@ferrous Fergus Murray is first addressing Autistic social communication styles as a consequence of monotropism

Eye contact and voice modulation can take too much of our narrow bandwidth when we’re trying to communicate

We are accused of having a lack of social imagination, but this is really true of people in majority groups: men, white people, neurotypicals

#SARG2023 #ActuallyAutistic

@ferrous There’s nothing quite like a stimulus that you’re completely in control of, hence ‘restricted and repetitive interests’ (as the DSM calls them)

Intense interests can give us a sense of stability in a world full of uncertainty and unpredictability, and this too can be accounted for by monotropism – yet Autistic people’s intense interests are relatively under-researched

#SARG2023

@ferrous There’s a strong connection between the Autism/ADHD overlap and monotropism – in our hyperfocus and inability to direct our attention as we might (more research needed here)

The slowness of monotropism to catch on as a theory among mainstream researchers is probably because it’s not a simple answer – it requires thought

#SARG2023 #ActuallyAutistic #ActuallyADHD

@ferrous We’re prone to getting stuck – Inertia – as much as getting caught in a flow state

‘Executive functioning difficulty’ is a slightly woolly way of explaining the same thing, says Fergus

Inertia can be as extreme as catatonia for some Autistic people

#SARG2023

@ferrous When polytropic people regularly expect us to navigate the world the way they do, pulling us from task to task in incredible feats of mental gymnastics

Masking demands that we constantly do these things (see also Autistic split – Tanya Adkin)

The stress can lead to meltdowns or the internalised version, shutdowns

#SARG2023 #ActuallyAutistic

@ferrous Autistic burnout is a long-term counterpart to a shutdown, says Fergus

There comes a point where we just can’t do it any more – all we can do is to reduce our cognitive load

#SARG2023

@ferrous School is horrible for many Autistic children (yep!)

(Missed a bit here, as I had to go to the loo urgently, getting dragged out of the flow!) 😂

We get into trouble with teachers for failing to follow unwritten rules or to accept minor infringements of rules that ‘don’t matter’

#SARG2023

@ferrous At school, we are not usually allowed to direct our own learning

If we were, we’d usually find things (skills gaps) that we’d need to learn at some point, at which time they’d become interesting to us

Home education or private schools with a focus on self-directed learning can help, but clearly they’re not accessible to most

#SARG2023

@ferrous Similar problems continue into adulthood and the world of employment

Coping strategies that worked at school often go horribly wrong

It’s even difficult for monotropic people to thrive in academia

Spiky skills profiles are a huge problem, when most workplaces demand a broad range of skills

#SARG2023

@ferrous Bureaucracy can be an obstacle even in self-employment, not to mention the need to market yourself

Many of us struggle with filling in forms or making phone calls, and will lose large amounts of money as a consequence

#SARG2023