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iiaat to be fascinating by bra sizes? it’s honestly not even a sexual thing I just find them really interesting and enjoy making lists of them.
This could be a special interest, in which case it would be an autistic thing.
-Liz
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I always feel like spins are only considered spins (or hyperfixations) if you know a lot about a topic or research a ton about the topic you're "obsessed" with. I don't do that at all, but I still feel like my spins are spins. For example my spin was Supernatural but I bearly knew anything about the show (actors, watched interviews, looked into the script/behind the scenes) I just loved all the episodes. I also tend to only have spins with tv shows(only watching them).Could they still be spins?
Yes, they can still be spins.  There are no hard rules about how you engage with your special interest, and there’s nothing wrong with having a special interest in a fictional world or story while also being not terribly interested in the real world stuff that goes into making that story.
-Liz
Acronyms
As we get a lot of questions that follow similar themes, we’ve created a list of acronyms to use when tagging posts. The new (and a couple old) acronyms are as follows:
AIA - am I autistic
IIAAT- is it an autism thing
ITAAT- is this an autism thing
ITAMD - is that a meltdown
ITASD - is that a shutdown
ITSO - is that sensory overload
ITASPIN - is that a SpIn (special interest)
ITASTIM - is that a stim
For a full list of acronyms used on this blog, please check out our acronym page.Â
-Sabrina
Is it possible for random people (like teachers) to become special interests? I've been accused of having a crush on or even stalking some of my teachers, and even my dentist, just because they catch my interest or I really like them lol.
Yes, anything can be a special interest.
However, it is important to make sure you respect other people’s boundaries.  If people have commented that it seems like you’re stalking your teachers or your dentist then you are probably crossing a line.  I’d recommend trying to redirect your energy into other interests to avoid making people uncomfortable.
-Liz
is there a limitation what can be a special interest? recently all I've wanted to do was go through websites and look at cute products not to buy them but just. to look at them and I'm very invested in it and have a blog where I post those finds and I can spend hours on it but idk it seems too weird?
There are really no limitations on what can be a special interest, and everyone experiences them differently. Spending a lot of time looking at websites relating to a particular topic could mean that that’s a special interest for you. You may want to check out our resources on special interests:
Special Interests
What’s So Special About a Special Interest?Special InterestsHow Do I Know for Sure What My Special Interests Are?Autism A-Z: S is for Special Interests
-Ash
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Are there any common special interests, sort of like trains except less well-known / cliche? Would be really curious to learn whether there are!
Harry Potter, animals (in general and specific ones), anime, science, music, video games (especially pokémon), psychology + mental health and social justice seem to be pretty common, though we’re all individuals with widely differing interests. I’m sure there’s followers that tick off every single one of these and there’s followers that have not ever had a special interest in any of these things.Â
-Kath and Wren
I’m trying to figure out the difference between a special interest and just repetitive behaviour. Because you say that SpIns look different in different people, and some people don’t want to look for everything to know about their SpIn or collect things related to their SpIn. But does that mean it’s a SpIn if you love a TV-series so much that you watch it over and over again? Like literally start over once you’ve watched the last episode. Or is that just repetitive behaviour in general?
Sounds like both to me.
The key here is you love it so much you want to watch it over and over again. You’re engaging with it because you love it, not purely because it’s a routine (which is what the repetitive behavior would be in this case).
So yeah, that can totally be a spin.
- os
About special interests: I've only ever heard of them as things that you wanna learn everything about etc but it's not like that for me exactly & I'm wondering if it's still AAT. I obsess over different subjects for long periods of time & this happens all the time w/a various number of things. Example I watched Call Me By Your Name a few weeks ago (I know it's problematic no one lecture me) & I've thought about it every waking moment since in a way that makes it impossible to do anything else.
The DSM-V defines special interests as follows:
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 interest).
I’d say thinking about a topic every waking moment would count as an unusually intense interest!
-Kath
