It can be hard to believe that in over the past three years that I have been writing this blog and sharing my story with the world that I never touched on fascinations or special interests. Well, it is a new year and through some self-care time this past weekend, I feel I can honestly discuss them with you, specifically when they become overconsuming.

One of the most known traits of being autistic is the fact that we are fascinated with things to the extreme. We consume ourselves with things more than our neurotypical peers. When an autistic person experience this at an early age it can be overwhelming and can even extend into adulthood. It can be too much, yet there are many ways that it can be minimized. For me what I realized is that one of the medications that I struggled with for many years helped bring them to a more manageable level

While photography is a special interest of mine, there were times when the habit became too much, specifically when I would become over fascinated with other passions and interests to the point where it showed on my photo cloud. When I was cleaning up over the past weekend on my handheld tablet as a self-care activity, I was able to see where it did become too much.

Yes, there is a point where interests become amazing, however there are points when the brain gets hyper fixated on something, and it is taken too seriously to the autistic person. It can result in dangerous or risky behavior. Through purging my document cloud over last weekend, I was able to see where it became too much and could have resulted in some risky and challenging situations.

While medications have helped me combat the hyper fixation of my special interests, there must be an understanding of when a passion interferes with one’s personal life. Just in setting boundaries around social settings, there must be boundaries set around one’s passions and special interests, so it does not interfere with their daily living.

Simply put, it means that there needs to be parameters around what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. This can intermingle with understanding what is acceptable behavior and what is inappropriate behavior and the understanding of such behavior when it becomes too much for the individual and those, they share their life with.

It is a reality where there can be a firm understanding of understanding and teaching life lessons about the unwritten rules of life and understanding when something becomes too much for the world. It is understood that this needs to be put in place as early as possible so that it can be a skill that can be understood and acquired as life evolves.

It is perfectly acceptable to feel enthusiastic about things in life. It can even be embraced as a talent or a gift to others in the world. However, when it comes to the point when it comes to being socially or legally inappropriate or raise concerns to the world, then it is essential tow work on setting parameters and working at making this trait and the rest of being autistic manageable and acceptable for everyone they must interact with.