Keywords:

EF – executive functions

Monotropism/monotropic – our cognitive style. An autistic derived theory initially proposed by researchers  Dinah Murray and Wenn Lawson in the early 1990’s. We as autistic people have an interest based nervous system focusing on a single or a few attention tunnels (as opposed to multiple)  leading to very immersive experiences.

Inertia – a result of being monotropic, difficulty starting, stopping or changing state. This can include difficulty thinking about something new. Being monotropic have huge implications for our mental health.

Welcome back to Part 2 of Beyond Awareness, for those of you who have not read Part 1 these blogs serve as an introductory guide to exploring your autistic profile. I am autistic too and I want to help you fellow neurokin to move beyond awareness of your profile and truly understand who you are as an autistic person. You deserve it! We learn best by sharing experiences so without further ado… let’s start!

Executive Functions

For those of you who are visual thinkers, it may be helpful to imagine the executive functions as senior staff responsible for managing a large company. Senior staff delegate and plan tasks for a business, in a similar way to how executive functioning skills enable us as individuals to plan, organise and ultimately carry out our day-to-day activities. EF skills include far more than planning and organising, some of which I will elaborate on below:

• Working memory – short term memory (helpful if you need to use information quickly). Many of us including myself have a great long term memory but a weak working memory. Maybe this is true for you? If so, that’s okay there are many apps and other tools available to help you with this skill.
• Task initiation – do you feel ‘stuck’ when transitioning between tasks? If so, you are not alone. This is often because we are monotropic.
• Monitoring – includes recognising emotional states, often difficult when in a flow state.
• Decision making – includes filtering key information.

Can you think of EF skills and strengths that you have?

Maybe you are a very thorough decision maker or a quick problem solver?

As autistic people, our executive functioning often looks different to non autistic people! Our periods of productivity may not be linear or predictable but instead be determined by our passions and current attention tunnels, regardless your productivity does not define your worth! 

Whether that’s accessing flow states for hours on end, needing more time to make decision or an abundance of post it notes to support your working memory – do what works for you!

Dedicated Interests and Being Monotropic

I have been able to write this blog thanks to periods of hyperfocus and the almost magnetic like attraction to my interests that enables flow states – it’s just me and my laptop; the rest of the world disappears! Does this resonate? If so, I am glad you gain joy from flow states too. 

Whatever your dedicated interests are if they make you happy that’s all that matters!

Do you have multiple dedicated interests or one long standing passion?

Do your passions cultivate autistic joy? Is it possible to organise your time around your passions?

You are probably aware that your interests are more than just hobbies, a convenient pastime, or a forgotten collectible hidden in the bottom drawer – they are often a huge source of autistic joy and purpose! But do you know why? If not, welcome to the world of monotropism!

Being monotropic  – our interests pull us in more strongly than most (polytropic) people and we often focus on a single or a few attention tunnels. This leads to very intense immersive experiences inside our current attention tunnel – meaning everything outside that exact moment can almost cease to exist. Earlier in the EF section, I mention feeling stuck in between tasks, well being monotropic might be why! Focusing on a single attention intensely means we may need more time to shift our processing resources on to new ideas or activities. ( Do you hate interruptions?)

Being monotropic has implications far beyond our passions if you begin to think about an interest as anything that can capture your attention – to put it simply fewer things capture our attention (but when they do, they do so intensely!) Let’s think about what that might mean for you (there are many examples, but here are just a few):

Do certain sounds feel incredibly irritating – are you unable to tune them out?

Do you seek details and patterns?

Do you have a need for routine or predictability? If so, this can reduce the need to switch attention tunnels at short notice.

Do you forget to eat, drink or go to the toilet when in a flow state? I know these signals are more than merely annoying when in flow but it’s really important to address them – maybe schedule key breaks and reminders to check these needs?

Do you feel emotions really intensely? Being monotropic is characterised by intensity of feeling wherever our current focus is and that includes our emotions. This may feel like big (autistic!) joy. If you resonate with this, I am glad you experience big joy too! Or alternatively being monotropic may mean an inability to switch our attention from negative feelings (inertia is a common result of being monotropic). 

Just to clarify, being monotropic doesn’t mean you will feel negatively but rather you may keep thinking about the same thing a lot.

 If you recognise that your attention gets hooked on negative feelings, it’s important to acknowledge that. Is there a way you can switch attention tunnels, if needed?

When explored through a monotropic lens, I think our experiences as autistic people begin to make sense. We can begin to ask ourselves why we have certain needs and not just be satisfied with knowing them but instead truly benefit from understanding our autistic experiences. I hope you feel similarly!

 I hope this 2-part series helps you to begin to explore, understand and ultimately appreciate your own autistic identity. If this is too much information all at once, you can use it as a resource to come back to and reflect on your own needs at your own pace.

After all, the Maori word for ‘autism’ is ‘takiwatanga’ meaning ‘in my own time and space!’

References

Monotropism – https://monotropism.org/