Nowell, Bernardin, Brown & Kanne (2021)

Current diagnostic criteria for Autism features specialist interests, however research into specialist interests is limited. This research examines a pilot study using a newly developed parent-report measure – the Specialist Interest Survey. This looks at the specialist interests of 1992 Autistic children. The mean number of specialist interests reported was nine, with past interests often exceeding two years. The research showed that the mean age that specialist interests started to be just over five years old. Whilst there was a wide range of specialist interests the most common reported were television, objects and music.

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