Special interests....
Having a deep love of one thing (or more than one) where time does not exist and day turns to night without your notice is one of the great joys of neurodivergence - the special interest.
My first special interest where I can confidently acknowledge I experienced hyper-focus was dressmaking. I began learning in high school and was unstoppable with the sewing machine finishing projects ahead of schedule and then going on to make smaller items out of the scrap material. I begged for a sewing machine of my own and eventually when my parents caved in, there wasn't a moment where would put the pedal to the metal firing off outfit after outfit. The room would become dark and my hunger signs would be ignored, but I loved that feeling of seeing something be created - a flat ream of fabric that took shape into something that was useful.
There have been many different special interests over the years, some have come and gone but there is only one that has stayed with me for my whole life - enjoying nature at altitude - summer or winter, skiing or swimming in icy rivers and lakes, hiking and enjoying whatever happens to you when you enjoy life above 1500 metres. You will see this theme in my writing and throughout this website - pure joy.
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"Adventure is an invitation to common people to become uncommon"
- Warren Miller
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The special interest is such an important part of being neurodivergent. I believe that special interests exist for both autistic and ADHD'ers. While not everybody claims to enjoy special interests, the vast majority of neurodivergent people find this aspect supports good routine and life in general.
It of course serves an important purpose and has under-recognised benefits for the autistic person and the wider community. For example, emotional regulation and anxiety reduction by doing a familiar task where you can go deep or excel at.
Our community at all levels from childcare all the way through to the workforce can learn more about this particular aspect of autism/ADHD and find ways to support it and benefit from the joy that is the special interest for the autistic person.
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In the past special interests were restricted by practitioners and teachers or used as a 'reward' for doing other things like school work or chores at home.
This is not helpful for the autistic person and I note that there has been a change in this space - at least from what I can see from my children's experiences in the education system. The alternative I am seeing is learning 'through' the special interest. One of my children was hugely interested in the human body, so the 'body book' was created by the grade 3 teacher and all the maths, english and social studies tasks were done with a human body lens. More recently, when maths has been a struggle, the teacher will find resources that teach the maths through whatever the current special interest is - oceans, starting a business that relates to the special interest topic of the time, eg, selling slime.
This is hugely helpful for the child who's job it is to learn, as the anxiety and stress is significantly reduced and the content is much more engaging.
My hat is off to the creative educators who have supported this style of learning for my child over the years.