Well, everybody has hobbies, interests and also talents – even though they are sometimes not so visible on some people. But there is an explicit difference between a hobby and an autistic special interest or a savant and having a talent for a defined competence. Neuro-typical people who are into a hobby, also doing this with a lot of passion and sometimes with a bit of fanaticism, but with clearly defined limits. Limited, because they know the boundary, between doing this as leisure activity and the point where an existential priority needs to become more important than their passion. As a person in autism spectrum focused on a special interest, you don’t see that line so clear – most of them don’t see it all. It’s that “big picture” in life you don’t see. This means that you’re not able, to draw that line between things important, as example earning money, and the personal importance of your special interests. People in autism spectrum, always prefer their special interest before everything else. When it’s about my special interests, then I feel like in a tunnel vision, like a super-strong neodymium magnet sticking on an iron plate, not able to move a freaking millimeter and focused on just that one thing. And I can’t do a thing against this problem. Pretty much the same behavior comes along with my savant. The only big difference is, that my special interests can change from time to time and my savant is always there. An other thing is, that my special interests are subjects I can spend many hours being engaged and studying about this topics. My savant is actually “just there” and I invest not so many time gaining knowledge, than I do regarding to my special interests.
