I feel strange being one of the few autistic people with little to no interest in trains other than as a means of transportation. That being said, I somehow ended up working in the railroad construction industry.
i doubt VERY much that there is any real connection between autism and appreciating trains. much more likely that its just a “funny” stereotype that influential people made popular.
in the last few years any remotely orderly and unique interests are equated to “autism”. i think its obnoxious and really wish it becomes less common.
The most autistic guy I know is a literal train conductor for a freight line lmao. He always gives us a huge blast of the train horn when he goes by our house.
Other than that though, yeah autistic people rabbithole into anything and everything. The train stuff and related stereotypes, like “all autistic people are socially delayed and have photographic memory like rainman” are actually super harmful and contribute significantly to under diagnosis of autism. Especially for those who don’t present as “nerdy white guy who builds model trains all day and can only see the world through the lense of advanced maths”.
What about non autistics who have crazy train spotting, junkie scale, addictions? I know one bloke who is definitely a normie and yet has a massive model train setup.
I feel strange being one of the few autistic people with little to no interest in trains other than as a means of transportation. That being said, I somehow ended up working in the railroad construction industry.
I’m not into trains either. But there are other fields I can talk a lot about…
i doubt VERY much that there is any real connection between autism and appreciating trains. much more likely that its just a “funny” stereotype that influential people made popular.
in the last few years any remotely orderly and unique interests are equated to “autism”. i think its obnoxious and really wish it becomes less common.
🙏
It’s not about trains, it’s about hyperfixation on whatever. It just doesn’t let you go, possibly a life long.
The most autistic guy I know is a literal train conductor for a freight line lmao. He always gives us a huge blast of the train horn when he goes by our house.
Other than that though, yeah autistic people rabbithole into anything and everything. The train stuff and related stereotypes, like “all autistic people are socially delayed and have photographic memory like rainman” are actually super harmful and contribute significantly to under diagnosis of autism. Especially for those who don’t present as “nerdy white guy who builds model trains all day and can only see the world through the lense of advanced maths”.
Very true. Though I have encountered many of the train lovers.
whats not to love?? lol
What about non autistics who have crazy train spotting, junkie scale, addictions? I know one bloke who is definitely a normie and yet has a massive model train setup.
Several in fact
Obviously they are ADHD with a train hyperfixation /s
I think the link with world wars is much stronger
I picture myself more of a XB-70 kinda autistic.