Interests and Self Taught Skills

[JayD210]

Autism and Interests. They go hand and hand. If it’s cool to you, go for it. That’s what I was told. I’ve had some interests that I was pretty much born with and a range of skills that are self taught. Here’s the list of mine.

•Automotive: Well before Google ever existed in 1998, I had taught myself how to identify every Vehicle sold in the US Market by its body styling off just sight alone. I started doing it before I was even able to fully speak at 4 years old. I was 4 in the summer of 1990. I could draw them on paper by the time I was in 1st Grade the second time. Started wrenching on Cars around my 8th Birthday. The Man who’d become my Stepdad would be the guy who would help me truly expand my Mechanical Skills. He was the owner of Black Cat Taxi and Security Towing in San Antonio and hired both of my Parents in 1994. On my 8th Birthday, I was picked up at home, taken to the Yard, introduced to a fully stocked Tool Chest, and given free reigns in the back with all 3 of the wrecked Taxis. I was a One Kid Salvage Crew by the start of the next School Year for 2nd Grade. Between 1994 and 1999, if I wasn’t Home, at School, or with any of my very few Friends, I was hanging out at the yard with our Mechanics doing Oil Changes and helping with bigger jobs on the Taxis, or I was riding with our Tow Truck Drivers. I went through abuse from my Dad alongside my Sisters on one hand but on the other hand, I got to grow up in style. My first Driving Lesson was in Truck 205, which was a 1998 Chevrolet C6500 Flat Bef Tow Truck, Stick Shift, with a Caterpillar 3126 Diesel Inline-6. I lived it up in a lot of ways. I got my license in 2004, and have always maintained my own Vehicles. I have a 2019 Hyundai currently that I do all maintenance on since it was brand new. I also handle maintenance on my Brother In Law’s Car.

•General Tinkering: This is a skill that’s lifelong. As soon as I was able to climb counters before I could fully walk, I was already taking Crayons to Jars and Color Coding everything in reach on the Counter. I was 3 according to my Parents when the Toaster fell victim to my hands. I took it completely down to its base. Parents didn’t immediately think to take it from me, and just went to the PX which is the Retail Store on Base. They came back and I had it together. I remember taking something apart, my Mom expressing dismay, and them stepping out but I wasn’t sure what it was at the time. The old Toaster kept working until I was 10 and the old one was stored until that day. My Parents were smart to keep it just in case. I’ve obviously gone up in the world since then in the world of Tinkering and Mechanical Stuff.

•Gunsmithing: I was fearful of Firearms because our first house in San Antonio wasn’t in the best area combined with the abuse from my Dad, and what happened at our second house when my Dad stalked my Mom post-divorce. It took just the right people, meeting them in California my Freshman Year of High School. An old friend of mine and his Dad happened. His Dad was a sponsored Competitive Shooter IPSC and USPSA for Pistol and what later became PRS for Precision Rifle. Over the course of almost a year, his Dad slowly had videos on in the background that were filmed in the 1980s and 90s. I became intrigued because he was in all of them among all the Competitors. They made it a point to have me walk through their Garage, seeing all the Certificates and Trophies he won over the years. His Reloading Station for making Hand Loads clearly set up next to the Safe. Eventually I would end up competing alongside them. Eventually I stopped competing outside of regional competitions in 2011, some 9 years after I got to experience my first time at the Range. My Mom helped push me into that because of her time on the Army Marksmanship Unit, in which she too was a Competitor. I instead got into Gunsmithing because of course I love building things and doing custom work. I still compete whenever I can, but I got a family that I became part of, a full time job, and other things I like doing too, so Gunsmithing and the occasional trip to the range is enough for me.

•Weather: Again another longtime interest. I moved to San Antonio in July 1992 from California which was 6 months after coming back to the States from 4 years in Germany. The Storms in Texas can get crazy. I witnessed the F5 Tornado form and grow that later hit Jarrell, Texas on May 27, 1997. Luckily my Mom and I didn’t see it move into the Subdivision that it wiped out. We were on our way back home from visiting her Cousin stationed at Ft. Hood. This event terrified me but also cemented my interest in Thunderstorms and Tornadoes. I went to Las Vegas in 2009 after my second time living in California and Vegas gets some decent Storms during the summer months during Monsoon Season. Then I moved to North Carolina in 2012 where I’ve been since. I’ve seen a number of crazy Storms here. I was in the middle of the EF1 Tornado here in Charlotte back in 2020. It was crazy. Father In Law and I stood at the Back Window and watched it go by. Power went out for 51 hours after that. Back on June 28, 2022, I had my Bucket List Moment at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. I’m in the Ocean Water up to my neck at Islander Beach and Clouds were building miles offshore. In the distance, Waterspouts were there. I’m in the Water and Mother In Law yells out to me. I turn around and see the all too familiar Phone in hand. She’s taking pictures of me in the moment in my happy place with a lifelong interest behind me. She would motion me to move for the best photos she could take and snap away. That right there was once in a lifetime. Being in the Ocean sharing it with a Waterspout. I dunk myself underwater, Thunder sounds. The whole family yells my name, and I heard the Thunder. I immediately got out and we went back to where we were staying. I sat between my Mother In Law and Better Half going through the pictures and I was mesmerized. It was just so perfect. Absolutely one of the best moments of my life.

•Music: I’m a Metal Head but not a diehard Metal Head. I love Scandinavian Metal and Viking Metal especially, but I like old school Thrash Metal, and some Hair Metal too. In into the other types of Metal too. Certain other types of Music, I’m also into but like with Metal, it’s case by case.

•History: I’m definitely a History Buff. I’m into World War II in which both my Grandfathers served in Europe. I’m especially into the Dark Ages, Feudal Japan, Viking History, and the Migrarion Period of the 5th through 7th Centuries.

•Aviation: As is with Automotive, so too am I a self taught Aviation Nerd. I can even identify certain Helicopters by sound. I can look up and identify just about any Aircraft in operation today.

•Sketch Pad: I taught myself Graphic Design, Technical Illustration, and Funiture Design all completely by hand. The Vehicles, Aircraft, and other things I have hands on experience with or have been exposed to, I can also put them down on paper with my own hands. Using this self taught skill, I’ve drafted projects that I eventually built from the ground up.

For me, all this is the fun stuff.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

Automotive: Grew up on the drag strip with my father. He owned a Ford dealership and I spent much of my childhood there. Later, after I left home, poor, crappy cars, I had to learn how to fix things by myself. Years later, a bit of midlife crisis, bought an '89 Mustang, and totally tore it apart, learned to weld, built a cage. Pulled the engine and transmission, rebuilt them for racing. Learned how to reprogram the engine management computer. Then learned how to drive, then worked up to actually racing on a track in the American Iron series.

Plants: Started out with my grandfather in the family garden and greenhouse. Learning how to grow in sustainable ways from a first generation immigrant from Finland (my grandfather). Always had plants to take care of. Once I was on my own, I was really attracted to the rare and exotic, the types of plants that come from specialty nurseries around the world. My current collection is made of rare tropicals, unusual hybrid orchids, and rare caudiciform desert plants. I spend a significant amount of time reading scientific journals on those topics.

Other topics include, but not limited to building large (300 gallon) balanced, natural ecosystem aquarium (no filters). Home remodeling, including electrical, plumbing, tiling, and construction. Solar energy, including electric vehicles, solar photovoltaics, and storage batteries.

 

[Misty Avich]

Taught myself to bite my nails from around 1 and a half years of age.

Don't know what else. Everything I just learnt naturally or through experience or failure.

 

[Shevek]

Got my engineering at the library, and won prizes, etc.

 

[Jumpinbare]

I always wanted to know what made things work. I took apart and repaired a non-working table-top vacuum tube radio from the 1920s or 1930s when I was around 6. When the other kids were making posters and baking soda volcanoes for science fair projects in 3rd grade, I made a sensitive, working microphone from a cardboard box, 2 razor blades, and a mechanical pencil lead. You could hear a watch ticking from a foot away with it if the room was quiet. The loudspeaker for the setup was junk from a restaurant sound system that had been upgraded.

Besides electronics, any of the physical sciences were fascinating to me. Biology didn't appeal to me. It was too "squishy" in my mind. I ended up being a physicist in the Air Force, and a Ham Radio operator since I was 17 (50 years now - or will be in June).

Being in the wilderness had a strong draw for me since my pre-teens. I now pretty much camp whenever possible, and I don't mean Glamping. I backpack or canoe/boat camp at locations you can't reach by car.

 

[TBRS1]

I sometimes enjoy shooting as well, although not competitively. I reload also because I shoot several rare or obsolete calibers - Martini Henry .577/.450 and .577 Snider Enfield are very fat boys .

I'm fascinated by ancient technologies that are still useful today, like fermenting stuff, preserving food, foraging and processing "stuff" into something useful (currently processing mass quantities of tree sap into maple syrup).

I like learning new things that keep my fingers busy, so I can do all kinds of detail work in multiple mediums - metalsmithing, drawing/painting, clay... Currently learning to play a harp.

Also anything that has to do with growing plants. I not only have a green thumb, I am almost entirely green.

I also read a lot because I like to learn stuff, or be entertained.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Physics, that is about it did not do particularly well in high school physics my knowledge is based on what I can visualize not equations.

 

[Misery]

Computers: Completely self taught, and this was back in the DOS era, when I was a kid. No Windows, no convenient interface, and definitely no internet. Command prompt only. Dont know how to work something? Well, too bad. There's no right clicking on something to get options. There was no clicking at all, what with the lack of a mouse. By age 7 I had control of the family computer (a Tandy 1000, and later a 2500) and knew the thing inside out. Self-taught. Oddly though, I have no memory of how I did that. None. As time went on I learned how to fix problems (with OS and software, not hardware) and was often asked to do so. More than a few times, my father would have me come to his office (on days when not many people were there) to fix or set something up (there was no specialized IT guys). I dont remember learning to do that either, but I sure have memories of actually doing it. I can thank my father for more than just that opportunity though. He had bought the Tandy at the time he did (when it was hideously expensive) because he figured that computers were going to start to become more and more important, so he wanted one in the house so that I might have an early road into it. Definitely worked, gotta hand it to him for that.

Art: I'm getting some tutoring now, but prior to this point, I'd just been sort of figuring it out on my own. No bloody idea what I was doing. I pick up new techniques quickly, it turns out. At the art tutoring thing, I went from "everything I draw is flat" to "well drawn and properly shaded sphere" in about an hour. Good golly was that satisfying. Now if I only hadnt wrecked my shoulder in the process, it would be even more satisfying.

Fractal art: I dont feel like I know what I'm doing with drawing or painting, but I definitely know what I'm doing with fractals, both 2D and 3D. I use a suite of about 12 increasingly esoteric apps to do this, and for the most part they are things that you wont find tutorials for.

Hiking: Too much curiosity for my own good, really. What the heck is in there? Heck if I know, but I'm going to find out, by just walking into it. No trail signs? Eh. I'll figure it out. Maybe. I know all the forests in the area and wont hesitate to wander into new ones that I find. I wont get lost.

Exploring by car: Sorta the same thing here. Where's that road go? Only one way to find out! Gee whiz, now I'm lost again. But I'll always find my way back sooner or later. By driving down more roads I've not seen! I never learned to properly read maps. Fortunately these days the phone makes it MUCH quicker to find my way back when I end up on Mars or something. It doesnt help though if I do something like that time I got my car wedged in the service dock for the giant Hilton hotel near the airport. I'd like to say that one made sense at the time, but no, it didnt. I got out of it though.

Twisty puzzles: You know, like a Rubik's Cube. The original cube is too easy now (but still fun). I could talk your ears off about the many bizarre cubes and "cubes" that I have now, it's quite the collection.

Video games: I'm a master! At (almost) everything! Particularly fighting games. "Practice mode"? "Training mode"? That sounds boring, I dont want to do it. But I'll still mangle anyone who challenges me, no matter how many tournaments they've won. It turns out that if you're just really, REALLY fast, you just sorta win by default. Doesnt matter how strong the other guy is if they cant connect with any attacks. On the other hand, I'm terrible at FPS games. I'll show you a whole new level of failure if you're dumb enough to ask me to join your team. Cant hit the broad side of a barn. From inside the barn. Heck if I know why.

Writing style: I read a lot of Discworld.

Sarcasm (and most of my personality): I read a lot of Garfield.


There I'm done hyping myself up, that was fun.

 

[Outdated]

I was always quick to learn anything that took my interest and by age 12 there was very little left that the school system could teach me, I was always way ahead of the classes I was in.

Also at age 12 my father got sent by the unions to study constitutional law and I'm one of those people that learns by osmosis, as my father learned and discussed things at home I learnt as well, he talked to me about it a lot because I was the only one he knew that was interested. That's still a strong interest of mine today.

As a teenager computers didn't exist for most people, but I had one just because I wanted to know how they work. The only real toy for boys back then was the internal combustion engine, cars boats and bikes, I had a natural aptitude there and was always pretty good with anything mechanical.

Photography was always an interest of mine too, and when I started my trade as a Printer my knowledge and understanding improved dramatically as photography was also a part of the trade.

Through the 90s when computers started becoming more practical my interest in them shot up and I became a pretty good hardware technician and was good at the desktop help as well, back then very few people knew much about computers and this made me a very handy person to know. This also led to me learning a few computer languages, not because I wanted to be a programmer, just because I wanted a better understanding of how everything worked.

Other skills I picked up along the way include concreting, fencing, roofing, plumbing, electrical wiring and other associated building skills. I also have a strong set of survival skills, partly instilled in me as a small child by my mother's family but mostly learned the hard way. I'm still alive so I must have learned something.

I always had a dim view of people fresh out of university that think they now know everything. I told one young woman "University does not give you an education, it gives you a framework on which you can build an education. Start learning.".

My theory of education: Knowledge without the prerequisite of thought leads to a case of high intellect and no brains.

 

[Shevek]

My learning style is incompatible with most instructors. I don't like memorizing unrelated facts; if they fit a logical pattern and agree with physics, it is much easier. I learned a lot by looking at tool marks and other evidence about how things were made. Some books were very helpful. When I first started doing electrical work, I'd draw a complete wiring diagram that made sense first. Then, I started to simplify the drawings as I became more familiar with the common factors. Then, one day after some complex renovations, I went back to the main panel to turn on the power, and, as was my habit, reached in my pocket to check the diagram. There was none. I'd done the whole job just putting wires where they looked right. Everything worked.
Recently, I learned how to re-build an engine. I didn't want to, because I'll probably never do another, but the competent mechanics were all too busy. Until about age 40, I always sought work that would put one paycheck in my pocket, and another one in my head. Then, I saw that I was forgetting as much as I was learning. One employer sent me on a week-long intensive course because I had no papers to reassure them I knew my stuff. I had to pay attention for one afternoon, about paperwork.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I'm not to good at instructions like to use logic to fiqure it out. use internal maps to drive may just look at map look at map pit route in my head, For instance control plans take black one walk around process ask questions fill in blanks with what they do not what they are supposed to do My original control plan was looked at as a master piece. repeated on first week of new position. that's how I do things.