to NTs too. And yes you found back interests when the depression go away, not necessary the sames though.


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scubasteve
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17 Sep 2010, 6:23 pm

Yeah I know it has that effect in general. I guess I just thought special interests were... special? lol. There was absolutely no doubt about my special interest when I was younger. But now I'm just mildly interested in a wider variety of things. It's not set in stone I guess.



Fizzgiz
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17 Sep 2010, 10:31 pm

This is what made me miss that I have AS. I thought I didn't have any special interests, and then I realized that it was books, and reading and learning ANYTHING.



leftyswin
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18 Sep 2010, 7:40 am

dmvguy wrote:
I'm currently unsure if im an aspie or not. It seems like I am based on everything I've read about it I think I have it. The only thing that makes me doubt if i have it is the lack of a special interest. I don't have one and I really don't have any hobbies. So my question is can you be an aspie with no special interest?


Dude, I'm in the same position right now! I've never had any steady hobbies since I was 10. Almost like my special interest changes every few months. But right now I have no desire to do anything, because I'm pretty depressed. I don't really know why though..



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18 Sep 2010, 7:49 am

I think that sometimes special interests can be hidden and not very obvious, especially to the person involved. Take my daughter's special interest in Barbie when she was younger. It's only with hindsight that we can see how much more into it she was than other little girls. Or my husband who would say he doesn't have a special interest. Yeah right, he lives and breathes chemistry but because it's his profession the special interest is overlooked.