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This is just something i started thinking about. A lot of people who are into reptiles seem to be REALLY into reptiles. Obsessed, even. A lot of the time even on a specific type of reptile.
If you know any people who are on the autistic spectrum, you'll know that we tend to have very obsessive interests that we fixate on. I have Asperger's Syndrome(a higher functioning type of autism) and reptiles are my main special interest.. And i've come across a few other autistic spectrum people online who also have reptiles as a special interest, so i know there's more than just me.
So, i've been wondering if maybe there is a higher-than-average percentage of autistic people among herpkeepers? Are any here?(you can PM me if you don't want other people to know) Or if a lot of really obsessive herpkeepers are perhaps undiagnosed autistics? Or maybe just have autistic traits(and maybe have family members with autism?)?
I'm not suggesting that most people who are into keeping reptiles are autistic, because i know that most of the people i come across at reptile shows seem to interact with others very easily. But i have to say that there are a lot of times when i've been on reptile-related websites and the amount of reptile-obsession i see makes me think i might still be on that autism support site i just exited out of in the other window. lol.
This isn't meant as an insult, i've always fixated on certain subjects, so i obviously don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's just something to think about, maybe.
What made me think to start this was that my mom was complaining about my reptile interest, because i was planning on getting a pair of ball pythons at the upcoming reptile show. She said something about a show she saw, where they were talking about a lot of people keeping reptiles getting obsessed with them, getting more and more, withdrawing socially, and always talking about reptiles.. She was under the impression from seeing that that this is some sort of documented psychological phenomena. So she said i shouldn't "feed" this reptile obsession. So, i had to remind her that, duh, it's part of my AS and that my mind always fixates on something. It made me think that maybe some of those people she was talking about were undiagnosed autistic people doing what they naturally do with a special interest. Thoughts?
If you know any people who are on the autistic spectrum, you'll know that we tend to have very obsessive interests that we fixate on. I have Asperger's Syndrome(a higher functioning type of autism) and reptiles are my main special interest.. And i've come across a few other autistic spectrum people online who also have reptiles as a special interest, so i know there's more than just me.
So, i've been wondering if maybe there is a higher-than-average percentage of autistic people among herpkeepers? Are any here?(you can PM me if you don't want other people to know) Or if a lot of really obsessive herpkeepers are perhaps undiagnosed autistics? Or maybe just have autistic traits(and maybe have family members with autism?)?
I'm not suggesting that most people who are into keeping reptiles are autistic, because i know that most of the people i come across at reptile shows seem to interact with others very easily. But i have to say that there are a lot of times when i've been on reptile-related websites and the amount of reptile-obsession i see makes me think i might still be on that autism support site i just exited out of in the other window. lol.
This isn't meant as an insult, i've always fixated on certain subjects, so i obviously don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's just something to think about, maybe.
What made me think to start this was that my mom was complaining about my reptile interest, because i was planning on getting a pair of ball pythons at the upcoming reptile show. She said something about a show she saw, where they were talking about a lot of people keeping reptiles getting obsessed with them, getting more and more, withdrawing socially, and always talking about reptiles.. She was under the impression from seeing that that this is some sort of documented psychological phenomena. So she said i shouldn't "feed" this reptile obsession. So, i had to remind her that, duh, it's part of my AS and that my mind always fixates on something. It made me think that maybe some of those people she was talking about were undiagnosed autistic people doing what they naturally do with a special interest. Thoughts?
