Interests and hobbies

Supporting autistic people to flourish at home and beyond

This project was commissioned in 2020 from NDTI by the Care and Health Improvement programme and co-produced with a group of people with lived experience.

For many people, the things that make a house a home are personal items. These may be linked to family and friends or to hobbies and interests.

(A degree of passion) is so often seen as a negative – ‘obsessive behaviour’. And yet the passionate interests of many autistic people should surely be celebrated. Definitions of challenging behaviour refer to levels of intensity, duration and frequency – all which can be found in some people’s engagement with their subject of interest – but this cannot always be seen as a negative. Having a passionate interest in something can be amazing for the individual – and it has a massive contribution to make to the wider society. After all, advances in academic disciplines, among others, may well stem from autistic passion… 

Beardon (2017:113/114)

It can be important to have safe, defined display and storage areas for personal collections and hobbies. This might be photographs, sports equipment, historical artefacts, toys, models, films, music, shoes, clothing or sports memorabilia, or anything else.

I have a fairly large collection of model railways. I have a display case in my bedroom. It’s important for me to have space for them. Some people would say it’s busy, but it works for me."

Karl

The authors of this report do not believe that it is appropriate to limit access to items connected to interests and hobbies (safety reasons not withstanding), or to use these as a punishment or reward.

Interests and hobbies

Highlighted pages

Considering and meeting the sensory needs of autistic people in housing

Other things to consider