The Autistic Innovator 
What are your special interests?
Please share with us.
I love learning new things and seeing autistic joy and excitement over neurodiverse people’s favorite interests.
@actuallyautistic
#ActuallyAutistic #Autistic #neurodiversity
Eaton Hamilton@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic
Science. Wildlife biology. Ornithology.
1435@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic I'm interested in trains but I'm not sure on whether or not that can be considered a "special" interest. There's lots of NT people interested in trains as well.
I definitely have a special interest for British road signs, road infrastructure, road layout/planning etc. That certainly is a *special* interest as I don't live in the UK.
@1435 @actuallyautistic Any interests count. 🙂
There’s a game called City Skylines that lets you build cities and all the infrastructure stuff. I’m terrible at it but sounds like you’d excel at it.
The #ActuallyAutistic Coach
David Howell@theautisticcoach @ashleyspencer @1435 @actuallyautistic Yup. It's a game that has special interest loop potential for sure. And there are modders who've made lots of UK-specific content, including signage I think...
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic I tried it when I was younger but never really had the time to play it. I like to just look around in random places on OpenStreetMap. You always discover things you didn't know about. I also like to look at the design of major road junctions on OSM. I recently found out about Switch Island near Liverpool and it's looks amazing, I want to drive on that junction one day.
@1435 @actuallyautistic That sounds fun too!
jec&@1435 @ashleyspencer For anyone who likes trains, we can't forget to mention Transport Tycoon (and its FOSS engine-remake OpenTTD)
@jec @ashleyspencer Thanks for mentioning this. Will check it out at some point!
@1435 @ashleyspencer np! The hours I have spent on that game... whew.
LaPingvino 🟙 @jec @actuallyautistic @1435 @ashleyspencer a friend of mine blames a lot of lost time to me showing that game to him xD
Pepper
Aaron@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic
#AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic There have been many others along the way, but this one has stuck with me since I was 12. I'm in my forties now.
@actuallyautistic @hosford42 What is your favorite part about it?
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic I've always known I was different, decades before I learned the words for it. This made me curious about how minds could be so different and still work well. I'm fascinated by what goes on "under the hood" in minds. And I love creating things. The surest way to know you understand how something works is when you can build one yourself.
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic Also, it's amazing how many insights you can gain into the nature of reality when you gain a better understanding of the nature of the mind. What makes something true or real? What even *are* thoughts? How does language work? How do we learn new things about the universe?
@hosford42 @actuallyautistic All great questions to think about
Nos@actuallyautistic @ashleyspencer Politics (my dad's as well, we have some fun conversations).
Religion, especially Christian fundamentalism. Deconstructing my upbringing accidentally activated the special interest beam.
philosophy and sociology in a broad sense. I love both but haven't had the brainspace to study them as much as I'd like.
And psychology! I joke a lot that I'd be a good psychiatrist, but the amount of school feels too daunting to make that real.
Religion, especially Christian fundamentalism. Deconstructing my upbringing accidentally activated the special interest beam.
philosophy and sociology in a broad sense. I love both but haven't had the brainspace to study them as much as I'd like.
And psychology! I joke a lot that I'd be a good psychiatrist, but the amount of school feels too daunting to make that real.
@actuallyautistic @nostoat Ooh! All good ones! Diving deep into the human mind and how it works.
@ashleyspencer Dancing. I assume unusual brain wiring is to blame.
Jasmin @ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic
Anatomy and physiology are big ones for me.
I’ve also recently realised one is hearing people’s stories. I listen to a lot of podcasts, watch documentaries and even some reality shows.
Anatomy and physiology are big ones for me.
I’ve also recently realised one is hearing people’s stories. I listen to a lot of podcasts, watch documentaries and even some reality shows.
✨️Caro...✨️@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic science, faith/religion, music, infectious diseases
Antonius Marie ⚧@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic ooh, so, so many different fun stuff.
I'd say the ones that stick around the most are
1) "arts & crafts" (yes that is one interest. Fight me ;))
2) norse mythology and history, especially seen out of a different perspective than the common anglo-saxian one
3) humanity and what makes people tick
@melindrea @actuallyautistic what kind of arts and crafts?
One of my hobbies is weaving bracelets with embroidery floss.
@ashleyspencer Currently it's a combination of clay, crochet and some weird mix of macramé and paracord (which is just macramé for men who don't know macramé was originally by sailors and think macramé is feminine <.< >.>)
@ashleyspencer (no, that's in fact not quite correct--there's not just macramé in paracord crafting, but also weaving and such ... but I still said what I said <.<)
@melindrea Awesome! That makes sense that it’s the same thing. Didn’t know that.
@ashleyspencer What's even more interesting is that a lot of the traditional knotted types of friendship bracelets are *also* using macramé knots. Just that it's named differently (and occasionally tied enough differently that it's hard to see the pattern if one's not looking for it).
The square knot in friendship bracelet is the same square knot that's, for instance, in macramé (though generally macramé ties it over a core, which I don't think is as common in friendship bracelets).
And in paracord bracelets? That's what's called the solomon knot or the cobra knot. Or, two solomon/cobras using opposite starting strands creates one square knot.
Paracord starts bracelets with a "cow's hitch" ... or, as macramé calls it: "larks head knot". Etc =)
@melindrea The friendship bracelet knot is called a square knot? Interesting. Those are the type I’m making. The simplest styles though. Not advanced enough for the fancier designs. Weaving them is very soothing and feels like stimming. Motions are very relaxing.
I never knew there were so many ways to tie a knot. Super cool
@ashleyspencer Yeah, I did not either, until I fell into macramé. I really love how cool it is to knot =)
james@melindrea @ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic
Totally get you on arts and crafts
What makes people tick is a fascinating one for me. It's what drives much of my interest in history and different cultures because I find it the best way to see the common human form when you compare across contexts.
I don't get how people think people from different times or places are fundamentally different from "us". Same brains, different context (well obviously with the typical neurodiversity we all know and love)
Of course I guess I'm starting to reach into philosophy there too!
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic languages (I speak 11 languages by now), systems (I LOVE Google's #pluscodes, they make so much sense), religion (I'm a #bahai), #golang...
@lapingvino @actuallyautistic what languages do you speak?
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic they are in my bio!
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic
Native Dutch
Esperanto, English, Portuguese
Spanish, French, German
Ido, Toki Pona
Italian, Afrikaans
Native Dutch
Esperanto, English, Portuguese
Spanish, French, German
Ido, Toki Pona
Italian, Afrikaans
Angel Munoz@lapingvino @ashleyspencer @[email protected] that's impressive!
I only learned english and I left german halfway 😅
I don't feel I can learn as easy as I used to sadly 😭
I only learned english and I left german halfway 😅
I don't feel I can learn as easy as I used to sadly 😭
Crystal@actuallyautistic @ashleyspencer my number one favorite is going to live music shows in small or outdoor venues. The feel of the music in my body, the pure joy and unadulterated happiness of everyone there. All the communication is taken care of through the music. Sometimes it’s so much good, it makes me involuntarily cry and my face hurt from how big I’m smiling. I haven’t gotten much of that since the pandemic and I miss it a lot.
Mx. Zoz@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic I love cycling and building/reparing bicycles. Also i love music and somehow i started to build amplifiers and loudspeakers too. Well, i also own a bunch of Lego sets.
LottaContinua88
Moss@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic Dog training (positive reinforcement), and especially #ServiceDog training. I grew up wanting a dog, fell into wanting to train dogs in my undergrad program, and had planned to get an Australian Shepherd before I became #Disabled. When it became clear to me that I would benefit from a service dog, and I was able to financially afford a puppy, I invested in Gravy and owner-trained my service dog. It's fascinating to me to see what different schools train like 👀
@Soahtree @actuallyautistic That’s great you were able to train your service dog yourself. Takes a lot of skill and patience. How long have you had your service dog?
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic Thanks! It was both a big struggle, and super validating.
He's about to turn two, so barely long enough for him to be a service dog vs a service dog in training. (And some schools still wouldn't call him one because he hasn't turned 2 yet, it just depends on who you go through). He was flown in from Ohio when he was 9 weeks old.
@Soahtree @actuallyautistic Aww that’s so sweet!
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic This is him riding home from the airport with me 🥺 vs him yesterday after a bath and groom.
It's so unfair that dogs get bigger because little baby puppies are just adorable lol
@actuallyautistic @Soahtree He’s a handsome dog!
@ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic Thank you!
SeaFury 
@actuallyautistic @ashleyspencer Straight lines vs. squiggly lines, data, patterns, a clean kitchen bench, crochet/cross stitch/knitting patterns, books (I have an antilibrary),bullet journaling, birbs, games, dinner parties, mysteries, identity…. Should I stop now?
Kenneth@Kencf618033 @ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic An antilibrary contains books you will never read, but you want them near you. Look up Umberto Eco.
@FreyaSu @Kencf618033 @ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic
My god this is brilliant!
I went to my child's school library recently and felt the excitement of a shelf full of books I want to read. It triggered me to go to the public library for the first time in years.
And this is it! This is why! All the potential, the lifetime you could spend just flicking through topics
@james @Kencf618033 @ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic
ExactlyI It gave me permission to buy books because they're holders of knowledge :)
ExactlyI It gave me permission to buy books because they're holders of knowledge :)
@FreyaSu @james @ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic We are still have a dialogue with Aristotle, telling him to count his wife's teeth already.
@james @FreyaSu @ashleyspencer @actuallyautistic I've thought of being more disciplined in my reading, then I thought better of it.