Entering flow states – or attention tunnels – is a necessary coping strategy for many of us.
Fergus Murray
Header art: “Flow State” by Betsy Selvam is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
People need to feel appreciated and safe, to give themselves to an activity; and they need to feel like they are making progress to keep giving themselves to it. To get into The Zone, you need to know you’re getting somewhere, that you’re in the process of mastering a skill – you need ongoing feedback, whether from another person or another source. There is also something uniquely satisfying about working with other people effectively, towards a shared goal; in my experience there is no substitute when it comes to building a community.
Flow states are the pinnacle of intrinsic motivation, where somebody wants to do something for themselves, for the sake of doing it and doing it well.
Flow allows us to recharge, to feel a sense of achievement and satisfaction, and a kind of respite from the often-baffling demands of the school social environment.
Craft, Flow and Cognitive Styles
When focused like this an Autistic person can enter a ‘flow state‘ which can bring great joy and satisfaction to the person experiencing it.
However it can make switching between tasks and other transitions difficult.
Monotropism
If you imagine that an autistic kid at school is likely to be wrenched out of their attention tunnel multiple times every day, each time leading to disorientation and deep discomfort, you are on your way to understanding why school environments can be so stressful for many autistic students. If you can avoid contributing to that, you may find that you have an easier time with your autistic students: try entering into their attention tunnel when you can, rather than tugging them out of it. Parallel play is one powerful tool for this; start where the child is, show interest in what they’re focused on. If you do need to pull them out of whatever they’re focusing on, it’s best to give them a bit of time.
Craft, Flow and Cognitive Styles
Don’t Dysregulate Me
If an autistic person is pulled out of monotropic flow too quickly, it causes our sensory systems to disregulate.
This in turn triggers us into emotional dysregulation, and we quickly find ourselves in a state ranging from uncomfortable, to grumpy, to angry, or even triggered into a meltdown or a shutdown.
This reaction is also often classed as challenging behavior when really it is an expression of distress caused by the behavior of those around us.
How you can get things wrong:
An introduction to monotropism – YouTube
- Not preparing for transition
- Too many instructions
- Speaking too quickly
- Not allowing processing time
- Using demanding language
- Using rewards or punishments
- Poor sensory environments
- Poor communication environments
- Making assumptions
- A lack of insightful and informed staff reflection
Flow and Pressure Budget
Pressure comes in many forms
It can be literal demands, or more subtle things like changing scope or moving deadlines
A ‘pressure budget’ can be useful… having a limit helps us to identify & act when pressure is an issue preventing us from getting into a flowy tunnel.
@TunnelsNotTasks
Interaction badges are a great way to keep us psychologically safe enough from pressure, discomfort, and interruption to enter flow states.
Monotropism and Flow States
Flow and Special Interests
The first part is in my “native language,” and then the second part provides a translation, or at least an explanation.
But my language is not about designing words or even visual symbols for people to interpret. It is about being in a constant conversation with every aspect of my environment. Reacting physically to all parts of my surroundings.
In My Language
Many people with autism are stressed individuals who find the world a confusing place (Vermeulen, 2013). So how does someone with autism achieve a sense of flow? McDonnell & Milton (2014) have argued that many repetitive activities may achieve a flow state. One obvious area where flow can be achieved is when engaging in special interests. Special interests allow people to become absorbed in an area that gives them specialist knowledge and a sense of achievement. In addition, certain repetitive tasks can help people achieve a flow like state of mind. These tasks can become absorbing and are an important part of people’s lives. The next time you see an individual with autism engaging in a repetitive task (like stacking Lego or playing a computer game), remember that these are not in themselves negative activities, they may well be reducing stress.
If you want to improve your supports to people with autism from a stress perspective, a useful tool is to identify flow states for that person and try to develop a flow plan. Remember, the next time you see a person repeating seemingly meaningless behaviours, do not assume that this is always unpleasant for them – it might be a flow state, and beneficial for reducing stress.
What is ‘flow’?
Flow state is a term coined by Csikszentmihalyi to describe “the experience of complete absorption in the present moment” (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2009). It is widely viewed as highly positive and many texts advise readers on how to attain it when performing tasks. Autistic people are sometimes puzzled that flow seems to be regarded as somewhat elusive and difficult to experience, since the common autistic experience of complete engagement with an interest fits the definition of flow well. Thus, it is not hard to find accounts of autistic detailed listening that seem to describe a flow state:
“When I work on my musical projects, I tend to hear the whole score in my head and piece every instrument loop detail where they fit. It relaxes me and makes me extremely aware of what I’m doing to the point that I lose track of time.”
Autistic listening
Flow and Play
Most autistic adults in this study experienced a flow state in relation to their play, involving intense focus on a play activity for a long time and possibly an altered sense of the passage of time. Intense focus is the defining characteristic of flow,32and our findings, combined with previous research,31,33 suggest that this is also a defining characteristic of autistic play flow experiences. More broadly, the combination of previous research support and our finding that a couple of participants viewed the experience of flow as a difference between autistic and non-autistic play suggests that autistic engagement in flow is a potential characteristic of at least some autistic people’s play. As highlighted by previous research, autistic people’s engagement in flow may be a consequence of monotropism,33,34,54 where autistic people’s intensely focused attention on few interests or activities means immersion in an activity and entering into a flow state is more likely. As play may be a form of interest, it is therefore unsurprising that many autistic people experience flow during play.
We also found that many experienced both benefits and limitations of flow, which suggests that for autistic people, flow has a dual nature. Our finding of mental benefits of flow, including relaxation, suggests that this experience could be important for autistic people’s well-being.32,34 However, autistic adults also discussed the negative impact of flow on aspects of everyday life, particularly self-care, which others have highlighted.33,34 Our findings parallel those of Pavlopoulou et al.,33particularly in relation to the negative impact of flow on sleeping and eating. We build on this research by also highlighting relaxation as a specific benefit of flow. Overall, the findings suggest that it is important to acknowledge the dual nature of flow relating to autistic people’s play experiences.
Diversity in Autistic Play: Autistic Adults’ Experiences | Autism in Adulthood
In the Zone
flow—the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.
“Flow” is the way people describe their state of mind when consciousness is harmoniously ordered, and they want to pursue whatever they are doing for its own sake. In reviewing some of the activities that consistently produce flow—such as sports, games, art, and hobbies—it becomes easier to understand what makes people happy.
In our studies, we found that every flow activity, whether it involved competition, chance, or any other dimension of experience, had this in common: It provided a sense of discovery, a creative feeling of transporting the person into a new reality. It pushed the person to higher levels of performance, and led to previously undreamed-of states of consciousness. In short, it transformed the self by making it more complex. In this growth of the self lies the key to flow activities.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
What Is The Flow?
Flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does.
I think process is something that we shouldn’t try to hack our way out of. Because it’s beautiful.
Free Your Fingers, Free Your Mind: A performative presentation with DiViNCi | Loop
Hyperfocus and Flow
Correlations showed that most elements of hyperfocus were negatively or not correlated with most aspects of flow. Further, a MANOVA and post-hoc ANOVAs revealed that students with clinically significant levels of ADHD symptoms reported higher levels of hyperfocus and lower levels of most aspects of flow compared to students without ADHD. These results suggest either that hyperfocus and flow are distinct, inversely related constructs, or that the wording of the questionnaire items influences responders to think of their experiences of task absorption differently.
Experiences of hyperfocus and flow in college students with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) | Current Psychology
However, they found strong positive correlations between hyperfocus and ADHD symptoms but no correlation between flow and ADHD symptoms, suggesting some difference between hyperfocus and flow experiences. Hupfeld et al. (2019) posited that hyperfocus may involve feelings of isolation and detachment from one’s environment not always experienced in flow states. Perhaps hyperfocus is a specific type of flow state, labeled “deep flow” by Hupfeld et al. (2019). Moneta (2012) proposed that “deep flow” experiences are characterized by detachment from the environment, which is not a requirement for “shallow flow” experiences. Likewise, Csikszentmihayli (1975) suggested that flow experiences may span a continuum from “micro” (i.e., “shallow”) flow experiences that are enjoyable but not fully absorbing to “deep flow” experiences that occur when all nine factors that foster flow are present.
Experiences of hyperfocus and flow in college students with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) | Current Psychology
We found strong support for Hupfeld et al.’s (2019) conceptualization of hyperfocus as a “deep flow” experience distinct from normal/ “shallow flow” due to the downsides of hyperfocus, including the feeling of “lost” time, failing to attend to personal or social needs, difficulty switching tasks, and difficulty completing tasks. This conceptualization of hyperfocus as a sometimes-problematic “deep flow” fits with traditional ideas about the limitations of ADHD. However, given some conceptual similarities between hyperfocus and flow, we have hope that people with ADHD can be trained to harness the unique characteristics that allow them to hyperfocus to have the more productive and fulfilling experience of flow.
Experiences of hyperfocus and flow in college students with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) | Current Psychology
Based on the above review, we propose the following operational definition for four distinct and testable features of hyperfocus: (1) hyperfocus is induced by task engagement; (2) hyperfocus is characterized by an intense state of sustained or selective attention; (3) During a hyperfocus state, there is a diminished perception of non-task relevant stimuli; and (4) During a hyperfocus state, task performance improves.
Flow states do show evidence that they are induced by at least interesting, if not fun tasks. In particular, they are induced by engaging tasks, irrespective of the source of motivation. Although the specific language is different from what has been typically used to describe hyperfocus (engagement vs fun/interesting), it is arguable that in context they mean the same thing. There is no explicit evidence that flow induces intense states of sustained and selective attention. However, based the reported effects of flow, it is reasonable to hypothesize that sustained and selective attention likely play a significant role. Moreover, applying a cognitive framework can provide a reasonable account of how intense states of attention could lead to the reported effects of flow. There is ample evidence that flow states induce a “diminished perception of non-task related stimuli”, though this has been only reported in subjective questionnaires, after the flow state had ended. To date, there have been no explicit cognitive or psychometric measurements taken during a flow state. Regardless, the subjective reports match the anecdotal reports of hyperfocus closely. Finally, there is some limited evidence that flow states improve task performance, but this is all correlational and indirect. Overall, the evidence suggests that flow states and hyperfocus appear to be the same phenomena, just with different names and initially reported in different fields of psychology. That being said, more research will be necessary to confirm and strengthen this claim (Table 3).
Hyperfocus: the forgotten frontier of attention | Psychological Research
Endogenous and Exogenous Hyperfocus
I certainly think many of the sensory aspects of the autistic phenotype can reflect exogenous hyper-focus. Admittedly, autistic sensory interests probably reflect endogenous hyper-focus. However, what about sensory overload? Fergus Murray (2018) comments that sensory distress can reflect our attention being “pulled away from where we want it to be,” such that our attention has conflicting intense focuses on the person’s own interest as well as the intrusive sensory stimulus. I don’t disagree with this, but I would add that sometimes the overload can reflect exogenous hyper-focus alone, with no endogenous component: that we hyper-focus on an overly intense stimulus, or find our hyper-focus exogenously pulled back and forth between multiple overwhelming stimuli. In the narrow/intense hyper-focused attention tunnel, these stimuli could be far more distressing than they would be to a neurotypical person.
Other sensory experiences can also be relevant here. Autistic people can often experience sensory distractions, where seemingly minor background stimuli end up pulling our attention away in problematic ways. For example, one might be trying to write an exam and one ends up hopelessly distracted by the flickering lights. These distractions can often turn into aggravations/frustrations (what we call misophonia in the auditory domain) when the stimulus is an unpleasant or annoying one.
This probably exacerbates and is exacerbated by anxiety, which has been associated with sensory hyper-sensitivity in autism in much prior research. When researchers try to understand anxiety, they often do so in terms of vigilance: because one is worried about threats, one vigilantly scans one’s environment for potential threats. When a person with anxiety caused by sensory overloads sees an aversive sensory stimulus, they might then focus on this stimulus, worsening the overload. If they have a monotropic attentional style, their focus on the stimulus might be narrower and the experience more intense and distressing, worsening the anxiety.6
A final important sensory domain may be multisensory integration: some autistic people can struggle to integrate sensory stimuli in multiple modalities like vision and hearing. This might reflect a narrow attention tunnel hyper-focussing on particular stimuli or aspects of stimuli.
Revisiting monotropism – Autistic Scholar
Flow and Time
Time flows differently when children work together, the older becoming aspirational peers for younger children, no bells demanding that they stop what they are doing to move in short blocks of time from math to reading to science to history in a repetitive daily cycle. Instead, they work on projects that engage them in experiences across content areas and extend time as they see the need.
Timeless Learning: How Imagination, Observation, and Zero-Based Thinking Change Schools
In flow states, time dilates.
Characteristics of Flow
Csikszentmihalyi has described eight characteristics of flow:
- Complete concentration on the task
- Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback
- Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down of time)
- The experience is intrinsically rewarding
- Effortlessness and ease
- There is a balance between challenge and skills
- Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination
- There is a feeling of control over the task
These characteristics describe the process needed to experience ‘flow’ in Csikszentmihali’s terms. Being in a state of ‘flow’ is thought to deepen learning or at the very least make learning more enjoyable.
The Meaning of ‘Flow’ in Education – Jenny Connected
