I had several interests as a kid but jumped from interest to interest and never focused on them much. They weren't special interests, just kid interests.
I loved the colour pink when I was really little (about 3 or 4 years old), and I claimed that my favourite animal were pigs because they were pink. But my favourite colour changed rapidly when I started to realise that I was a tomboy. It became blue for a little while but then when I noticed my best friend's favourite colour was yellow, my favourite colour then became yellow. It still is now, because it's bright and cheerful.
When I was about 5 I liked Thomas The Tank Engine, and no, it is not linked to the stereotype about autistic children liking trains. I knew nothing about trains, I just liked watching the show, and my parents got me a plastic moulded trainset thing with figures of the trains from Thomas, and I played with them often, just how a child would.
Then when I was 7 I got into Disney movies, particularly the Jungle Book and the Lion King (because those were the only two Disney videotapes we had), which then got me interested in jungles. But, again, I knew nothing about jungles, I just loved playing imaginative games of being in the jungle, and drawing pictures of jungles. Again, I wasn't focused on jungles like a special interest, as I did draw other things too, such as me and my family and friends doing different activities. I also played other imaginative games besides jungles.
Then I got introduced to South Park and became obsessed, but still not in an autistic way. I just loved it. So that was my innocence down the drain. Strangely enough my parents let us watch it, but back then the swear words were bleeped out, I knew all about the birds and the bees anyway, and any drug references just went over my head. It didn't do me any harm.
Then in 1999 there was a Pokémon craze at school and I became part of it even though I didn't want to at first. But then I became hooked on swapping Pokémon cards and collecting all the Pokémon plushies. I never watched the show though because I thought it was boring. I just became interested for the social part. I was still into South Park and am still now.
So that brings us to the Simpsons, which I got into when I was 10 (even though it had existed for 11 years before then). By the time I was 11 I became a huge Simpsons fan and drew a lot of pictures of them. I'm still a huge Simpsons fan now, some 24 years later. That's a long time.
Then the unhealthy obsessions began the minute I hit puberty (aged 11). I got a (non-sexual) obsession with certain teachers at school. Then I became a bit obsessed with Spanish and really wanted to learn it but struggled then gave up. Then I started getting sexual obsessions with men at age 13 onwards. My hormones were raging and I became so obsessed with some guys who lived locally in my hometown that I kind of stalked them and almost got in trouble with the law for doing it. Luckily that obsession died off after 4 years, and then at age 17-18 I became obsessed with a bus company - the same bus company I work for now, funnily enough. But I'm not longer obsessed with it. In fact I stopped being obsessed with it 10 years ago when I met my husband. I realised then that I didn't need obsessions. I just have casual interests, like I did as a child. No obsessions. Except for obsessing over anxieties and provocations but that's a different sort of obsession.
I loved the colour pink when I was really little (about 3 or 4 years old), and I claimed that my favourite animal were pigs because they were pink. But my favourite colour changed rapidly when I started to realise that I was a tomboy. It became blue for a little while but then when I noticed my best friend's favourite colour was yellow, my favourite colour then became yellow. It still is now, because it's bright and cheerful.
When I was about 5 I liked Thomas The Tank Engine, and no, it is not linked to the stereotype about autistic children liking trains. I knew nothing about trains, I just liked watching the show, and my parents got me a plastic moulded trainset thing with figures of the trains from Thomas, and I played with them often, just how a child would.
Then when I was 7 I got into Disney movies, particularly the Jungle Book and the Lion King (because those were the only two Disney videotapes we had), which then got me interested in jungles. But, again, I knew nothing about jungles, I just loved playing imaginative games of being in the jungle, and drawing pictures of jungles. Again, I wasn't focused on jungles like a special interest, as I did draw other things too, such as me and my family and friends doing different activities. I also played other imaginative games besides jungles.
Then I got introduced to South Park and became obsessed, but still not in an autistic way. I just loved it. So that was my innocence down the drain. Strangely enough my parents let us watch it, but back then the swear words were bleeped out, I knew all about the birds and the bees anyway, and any drug references just went over my head. It didn't do me any harm.
Then in 1999 there was a Pokémon craze at school and I became part of it even though I didn't want to at first. But then I became hooked on swapping Pokémon cards and collecting all the Pokémon plushies. I never watched the show though because I thought it was boring. I just became interested for the social part. I was still into South Park and am still now.
So that brings us to the Simpsons, which I got into when I was 10 (even though it had existed for 11 years before then). By the time I was 11 I became a huge Simpsons fan and drew a lot of pictures of them. I'm still a huge Simpsons fan now, some 24 years later. That's a long time.
Then the unhealthy obsessions began the minute I hit puberty (aged 11). I got a (non-sexual) obsession with certain teachers at school. Then I became a bit obsessed with Spanish and really wanted to learn it but struggled then gave up. Then I started getting sexual obsessions with men at age 13 onwards. My hormones were raging and I became so obsessed with some guys who lived locally in my hometown that I kind of stalked them and almost got in trouble with the law for doing it. Luckily that obsession died off after 4 years, and then at age 17-18 I became obsessed with a bus company - the same bus company I work for now, funnily enough. But I'm not longer obsessed with it. In fact I stopped being obsessed with it 10 years ago when I met my husband. I realised then that I didn't need obsessions. I just have casual interests, like I did as a child. No obsessions. Except for obsessing over anxieties and provocations but that's a different sort of obsession.
