Titanic - normal for six year old?

[Ohgoonthenillhaveanother]

Hi all my son has recently decided he’s interested in the Titanic (historical event not the movie). He’s 6 and I wondered if this is a normal interest for his age? He’s not obsessive about it/will happily pick it up and put it down but he is quite interested in reading about it and making up games about it. Has anyone else had this with their child or anything similar? He is NT as far as I know. AIBU for thinking this is a bit odd or am I overthinking it? Anxious first time mum

So perhaps you aren't autistic.

Because ND are disabled and find life difficult, hence they are different.

Mine did it as a big class topic in Y1. School wouldn't have picked it if it was that weird a subject for the age group.

I'm out of date now, but a few years back Seacity museum in Southampton was mostly about the Titanic. You followed the stories of different real people as events unfolded.

Yes everyone seems to be autistic or ADHD.

Kinda weird.

Completely fine for a 6-year-old. It's a fascinating subject for a lot of people of all ages. I'm not sure why you think it matters whether he's NT or ND.

Just don't show him the dire Leonardo DiCaprio film.

Titanic is a topic in year 2 here and some of them get very interested in it. We’ve even had some parents ending up taking them to Belfast!

Haha bless him. Both my kids went through a Titanic obsession at about the same age! I remember them building a titanic ship out of an egg box and some toilet roll tubes for the funnels!
I also walked in on him sat in a freezing cold bath because he wanted to see what it felt like on the Titanic 😂
Both of them are (relatively normal) teenagers now so don't worry 😀

Been there. Some of us are ND and some NT in this family, but we all love a rabbit hole adventure to go down.

DS asked for a ‘titanic gravy boat’ for Christmas at that age. He was absolutely entranced.

we’ve followed a few of these little obsessions through the years (all over 16 now and still interested in everything) and it’s a brilliant way to learn if you can follow the adventure. A by no means exhaustive list of wierd-things-my-kids-loved includes: Stevenson’s Rocket, Julius Caesar, Samurai Warriors, mummified cats, mummies (natch), iron lungs, Peat the Bog Man (look him up 😱), volcanoes, pandas, camels, David Bowie, the Bank of England.

Embrace it OP and laugh in the face of the looneys who say he’s weird. Honestly there’s a reason why something like the titanic compels the curiosity of so many people, and your son is certainly not weird to be one of them.

We too ended up in Belfast!
My two were in literal heaven when we boarded the Nomadic 😂

How/ where did he hear about the Titanic?

When a child of six shows interest in something like the Titanic (or another disaster) it's often the case that they're trying to process something upsetting about the topic.

Can you try to figure out what it is that bothers him about the Titanic? It's quite a scary thing to hut an iceberg in the dark and sink, with people drowning.

Yes! Along with the Great Fire of London. Both really fascinating subjects but seeing it through the eyes of a 6 year old, as they shape their vision of the world and science and humanity, it never gets old.

Nope. I am autistic and have ADHD. Fixations, can’t ‘read’ people, terribly terribly literal, fully diagnosed, as are several close family members. It is a spectrum. Some of us are ‘high functioning’ (what used to be called ‘Aspergers’). It’s not all bloody Rain Man and boys in corners who can’t speak or make eye contact.

Sounds completely normal to me, my 6 year old goes various obsessions like this. Currently for us it’s the Napoleonic wars. It’s pretty normal amongst his peers at school too. My son is NT. Is there anything else going on that makes you worried about ND?

It’s technically a 12 due to language and nudity, threat, (getting chased with a gun) and disturbing images.

We saw it at the cinema on release and we snuck my brother in under age. (he was 10) I remember him hiding behind the seats genuinely terrifying at the bit where all the people are getting washed through the glass dome and drowned.

I appreciate that the op is not talking about the film but as others are talking about showing it to primary age children, it’s not really appropriate for a six year old, and if it was more ‘appropriate’ through being an older film then the BBFC would reclassify it to a lower rating as they regularly reevaluate these things. Whilst the cinema rerelease was slightly edited and a 12A the home cinema/DVD versions are all still 12 with a longer run time.

My husband had a relative on the Titanic. I absolutely adore the film and do understand why people find the event so fascinating but in discussing the topic it’s worth explaining/remembering that it’s a real life tragedy that still affects certain communities to this day.

My dd also had a Great Fire of London, Black Death and Titanic phase. She is currently very interested in both World Wars and has picked GCSE History as one of her options. I think it is fantastic that kids are interested in the world around them and the past. She has ADHD, and dyslexia, she is also very smart and in top set. I think interest in these types of things are no indication of ND or NT. It’s just kids being kids.

Haha! What I love about the ND community is that gothic and historical fiction is so popular! I still get giddy when I come across another AuDHD person who enjoys it!

And I definitely agree with your other post to a pp - my neurodivergance has always been helpful to me. Autism definitely isn't always a struggle, in fact I wouldn't want to be any other way! Plenty of ND folk I know think the same, too. It's really always so refreshing to hear it spoken about like this on MN! ❤️

I'm out of date now, but a few years back Seacity museum in Southampton was mostly about the Titanic. You followed the stories of different real people as events unfolded.

I was going to recommend this. It's based in what was the courtroom where they held the hearing. Might be easier to get to, if you're in the SW.

I was very into sea shells/rock pooling at that age. And priest holes. I have never found a priest hole or secret tunnel behind wooden panelling, and frankly I feel a bit short-changed in life. I blame the Famous Five.

Mine discovered the Titanic around that age. He was fascinated. From there he went to maritime disasters in general and what we learnt from them. When he found a postcode of the Herald of Free Enterprise in one of my childhood scrapbooks he was very excited because I'd sailed on her before she sank. Then he discovered Nelson. He's 10 now, still very interested in shipwrecks. Wants to learn to dive so he can see the Britannic in situ. Is still fond of Nelson. Has multiple model Titanics, half the museum shop from Belfast and multiple posters of the Titanic and HMS Victory on his bedroom wall. A Night to Remember is his second favourite film (Jaws is currently number one).

It's certainly the phase that has lasted the longest. Others include Ancient Egypt, Diseases (Rabies/Bubonic Plague/Cholera being particular favourites) and Doggerland.

Is Leeds nearer ?

www.titanicleeds.com/

I seem to remember being fascinated by Captain James Cook at a similar age. No ill effects but I did end up married to man from Middlesbrough (Captain Cook's birth place)...read into that what you will 🤣

My kids studied the Titantic in year 6 and really enjoyed that topic for a few months. Between them they went through phases of being interested in Banksy, Egyptian mummification, mythological creatures (Kraken in particular lasted a long time ), sea creatures, volcanoes, mud larking and tanks.

I was about 6 when I developed what has turned out to be a lifelong interest in the Titanic. I can remember vividly a picture I drew of it at that age. I think 6 might be a normal age to start to develop this type of interest.

It's definitely a popular one!

God forbid a child is interested in a major historical event in British history which has multiple books, films, plays, museums etc dedicated to it, such is the continuing global interest!

I was the same. I suspect I might not be NT but I haven’t sought diagnosis. In the end I now work in research, you might find it’s the start of being a person that loves to research things. I would support it.

There was a thread a few weeks ago about obsessive subjects and lots of people had young ND boys obsessed with the Titanic. It was a funny thread, some very random and specific obsessions.