Seems like a simple enough question. And if you and your friends like this kind of thing then it's probably not unusual. But what if the conversation was:
Mummy: "Anthony, come and say 'Hello' to Sarah, she's here to play with your brother today."
Sarah: "Hello, Anthony."
Anthony: "Did you see the Bahrain Grand Prix?"
Sarah: "Err... no I didn't actually."
Anthony: "I'll have to show it to you (whilst frantically searching for the Sky remote). Do you know who came first?"
Yep. Classic Anthony. Formula 1 Grand Prix racing is one of Anthony's special interests. Being very interested in the subject provides him with lots of joy and in some cases, like this one, it provides comfort in being able to talk about something familiar.
As Anthony is autistic, he also has difficulty seeing things from other people's point of view. This is something called Theory of Mind. So, he doesn't understand why someone else isn't extremely interested in his special areas or obsessions.
As it turns out, Sarah's brothers liked watching the F1 Grand Prix series too. Sarah was able to guess who won in Bahrain and have a half decent conversation within the subject that dominated the room for the next few minutes.
A little while ago another little boy asked Anthony about his Karting hobby and it sparked a wonderful three page letter to the lad.
It's great that he has this and other interests to motivate and calm him etc. In a way I suppose we are fortunate that the F1 Grand Prix series is easy to access. We knew a little boy whose main interest of the time was photos of telephone wires and another who talked about nothing but types of taps. That might have been more difficult to share with other people or access elsewhere. But special interests and obsessions can change over time....it wasn't that long ago Anthony was only interested in talking about all the different villains in every series of Power Rangers that had been made.
Links
Our blog - To the boy who showed interest in my son's special interest
Our blog - Theory of Mind - double rainbow and breakfast
External Links
National Autistic Society - Obsessions, repetition, routine
Sky Sports - Results of the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix (for those interested)
OH, yes, we've had some interesting obsessions in our house, starting with Thomas The Tank Engine then Super Mario, Pokemon, Star Wars, manga, weiss shwarz and the latest one seems to revolve around half naked anime figures (oh well, he's an adult, it could be worse!) Each one though has completely dominated any train of thought or conversation. (Strangely, he doesn't talk much about his half naked figures though!)
ReplyDeleteTake blessings in what ever done they come eh?
DeleteSkylanders, Minecraft and My Little Pony have ruled the roost here for some time now. No idea what will come next but hopefully not telegraph poles :D
ReplyDeleteMinecraft also very popular here too!
DeleteI TOTALLY get the obsession thing.The Boy's is currently Ninjago and owls. The house is full of both. :/ #SpectrumSunday
ReplyDeleteAwwh, our great nanny has a house full of owls too!
DeleteMy 12 yr old is obsessed with F1, he could talk all day about it.
ReplyDeleteGreat we could put them together and watch Anthony talk AT your son for hours! :-)
DeleteBless him, Hayden doesn't appear to have a 'special interest' at the moment, is it bad for me to say I really hope he does? I'd like him to have something to focus his energy on, and whatever it may be, I will definitely be expanding my knowledge on the subject! Thank you for linking up to #spectrumsunday lovely, I really hope you join me again this week xx
ReplyDeleteAnthony's didn't start until he was a bit older. It's great in a way though that he can lean on them when he needs to.
DeleteIs it terrible that I'm actually looking forward to an obsession that we can talk about. We had a thing about the Gruffalo for a while but this was before speech. We of course obsessed with the iPad and you tube but no discussions yet. secretly hoping he might get into Disney lol
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
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