You have to enjoy a hobby in itself, if you're too focused on results then you'll have problems with the gulf between your ability and your aspiration. Is there anything you've tried doing that you just enjoy doing? Like do you just enjoy banging on a piano or drawing or writing, regardless of the output?
this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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honestly i have no clue i always reserch things but then i get overwhelmed or distracted so i never begin them but im kind of a ner dlike i liek tech, games, dnd things.
Knitting is great for a bunch of reasons, but as another autistic person who knits, let me give you a few specific reasons why it's a good hobby for autistics.
There are simple building blocks (knit, purl, increases, decreases, etc.) and you get a pattern that tells you exactly how to put them together to make something. If you don't understand something, there are tons of people online who will give you extremely detailed explanations. Seriously, this is one area where an autistic person can be satisfied with the level of detail in an answer to their questions.
It's also a good stim, because easy patterns can become mindless, but it's also a good way to practice mindfulness, and it will even give you lots of the same benefits as meditation (which I cannot do. At all.)
If you're a 'picky about socks' autist like me, you will be able to make luxurious socks exactly the way you want them, after a while anyway.
Knitted items are a great way to show someone you care about them, and I know sometimes that can be really hard for us. Every time someone uses the knitted item you made them it's like they're getting a warm hug from you, without all the awkwardness of an actual hug.
It scratches a lot of autistic itches, and you should give it a try.
If you're into tech and D&D, what about 3d printing? It's techy, ties into D&D (printing minis, map elements, etc), and you can get into it for relatively cheap. A cheap resin 3d printer is like $200. You can use a water-washable resin to skip the harsh chemicals, and you can cure it in the sun, skipping a cure station. I have an Anycubic Phonto Mono, which was like $200, and prints some GORGEOUS minis.
As you get deeper and more involved, you can upgrade to a wash & cure station, bigger printers, different resins, etc. You can start by printing other people's designs, then as you learn more, start making and printing your own designs.
Absolutely for 3D printing. It's both a creative and tech hobby. It allows you to create and make things using technical skills that really feels like sci-fi/magic.
I would say start with an FDM printer (filament, like and Ender 3-style printer). If you enjoy it, and you want to make more detailed, smaller models, go to resin. Resin requires a lot more time and investment in the post-processing phase, but you can make crazy accurate miniatures.
It's also something that satiates that constant need to try something else. There's always things to learn, both hardware and software.
Well, tech is a funny thing—I kind of feel bad for zoomers and alphas for how badly the industry has fucked it up. They've turned it into consumption-as-hobby, so that it's the nerd equivalent of being a "foodie." The "hobby" seems to just consist of keeping track of the trends in consumer hardware, then using it in a shallow way as was intended by the engineers and marketers.
That said, there are still honest-to-god tech-related hobbies, like programming, art, music, even modding. There's also the deeper stuff, like playing with ESP-12s or breadboards or the like.
What do you like about D&D?
well iv etried programming and i cant code at all and im very limited with tech, what i like about dnd is that its a wonderful break from reality and computer and it gets a group together to play a non pc game and such, if that makes sense.
I think the thing that's needed to enjoy programming is liking puzzles that don't have definite, known-in-advance solutions. It isn't like chess, because the confines on what you can do are very loose. But it isn't Calvinball either, since the computer is still just an electrodynamic machine that's ultimately gonna do whatever it's gonna do. Hence it's still far more constrained than something like drawing or graphic design, where you can do literally anything you want to.
So I think that's what you need to like to pursue programming as a hobby: figuring out how to get the computer to do what you want it to do, basically through the engineering of processes.
And I guess that's an important thing to note also: programming isn't about math or logic, it's about designing processes. It's like, if you want to come up with an exact technical specification for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you have to account for the possibility that you're out of bread, peanut butter, and/or jelly; that all your knives are dirty; that, if getting ingredients requires going to the store, your car might not start... Process can be as complex as you're willing to put up with.
I say all this because, again, you can't go into programming wanting to make a video game. You have to go into it wanting to play with process.
In terms of wanting a break from reality, you know, writing and drawing are both great ways of doing that. The same caveats apply: you have to like playing with words to get good at writing, and you have to like playing with pencils to get good at drawing. If you sit down and write some stories, I can almost guarantee you they'll be terrible. Doesn't matter. That's not the goal. The goal is to have fun with words.
If you're into fantasy, what about writing fiction? Since dnd is multiplayer story telling, you might have a lot of fun doing world building and creating a cool adventure for others to read.
Talent is mostly a myth. You have to push though the part where you suck to get good at anything. Pick a thing and stick with it. Even 10-20min a day of practice and you'll see results. With music the hard part is getting to the point where you can just 'play' but you're young and you have more time now than you ever will again. Pick a thing and suck at it. Keep doing it anyway until you suck less. One day you'll find even though you still think you suck someone else compares themselves to you and is jealous of your 'talent'
I already commented on your older post so I'll just copy-paste what I wrote:
Let me tell you, if your interests keep changing and you’re easily bored, you’ll get bored of every new hobby you find. Thing is, boredom is inevitable even when we do things that are pleasurable, so you might as well find something you actually like and “elevate” yourself in some way (be it physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, you name it).
I’m a psychology student and I love what I study. Is is fun? No. Do I get bored often? Hell yeah. But god I love doing it, because at the end of the day I feel enriched and with a new perspective on the world. Every single time I decide to persevere through difficult or boring material instead of booting up a game or watching YouTube I feel so much more myself.
And mind you, I’m terrible at this. I struggle so much to keep myself from getting into the hyperstimulation rabbit-hole, and I often spend whole afternoons jumping from one thing to the other (not necessarly games/social media, often I keep jumping between books and articles and projects every 10 minutes without ever finishing anything), but it’s a process.
That said, I would suggest someting like music production. You can get as wild as you want with technicalities but it’s also creative. I recently discovered Pure Data and it scratched that itch of both doing something creative and learning something technical.
Whatever you choose, embrace the boredom! It’s part of everyone, it’s part of life. The hardest thing is getting started (e.g. I stayed up late to work on a new hobby and the next day I have no desire to get back to it, but as soon as I start doing it again for as long as ten minutes I’m absorbed again), often you’ll fail but it’s not a race. You could also get back to an hobby you started a while back but approach it from a different perspective (for me Pure Data did it with music production and coding), so that you’re not overwhelmed but don’t have that feeling of “already seen” neither.
On a side note, mandatory “are you seeking professional help” question. If you’re not, start doing it. If you already are, good job! It can feel slow at times, maybe you keep talking about the same thing (or change topic everytime) and feel like you’re not making progress, but it will yield its result in the long run!
Good luck with everything man! I know you’ll get something out of this situation :)
thank you once again, and i should probrably stop posting about being bored all the time.
Just pick one of the suggestions and start doing it.
There are a lot of great ideas in your other post.
I suffer from not enjoying activies after i do them for a while too. Probably not the sams thing, but i have a small rotation of things i change between.
My goal is my own entertainment tho, I don't know if you want entertainment or like, a hobby that produces something. If you feel pressured to be productive that's gonna make any hobby you arent instantly good at feel really depressing. :(
But looking back i wish i had learned some music. If you're really interested, you could study what's called "music theory" to then see if you want to go further. I found one guy who was talking about music theory on YouTube and it made me want to learn more this is his playlist of songs that are based on classical music!
Knitting or crochet. All you need is a bit of string. But seriously one you get the basics there are so many areas to explore. You can of course make things for yourself or others. You can choose easy patterns to relax or more complex patterns to challenge yourself. Some people get into making and dying the yarn while others getbinto creating patterns. Also there is typically a community of introverts that have no problem sitting together to quietly work on their projects.
Exercise or a sport.
I enjoy reselling/flipping a lot. That's where I buy things at thrift stores, flea markets, in person, or even picked off the side of the road and find someone to buy them for more. I find it fun to research things to determine just what they are and what they're wort. I found a book at the local thrift store for $1. It was in Italian. I researched it and sold it for $115. It's good if you already have interests, then you can buy bundles from other people, keep what you want for yourself, then sell the rest.
I started off selling on ebay when I was 18, I figured out I could just rip all my CDs to my PC and got one of those new fangled mp3 players. I sold all my CDs and then found other things to sell. Ever since then I've been a casual seller of whatever.
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