If you could only pick ONE special interest...

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So, today, I went to organize my neuropsychiatry article collection, and I stumbled on a good article I had forgotten about called "From tarantulas to toilet brushes: Understanding the special interest areas of children and youth with Asperger Syndrome" by Mary Ann Winter-Messiers. It's the article that the "Dinosaurs 24/7" page on the Interactive Autism Network website is based off of:

Dinosaurs 24/7

It's, like, basically one of the only good studies about special interests out there.

In the study, 23 people with AS, from the ages of 7-21, were interviewed at length about their special interests. Their parents were also interviewed. The first question in the interview was: "What is your favorite thing in the whole world?" So, the participants were only allowed to select ONE special interest.

It got me thinking. If I had to choose just one special interest, which one would I choose?

I've had lots of lower-level special interests throughout the years, but for the "all-encompassing" special interests, the ones that truly define me to my inner core, there are three: I Love Lucy, Cedar Point and their roller coasters (the Magnum XL-200, in particular), and science (the neuropsychiatry of bipolar mania and psychosis, in particular). I think that I'd have to pick science as my SPECIAL special interest. I mean, I can't even imagine never going to Cedar Point again or never watching I Love Lucy again or having my Lucy collection, but I REALLY can't imagine not having science.

I've been into science almost my whole life, since around age 3. I wanted to be an obstetrician when I was four, and pregnancy still remains one of my sub-special interests within the medical sciences. I've been into amusement parks since around age 4 (went to Cedar Point for the first time at age 5), but I really only do that during the summer or on vacation. It's a small amount of time that I get to enjoy. And I didn't discover I Love Lucy until I was 12. But science has always been there for me, and there are so many things to learn that you can never know everything. I asked my mom what she thought I'd pick (as they did in the study), and she first guessed Cedar Point, then Lucy. She picked "neuroscience" next.

So, since I'm always looking for more special interest discussions on here, I thought it would be cool to hear from others with AS about what their choice would be for their ONE special interest. And for those Aspies who only have ever HAD one special interest, I'd be interested to hear why no other special interests ever popped up in your lives.

my special interests are:

the holocaust
medical and psychological facts

other things that i'm obsessed with that i don't really gather information about the same way:
minecraft
magic the gathering (card game)
the sims
pokemon

out of my special interests, i'd pick medical and psychological things i think... still really obsessed with the holocaust though
out of my other obsessions, i'd pick the video game category- not sure what game at all

My biggest interests are anime and music. I don't think I'd be able to choose between the two of them. Mainly because music has been a HUGE part of my life. It's saved me a number of times and helped me be who I am today. I guess music would have the bigger win of all if I had to choose just one interest. XD Problem is though, I'm also very obsessed with anime as well, so it'd be a hard choice to make.

My other interests include disabilities/mental illnesses, alice in wonderland, trains and Pokemon. Also, I love The Nightmare Before Christmas as well.

If I could pick just one special interest out of all the ones I have, I'd choose The Kinks. Once I rediscovered that one five years ago around this time, I came out of a dark depression that nobody helped me with or supported me through.

I forgot to mention my obsession with Tom Hiddleston and Doctor Who. Those two would also be really hard to give up, especially Tom Hiddleston who's like... perfection on two legs.

I only have one special interest = my research.
There is a huge gap between all other things that are interesting to me vs. my research.
There is ackshuly nothing special about any other interests I have or things that are interesting to me.
Only my research is my special interest.
There can only be one.

Auto-racing.

The germination of Schizomeria ovata seeds
after I had done that though, i would quickly lose interest...

Research is a good one and fits with one of my special interests - writing.

I have two special interests, writing and flying. If I had to choose one, then it would be writing because it's free. If I had the money to continue flying, the choice would be much harder.

Writing.
I've done a fair bit of it and especially love writing stories. You would be surprised the amount of research involved in writing fiction. Even when I've written fantasy fiction, I do a lot of research. As a part of the writing process, I love doing the research.

I've researched ships, armies, musical instruments, historical moments, codes and cyphers, people important to historical achievements, eccentric heads of corporations, angels and demons, whirling dervishes, ceremonies of monarchs, ancient technologies, monastic rituals, early aristocracy, Celtic religions, languages (Maori, Japanese, Aboriginal, old English, Hebrew, and others), horses, early weaponry, archery, harmonics, and a bunch of other interesting topics, and all to help with my writing of fiction.

Just one?

Then it would have to be model railroading - A topic that has kept me fascinated for decades and for which I never have enough time.

My one special interest would be prime numbers. It's already lasted almost 12 years, longer than any others.

I sooo wish I could choose only one of my interests to be obsessed with, mainly because all of them are expensive I tend to go from one to the other every 2-3 months. When I'm focused on what ever interest I'm currently involved in, I'm totally obsessed with it and I don't really care about the others. Then, someting in my mind switches and I become obsessed with one of my other interests. It's actually kind of frustrating, because when I'm on one interest, I feel like I could focus on that interest for years and years.... and when I go to another interest, I feel like I've abandoned my previous interest

My main interests are:

-RC cars
-telescopes\astronomy\astrophotography
-photography\ collecting old cameras

I think that if I had to choose one interest, It'd be photography. I'm actually planning on upgrading cameras in a couple months! I'm looking at getting a Nikon D7100 with an 18-140mm lens. I think it's the one interest I have that could potentially make money with. Plus photography is the only interest that can be used in my other interests. I use my camera for astrophotography by connecting it to my telescope, and I like taking action shots and videos at the RC racetrack.

Creative writing.

I would pick disney holiday planning.

Fine dining.

I love to dress up and eat at fancy restaurants.

Like others, I've had a variety of special interests in my lifetime: aquariums and various kinds of fish, coin collecting, writing, bodybuilding, computers (my current job but a lesser personal interest now other than as tools), and photography.

Without a doubt, I'd have to go with photography as the one super special interest I'd save from a fire, so to speak. If I can't get out and shoot on weekends, I'm miserable. During the week I read about, Tweet about, and think about photography almost all the time. I enjoy collecting and using a variety of cameras, vintage and current; but mostly I love the act of taking photographs.

May God have mercy on the soul of anyone who lets me begin a lecture on photography...