Autism and Special Interests: When Your Passion Sends You Packing... to Another Country

If you know someone with autism, you might have heard about their “special interests.” You know, those all-consuming passions that take over your brain like a friendly (but very intense) invasion. Well, mine didn’t just take over my brain — it packed its bags, booked a flight, and dragged me to another country for six whole years.

My obsession? Mesoamerican pre-Hispanic cultures. Cue many raised eyebrows and “Wow, you’re so brave!” comments whenever I explained I was moving halfway across the world to dive headfirst into ancient civilizations and pyramids.

But here’s the thing: while others saw it as this daring cultural plunge, honestly? It felt a lot like my usual life — just with different language, weather and more tacos. Immersing myself in another culture was kind of like what I do every day anyway: navigating social puzzles, trying to decode unspoken rules, and sometimes feeling like I’m speaking a completely different language… even when I’m right at home.

So, while some people think I’m some kind of cultural adventurer, I’m just someone following my passion with the same intensity and comfort I always have. Turns out, the biggest adventure wasn’t the move itself — it was being me, wherever I happened to be.

My mom, Mexican host dad and I in front of Purepecha pyramids in 1999 - we were in full Y2K mode at the time, thinking airplanes would fall out of the sky when our computers rolled over to "00" on New Years Day.