Many people with autism have what are called special interests. A special interest is when a person fixates on a specific thing, such as a hobby. Often a person will have multiple special interests, especially as they get older and experience more of the world. People with special interests are often incredibly knowledgable about these topics.

Special interests are not to be confused with hyper-focus, which refers to obsessing over something for a short period of time. This is common in people with ADHD. Special interests are usually more of a lifelong passion. There are plenty of people with both ADHD and autism, so they experience both hyper-focus and special interests. As an example, a person’s special interest might be video games in general, but they might hyper-focus on a specific game for a period of time. Both of these are sometimes referred to as “hyper-fixation”, which is an umbrella term that can refer to multiple different things, and is often used in the neurodivergent community on sites like Tumblr.

Special interests are sometimes discouraged by educators and parents, but it’s become more common in recent years to encourage people with autism to engage with their special interests, or pursue careers in those fields. Autism Parenting Magazine suggests that rather than trying to stop people from following their special interests, “we should empower them by building on their strengths.” Many people with autism have used their special interests as part of their career.

For example, the original creator of Pokémon, Satoshi Tajiri who is on the autism spectrum, was inspired by his love of bug collecting and video games, as one Kotaku article explains. Now, according to TitleMax Pokémon is currently the highest-grossing media franchise in the world!

Another example is renowned climate change activist, Greta Thunberg. Who shared that her special interest in climate change acts as motivation for her activism. In her TED Talk “Saving the World by Changing the Rules,” she explains:

“For those of us who are on the spectrum, almost everything is black or white. When it comes to the sustainability crisis, everyone keeps saying that climate change is an existential threat and the most important issue of all. And yet they just carry on like before. I don’t understand that, because if the emissions have to stop, then we must stop the emissions. To me that is black or white. There are no grey areas when it comes to survival.”

In the UK, artist Stephen Wiltshire draws intricate cityscapes in great detail, often from memory. As a child, he used art as a method of communication, since he was mostly mute until the age of nine. Even at a young age his art skills were very impressive, and his first commission at age eight was for the prime minister of Britain! He is fascinated with cities, and according to his website, in one New York interview he described them as “chaos and order at the same time.”

These are just a few examples of notable people that have turned special interests into careers, not accounting for the many historical figures that some people speculate had autism, such as Albert Einstein or Mozart. Though obviously we don’t know for sure.

This goes beyond a few famous examples. A lot of people in the autism community build their careers on their special interests. In 2020, author and speaker Pete Wharmby, who also has autism, posted a question on Twitter for peoples’ stories of how they made a living out of their special interests. The tweet got a lot of responses, which goes to show how many people relate to it.

Special interests can be a driving force behind a person’s career, and it’s incredibly rewarding to be able to do what you love. That’s true for everyone, special interest or not.

How Special Interests Can Become Careers

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