Special Talent and Interests?

[Sherlock77]

I've said it before on here but my main obsessive interest is photography, most weekends I go out to do it, mostly urban here in Calgary, sometimes in rural areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan... I would consider myself to be a semi-pro photographer...

Also... A strong interest in classic European cars, which makes sense living in western Canada and being born and raised here... But I'm no backyard mechanic and still haven't owned a classic car... In the meantime, I often trawl car shows and cruise nights with my camera...

I also like to collect things, at this point vintage photos, I have amassed a fairly large collection over ten years, I call it "social history", speaking of which I enjoy learning about history of almost anything...

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

Have been taking small appliances apart since I was a child, in order not to get caught doing it I would disassemble it and reassemble it in my bedroom closet. Today I fixed an upright vacumn cleaner, replaced the belt, fixed the roller, and rewired it. So those early furtive 'taking apart of things' to see how they work seems to have helped.

Paint and draw and collage, and no longer sell my art, which makes me happy. I dig and hunt fossils and victorian era bottles, brass, and make trellises from dried tree roots that I find in the dump down by the river. Sew and make other things and do a little bit of carpentry. Also garden and long distance cycle, but not at the same time.

Sounds like you are very diverse in your talents and interests. You have that mechanical and creative abilities, and enjoy both inside and outside things. I always wondered when our children get older would they gravitate to one or two things, or be interested in several. From the posts so far, it looks like it depends on the situation.

We find fossilized Petoskey stones in our area. I think they only exist in Michigan. They are stones with like geometric pentagon patterns all over them. They are pretty interesting to hunt for. We took our sons to hunt for them near the lakes and we found several. Thanks for your post.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

Pole
I can't wait to get back to it next year.

World of Warcraft, Pokemon, My Little Ponies, Star Trek (Star Trek 4 Lyfe!)

Rescuing cats

Can drinking count? xD

Yes, drinking can be an interest. It would not be a talent though in my mind unless you broke the Guinness record maybe, as so many people do it.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

I enjoy long distance running and competing in races. I've been running since I was probably 12 years old and now I'm 29. Wow, I feel old after writing that last sentence. I actually didn't really enjoy it all that much until I was in college, but I stuck with it and it has been a positive in my life for the most part. I also enjoy working with numbers and am analytical which is critical for success as an accountant. I like a lot of the work I do at my job, but I don't like dealing with all the crap that comes with it.

I think our youngest son might like running one day, as he runs down our private road all the time as if on a motor like some sprinter or long distance runner. He never stops when we call his name. He just giggles if we know we are trying to catch up and keeps on running until we catch him.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

I'm not sure I have any special talents, but my interests/hobbies are screencapping, video editing, listening to music, reading, coloring... and other introverty things I guess.

Thanks for sharing your interests and hobbies. I love listening to music, too. Usually popular music of the 80s though, as that was when I first felt felt free away from home living on my own. I probably could remember every song title and artist played on the radio during that period, as I listened to each song so much. I do editing of my singing music videos a lot, so I relate to that, too.

It cannot be coincidence but nearly every message in this thread involves mostly or exclusively introverted type activities. So, you are not alone there. I guess that will be a continuing pattern, and that is not a bad thing. I am rarely comfortable doing activities around others. I need to think and concentrate clearly by myself, in order to really enjoy something or do it best.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

I've said it before on here but my main obsessive interest is photography, most weekends I go out to do it, mostly urban here in Calgary, sometimes in rural areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan... I would consider myself to be a semi-pro photographer...

Also... A strong interest in classic European cars, which makes sense living in western Canada and being born and raised here... But I'm no backyard mechanic and still haven't owned a classic car... In the meantime, I often trawl car shows and cruise nights with my camera...

I also like to collect things, at this point vintage photos, I have amassed a fairly large collection over ten years, I call it "social history", speaking of which I enjoy learning about history of almost anything...

Yes, I saw your wonderful photographs a few days ago, and replied on the site where I viewed them. I thought they looked very professional, and you captured greatly not only all those classic cars, but the vintage attire and settings of those times. I loved how you included also a few black and white photos mixed in too. Your video tribute of Rembrance Day was awesome! Could not have captured all those feelings more.

 

[Sherlock77]

Yes, I saw your wonderful photographs a few days ago, and replied on the site where I viewed them. I thought they looked very professional, and you captured greatly not only all those classic cars, but the vintage attire and settings of those times. I loved how you included also a few black and white photos mixed in too. Your video tribute of Rembrance Day was awesome! Could not have captured all those feelings more.

Funny... I am very non-emotional in my approach to photography, I feel very little emotion when I go out with my camera, yet as a friend tells me, even though that's how I feel, the reactions of other people to the photos apparently are different... I just see other photographers and artists who seem to have a clear emotional connection to their work...

 

[AbbyNied]

My interests are as follows,

Comedy television, Retro video games, Music, Coloring books, Reptiles, Rubik's Cube, Jigsaw Puzzles, Apple products, The 90's, VHS and found footage, editing videos, and collecting things.

I am very good at Rubik's cubes and puzzles. I can solve a standard 3 layer Rubik's cube then also the 5 and the 7 layer. But I don't like the even number layered ones like the 2, 4 and 6 so I skipped them. I'm also good at retro video games but I don't play anything recent. I can beat many games on the Nintendo and Sega Genesis. It's a little impressive. I have done a lot of work on my computer that I don't think just anyone could do. All gaming related things but still.

My main interest is my art which I don't think any one person is better than the other. But I have done some things that are considered technically good like drawings. I am currently spending a lot of time with my coloring books and colored pencils. I posted an album of my art you can see what I do. My art

I am mostly art and musically inclined. No math skills whatsoever.

 

[Cathartes_aura]

- Researching anything from microbiology, virology, internet archives, indigenous peoples, material science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, bio-engineering, structural engineering, paleo-anthropology, history, physics, computer programming, maps, literature, old towns, politics, theology, neuroplasticity, patterns in all of the above.

- Like the outdoors (when I actually get into it) canoeing, camping, ice-swimming, hiking, backcountry skiing, sailing, gardening

-The Art of Self-Taught, if I don't know something, I have to learn it, for example I learned how to do English knitting, cook Old English recipes from the 1500's, cook recipes from many different countries, painting, sculpting, drawing, carpentry (using powertools, or non-powered tools, make soap, make candles, primitive outdoor techniques, hand-sewing, creating bio-diversity gardens, wasp farming, auto-cad, etc.

- If I had more space, I'd want more binders to make more home-made reference books, for example, one on "Great feats of women in history", science, indigenous peoples, engineering (all types), and history related ones, etc.

-I like to collect pics of bacteria, viruses, and turkey vultures, and pictures that can be used for home-made reference books. I have a library here at home, collecting books is fun, I will research for hours though, before picking out which book to order for the library. I also like collecting minerals too.

- I enjoy taking notes, I can write notes for hours (I once made a list of all the birds, trees, insects, etc. that was spotted in our yard, and then researched every single one of them) I also like writing...poetry, and short -stories.

- I like any foreign languages and music from many different countries. I like to sing in Italian, French.

 

[Acorn_Elf]

My special talents are noticing patterns, solving puzzles, and noticing details. painting and drawling i've been told.

My special interests are all things nautical, ocean, and marine related. I have a huge seashell and beach pebble collection. Microbiology, disease and microscopes.

 

[Adora]

I have a few special interests they include:
Doll collecting (mostly Barbie,Disney princess,my little pony and 80s dolls)
Comic collecting
Drawing
Disney princesses (my favourites are Belle,Ariel and Cinderella)
Makeup
Mythology and paranormal romance novels
I gotten back into drawing again after going two years not drawing anything and it's once again one of my main hobbies now.

 

[Misery]

Hm, my biggest talent/ability is probably the speed at which I process/react to things, and the fact that I can mentally track a huge number of things at once. I remember I used to think everyone could do this, and then always wondered why people often didnt notice things that seemed to be obvious even in chaotic situations. The downside is that most of the world often seems like it's in slow motion and thus is really freaking boring. And I cant focus on only one thing at a time. Was an issue in school, definitely. Not that I cared back then...

Probably the other talent is the ability to read someone's voice. Out of that I can get their mood, and usually a very good idea on what's going on in their mind, even if I dont know them. I used to use this at job interviews, back when I used to work, where my tactic for getting the job was basically "say exactly what that interviewer wanted to hear". It was different each time, but I still never got it wrong, so once I actually had the interview in question, the job was mine (and then I'd promptly screw it up somehow a few weeks after, heh). I suppose this makes up for the utter lack of eye contact and such. Most people view body language instead of pulling info out of sound. But I hate looking at anyone and my hearing is hyper-sensitive anyway (which is, frankly, annoying).

Other than that, uhhh... I have a talent for forgetting stuff?

My main interests are gaming and cosplay.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

My interests are as follows,

Comedy television, Retro video games, Music, Coloring books, Reptiles, Rubik's Cube, Jigsaw Puzzles, Apple products, The 90's, VHS and found footage, editing videos, and collecting things.

I am very good at Rubik's cubes and puzzles. I can solve a standard 3 layer Rubik's cube then also the 5 and the 7 layer. But I don't like the even number layered ones like the 2, 4 and 6 so I skipped them. I'm also good at retro video games but I don't play anything recent. I can beat many games on the Nintendo and Sega Genesis. It's a little impressive. I have done a lot of work on my computer that I don't think just anyone could do. All gaming related things but still.

My main interest is my art which I don't think any one person is better than the other. But I have done some things that are considered technically good like drawings. I am currently spending a lot of time with my coloring books and colored pencils. I posted an album of my art you can see what I do. My art

I am mostly art and musically inclined. No math skills whatsoever.

My favorite comedy show was "I Love Lucy" during the 1950s I believe, as they were rerun on television later during the 70s when I was younger and watching those. It was one of the few comedies I would laugh at all show long.

I loved Rubix cube solving as a kid. I remember it one year being in our Christmas stocking and I got hooked to on that. After a few weeks of trying, I could regularly solve them in a few hours or so. I cannot explain exactly how I did it, but I knew how to get one side all one color, by twisting and turning, then I would work on the next side, without messing up the other side, and so on.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

- Researching anything from microbiology, virology, internet archives, indigenous peoples, material science, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, bio-engineering, structural engineering, paleo-anthropology, history, physics, computer programming, maps, literature, old towns, politics, theology, neuroplasticity, patterns in all of the above.

- Like the outdoors (when I actually get into it) canoeing, camping, ice-swimming, hiking, backcountry skiing, sailing, gardening

-The Art of Self-Taught, if I don't know something, I have to learn it, for example I learned how to do English knitting, cook Old English recipes from the 1500's, cook recipes from many different countries, painting, sculpting, drawing, carpentry (using powertools, or non-powered tools, make soap, make candles, primitive outdoor techniques, hand-sewing, creating bio-diversity gardens, wasp farming, auto-cad, etc.

- If I had more space, I'd want more binders to make more home-made reference books, for example, one on "Great feats of women in history", science, indigenous peoples, engineering (all types), and history related ones, etc.

-I like to collect pics of bacteria, viruses, and turkey vultures, and pictures that can be used for home-made reference books. I have a library here at home, collecting books is fun, I will research for hours though, before picking out which book to order for the library. I also like collecting minerals too.

- I enjoy taking notes, I can write notes for hours (I once made a list of all the birds, trees, insects, etc. that was spotted in our yard, and then researched every single one of them) I also like writing...poetry, and short -stories.

- I like any foreign languages and music from many different countries. I like to sing in Italian, French.

Wow! That is a pretty impressive list. I wish research was a strength of mine. Maybe I do not enjoy it as much, as I do not like remembering too many facts, as once I get to some website I have a need to learn every detail, and that becomes overwhelming. It's as if I quickly thus will instead research something, and say, "Ok, I know what they are saying, so let's now rack my brain to come up with the full answer." This method is more natural for me, and creates less stress, and as I am more an analyzer than fact rememberer. I do not want others' extended opinions' to bias my opinions based on my own life experiences, creativity and insight. The same is how I feel about like Art and Music instruction books.

For self-taught books, I only liked self-help emotional and physical healing books, and audio and video cassettes of such. I needed many other expert and other people's perspectives and experiences of what motivated or helped them to make a well-formed decision on what other things could help others, and what things I read or heard that could specifically help me. Anthony Robbins helped me the most, but there were so many others that had great insight to emotional and physical well being, and with regards to relationship advice, happiness and success.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

My special talents are noticing patterns, solving puzzles, and noticing details. painting and drawling i've been told.

My special interests are all things nautical, ocean, and marine related. I have a huge seashell and beach pebble collection. Microbiology, disease and microscopes.

I love details. That would be high on my list. I am always rereading things to make sure I did not miss any detail. Our Autistic children are into details too. They love parts of things, and find some use and fascination out of those. For small cars they love spinning the wheels, or for other items they like taking things apart and inspecting each item.

Nature is a big fascination for me. Wherever I go, I am looking at the various trees, leaves, terrain where I am, and I love the sky, bodies of water and most animals. I use my keen senses to listen to all the sounds, to see all the beautiful details, to smell the outdoor surroundings, and to like feel the differences between a gentle refreshing and calming breeze and a sudden gust. Airplane and train sounds are also calming to me.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

I have a few special interests they include:
Doll collecting (mostly Barbie,Disney princess,my little pony and 80s dolls)
Comic collecting
Drawing
Disney princesses (my favourites are Belle,Ariel and Cinderella)
Makeup
Mythology and paranormal romance novels
I gotten back into drawing again after going two years not drawing anything and it's once again one of my main hobbies now.

I loved reading comic and sports pages in my local newspapers growing up. Maybe this is why I always gravitated to businesses that had comic books and sports cards under the same roof. I seemed to eventually prefer sports cards though, as some of the cartoons on television were a bit too violent, and as I did not have the greatest concentration for reading, or as I kept needing to remember all the dialogue and facts. But, then again, my favorite sport, football, was filled with aggression as well. I think I just wanted to collect many smaller and cheaper items like cards that could be organized in albums, and with statistics and numbers to look at on the backs.

As we have a house with boys, many of those other interests you had we never tried, but if we would have had girls, I am sure they could have liked many of those same things.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

Hm, my biggest talent/ability is probably the speed at which I process/react to things, and the fact that I can mentally track a huge number of things at once. I remember I used to think everyone could do this, and then always wondered why people often didnt notice things that seemed to be obvious even in chaotic situations. The downside is that most of the world often seems like it's in slow motion and thus is really freaking boring. And I cant focus on only one thing at a time. Was an issue in school, definitely. Not that I cared back then...

Probably the other talent is the ability to read someone's voice. Out of that I can get their mood, and usually a very good idea on what's going on in their mind, even if I dont know them. I used to use this at job interviews, back when I used to work, where my tactic for getting the job was basically "say exactly what that interviewer wanted to hear". It was different each time, but I still never got it wrong, so once I actually had the interview in question, the job was mine (and then I'd promptly screw it up somehow a few weeks after, heh). I suppose this makes up for the utter lack of eye contact and such. Most people view body language instead of pulling info out of sound. But I hate looking at anyone and my hearing is hyper-sensitive anyway (which is, frankly, annoying).

Other than that, uhhh... I have a talent for forgetting stuff?

My main interests are gaming and cosplay.

It's amazing I or my children relate to so much of everyone's interests and talents. I cannot think of one person that we did not relate to in at least one way.

Now, I really relate to two of the things you said. I can process things very quickly, whenever someone writes something, or when they verbally tell me something. It must be noted though, that for verbally communications I would have to look away to process it fully and quickly. For phone talk that does not come into play. Otherwise, my mind could shift to other things, like themself or how I was coming across. And noted also is that for writings I may need to reread it, as I like not missing any important points, but once I got all the information, I know exactly what to say, and with clarity and completeness, and ease.

Anyway, the other talent you talked about, in terms of reading other people's voices, I relate as well. In my case, I like reading everything about a person: their voice, their gestures, their expressions, their postures, and find some information potentially in what they do not say or do too. And so, although all the things I talked about can be good to know how one is thinking and feeling, I also realize that sometimes this is a mask. There could be seemingly happy persons from their facial surface, and outward expressions, but if their words or other features do not match that, I could see one was masking that, and likewise, I could not assume if a person with stoic face and little emotion was not internally happy. The rest of their body postures may or may not reveal the truth. You may have to dig deeper.

I usually have to put all the pieces together to make the most accurate judgment, and I hoped others would have that same ability in looking deeper into me, and not assuming things. But, someone's voice can be very telling, much of the time. For instance, most intensely shy persons will not speak very loud, as they are more private in not wanting everyone to hear their business, and most really outgoing persons will not speak very softly, as they often have social confidence and want to be really heard.

And so I can sense usually confidence in voices, intelligence, anxiety issues, sincerity, and so forth, not by how much they say but what they say and how they say it. Someone who repeats things a lot or is general may or may not have concentration issues, and someone who is very relevant in speech, straight to the point and direct may or may not be able to think quickly, have more politeness, and be more introverted or introspective. So, many variables come into play, but by looking at all things a person does or does not do,
things can become certainly more clearer.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

I'm not sure about special talents. What I know I do out of necessity. Some people feel I have a knack for looking at a problem and coming up with a quick fix. I don't know if that's a talent or merely experience, though I have been able to do that my entire life.

As for interests, like most Aspies I've had many obsessions. The two that have always remained are my love for Harleys and black powder cap-and-ball shooting. I could defend myself against a horde of angry zombies if they give me time to reload.

That sounds like a talent to me. Not a whole lot of people can solve person's or life's problems, or even want to. It takes either confidence, knowledge, or insight to do such, along with some unselfishness and extra effort. I used to have a neighbor that owned four Harley's. He was a good guy, but he loved to drive them at night, and so that revving engine and loud crackling muffler just required me to get ear plugs at night. I was never the complaining type.

 

[Mary Terry]

I love cooking, gardening, cross stitch, and traveling. I grow a lot of vegetables and all kinds of herbs in huge pots and containers. It's amazing how much food you can grow that way. I grow a few crops in the ground like okra, beans, kale and other greens and have 10 chickens for fresh eggs. Yum! I share and cook what I harvest. I've been vacationing in Mexico for decades and love cooking authentic Mexican food, but have a strong interest in all other cultures, too. One of my best friends and I have been making pork and venison sausage from scratch lately. We joke around about playing with our food but everything we make is delicious. I want to make all my own bread which I did back in college and grad school in the 1970's, but never seem to find time to do it these days.

 

[ZebraAutismo]

I love Math, too. I majored in that at the university where I studied. My wife has me do all the banking stuff and budgeting, as she hates numbers and calculations. She says she always gets numbers mixed up and the totals wrong. Anything to do with logic or left brain functioning she seems to have difficulties with. I seem to have an equal balance of abilities there.

I love maths i'm glad to go to a SEN collage which encourages this and provides GCSE statistics and accountancy lessons for me.