Embracing the Magic of Special Interests

Powering Your Passions: Embracing the Magic of Special Interests

If you are an Autistic or ADHD adult, you know that your brain isn't just different—it's often wired for intensity. When you find a topic, activity, or subject that truly resonates, it consumes your attention, fuels your focus, and brings a profound sense of joy and meaning.

We call these special interests (or sometimes hyperfixations) and are often mischaracterized by teachers, parents, spouses and friends as obsessions that are odd or quirky. The truth is that your special interests are not a distraction or an obsession to be managed—they are a superpower to be embraced.

What Are Special Interests and Hyperfixations?

The terms can vary, but here's how we often understand them:

• Special Interest: A deep, sustained, and often lifelong focus on a specific topic (e.g., historical linguistics, astrophysics, a particular fictional universe, collecting vintage cameras). They are a source of calm, knowledge, identity, and connection.

• Hyperfixation: An intense, often temporary, and absorbing focus on a task or topic. Time seems to disappear as you dive deep. While the topic may change, the intensity of the focus is a consistent feature of the neurodivergent brain.

In a neurodivergent-affirming space, we recognize both as expressions of a highly focused brain. They are how you connect with the world and find flow.

The Problem with a Neurotypical Lens

Historically, mental health professionals have often viewed intense interests through a lens of pathology:

• It's "rigid" behavior.

• It's "isolating."

• It's "obsessive" or "addictive."

This framing often leads to advice that asks you to suppress or limit your interests, suggesting that a healthy adult must maintain a mild, generalized level of interest in everything. This can feel deeply invalidating and draining.

The Neurodivergent-Affirming View: Harnessing the Power

Instead of trying to force a square-peg brain into a round-hole world, neurodivergent affirming therapy works with the grain of your neurology. When you are engaged in a special interest or hyperfixation, you are often at your most authentic and capable.

Here is what your special interests can do for you:

1. Boost Executive Function

   Trying to do a boring task can feel like pushing a boulder uphill. But tasks related to your special interest? Suddenly, you have access to incredible levels of focus, organization, and sustained effort. You may be able to organize complex information, plan intricate projects, or manage your time flawlessly—as long as the topic sparks joy.

2. Provide Regulation and Calm

   Diving into a special interest is a powerful sensory and emotional regulation tool. For many, it's a way to filter out overwhelming external stimuli, manage anxiety, or process difficult emotions. It's your brain's safe harbor.

3. Facilitate Connection

   While some interests can be solitary, they are also a key pathway to meaningful connection. Sharing your passion—whether through online communities, clubs, or simply talking about it with a trusted person—creates moments of true vulnerability and belonging. It bypasses the need for scripted small talk.

4. Fuel Identity and Career

   Your interests are often the blueprint for your unique skills, knowledge, and potential career paths. Many successful neurodivergent people have turned their deepest interests into their lifework, leveraging their intense focus for expertise and innovation.

Working with Special Interests in Therapy

Neurodivergent Affirming therapists don't try to make your special interests go away. Instead, we explore how to integrate them into a fulfilling life:

• Linking Tasks: Can we "trick" your brain into doing difficult, non-preferred tasks by linking them to your special interest? (e.g., "I must finish this paperwork so I can buy the new tool for my miniature-building hobby.")

• Self-Compassion: Learning to view the hyperfocus cycle with kindness, understanding that the intensity is a reflection of your brain's operating system, not a moral failure.

• Regulation Plans: Identifying your special interest as a core part of your coping toolkit for stress, burnout, and sensory overload.

Your special interest is not a quirk; it’s a source of vitality.

Are you ready to stop pathologizing your interests and start harnessing your unique neurological strengths? Contact me today for a consultation to explore how neurodivergent-affirming therapy can support you.