The Best Theory of Autism you've probably NEVER heard of...

00:36:18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mBbOOzhoGQ

Ringkasan

TLDRThis video explores monotropism, a theory explaining how the autistic mind processes information differently. It discusses the challenges faced by autistic individuals, such as social interaction difficulties and sensory sensitivities, stemming from their intense focus on specific interests. Monotropism elucidates various behaviors related to autism, including stimming, insistence on sameness, and the need for routine. The speaker highlights the importance of recognizing individual experiences within the autistic community, emphasizing that understanding monotropism can offer insights into the diverse ways autism manifests.

Takeaways

  • 🧠 Monotropism explains how autistic people focus intensely on fewer interests.
  • 🤝 Social differences arise from processing multiple information channels simultaneously.
  • 👂 Sensory differences can manifest as heightened sensitivity or under-sensitivity.
  • 🌟 Special interests serve as a source of joy and fulfillment for autistic individuals.
  • 🔄 Routine and structure can provide comfort and control in a chaotic world.
  • 📉 Intense relationships may develop, but friendships can be challenging to maintain.
  • 🔄 Stimming is a coping mechanism that enhances concentration and provides comfort.
  • 🏗️ Executive dysfunction often leads to difficulties in starting and completing tasks.
  • 🔄 Understanding monotropism provides insights into the autistic experience and its diversity.
  • 🎉 Embracing monotropism fosters acceptance of autism as a natural variation of the human mind.

Garis waktu

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    In this segment, the speaker discusses the complexities of explaining autism, expressing that it can feel overwhelming. They introduce the concept of 'monotropism', a theory about how autistic minds process information differently, influencing their experiences of the world. They also mention the link between ADHD and monotropism, suggesting that individuals with ADHD share some traits with autistic people.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    The speaker details twelve ways monotropism explains the autistic experience, emphasizing its value in helping others understand autism. The historical context of monotropism is provided, revealing its longer-standing recognition in the academic field than the recent viral discussions suggest, with the original theory dating back to 1991.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Continuing from the previous context, the speaker explains monotropism as a focused, intense engagement with specific interests at the expense of multitasking. They use metaphoric language, comparing neurotypical and autistic minds to light sources, showcasing the differences in attention span and information processing.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    The segment discusses how monotropism explains social differences in autistic individuals, particularly struggles with social interactions due to information overload. The speaker reflects on their own experiences and the challenges of conforming to social norms, underscoring how these difficulties stem from a preference for working with fewer streams of information.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:25:00

    Now relating monotropism to language development, the speaker shares insights into common traits of autism, including language delays or misunderstandings that may resemble deafness. They illustrate this with personal anecdotes, emphasizing the impact of attention and sensory processing on learning and communication.

  • 00:25:00 - 00:30:00

    Exploring sensory differences, the speaker explains how autistic individuals may experience heightened sensitivity or desensitization. This phenomenon is discussed in relation to their focus on specific stimuli, showcasing the dual nature of sensory experiences and their relationship with attention modulation.

  • 00:30:00 - 00:36:18

    The speaker shifts focus to stimming—repetitive movements or behaviors common in autism—and how these actions relate to monotropism. Stimming serves as a coping mechanism to aid concentration and provide comfort in a chaotic world, illustrating the correlation between repetitive behaviors and the monotonous nature of thoughts for autistic individuals.

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Peta Pikiran

Video Tanya Jawab

  • What is monotropism?

    Monotropism is a theory that explains how autistic individuals tend to focus intensely on a limited number of interests or tasks, often leading to difficulties in social interactions and sensory processing.

  • How does monotropism relate to autism?

    Monotropism provides a framework for understanding various autistic behaviors and challenges, showing how a deep focus can impact social skills and sensory experiences.

  • What are some characteristics of autistic individuals?

    Autistic individuals may experience social differences, sensory sensitivities, intense interests, and challenges with executive functioning.

  • Can monotropism explain sensory differences in autism?

    Yes, monotropism helps to explain how autistic individuals might be oversensitive or under-sensitive to sensory stimuli due to their focused attention.

  • What is the significance of special interests in autism?

    Special interests indicate a deep level of focus and passion for a topic, providing autistic individuals with joy and fulfillment.

  • What challenges do autistic individuals face in social situations?

    Autistic individuals may struggle with social cues, eye contact, and managing multiple streams of information at once.

  • Is autism considered a disability?

    Yes, autism can be considered a disability in certain contexts, particularly when societal expectations conflict with the autistic experience.

  • How does monotropism affect relationships?

    Monotropism can lead to intense but sometimes unstable relationships, where autistic individuals may become very focused on certain people or struggle with maintaining friendships.

  • What is the relationship between monotropism and ADHD?

    Recent research suggests that ADHD may also exhibit characteristics of monotropism, sharing similar patterns of focused attention.

  • What role does stimming play in the autistic experience?

    Stimming serves as a mechanism for managing sensory overload, enhancing concentration, and providing comfort.

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Gulir Otomatis:
  • 00:00:00
    what even is autism anyway have you ever
  • 00:00:02
    been asked that by somebody in your life
  • 00:00:04
    what is autism how would you even go
  • 00:00:07
    about explaining that it just feels like
  • 00:00:09
    autism is so much I feel like I would
  • 00:00:11
    need an hour would you get up the DSM-5
  • 00:00:14
    criteria and be like this is me uh I
  • 00:00:17
    don't really think so I really used to
  • 00:00:19
    struggle if I was asked that question
  • 00:00:21
    and then I was on a Facebook group for
  • 00:00:23
    autistic women and somebody mentioned
  • 00:00:26
    the word monotropism and so I looked it
  • 00:00:28
    up it was like learning about autism all
  • 00:00:30
    over again from the beginning it was
  • 00:00:32
    like crazy aha moment of this is it
  • 00:00:35
    monotropism is a theory of autism that
  • 00:00:38
    attempts to explain how the autistic
  • 00:00:40
    mind works and what being autistic
  • 00:00:43
    really means for how you experience the
  • 00:00:45
    world around you there has been some
  • 00:00:47
    very recent research found an Autism
  • 00:00:50
    diagnosis to be very consistent with
  • 00:00:52
    fitting this kind of monotropic profile
  • 00:00:54
    and it also suggests that ADHD is are
  • 00:00:57
    more monotropic than neurotypical people
  • 00:00:59
    slightly left so than autistic people
  • 00:01:01
    but they're definitely you know on the
  • 00:01:03
    monotropic Spectrum which is really
  • 00:01:05
    interesting so if you're an ADHD these
  • 00:01:07
    might apply to you as well in this video
  • 00:01:09
    I'm going to talk about 12 different
  • 00:01:10
    ways that monotropism can explain the
  • 00:01:13
    autistic experience and Link you know
  • 00:01:16
    all these weird little random threads
  • 00:01:18
    that seem completely unconnected like
  • 00:01:20
    how the hell does sensory differences
  • 00:01:22
    and feeling like things are a bit stinky
  • 00:01:24
    sometimes link into the fact that you
  • 00:01:26
    have really intense interests if you
  • 00:01:28
    feel like this theory of autism
  • 00:01:29
    resonates with you I think it can be a
  • 00:01:31
    really lovely way to explain autism to
  • 00:01:34
    other people because I feel like it's
  • 00:01:35
    really easy to understand when you read
  • 00:01:36
    about monotropism how this could be
  • 00:01:38
    disabling how this is a disability how
  • 00:01:41
    it can be debilitating particularly in
  • 00:01:43
    this society and in the way we expect
  • 00:01:45
    people to operate and to behave but then
  • 00:01:49
    it also makes sense it's like a natural
  • 00:01:51
    variation in human minds and both of
  • 00:01:55
    those things I think can be true at the
  • 00:01:57
    same time before I start I want to
  • 00:01:59
    emphasize that my autotropism is not new
  • 00:02:01
    even though it's been you know being a
  • 00:02:03
    bit viral on Tick Tock at the moment it
  • 00:02:05
    wasn't created last week the word
  • 00:02:06
    monotropism was proposed in 1991 in the
  • 00:02:10
    original paper describing the theory of
  • 00:02:12
    monotropism was published in 2005.
  • 00:02:15
    that's a long time I get comments all
  • 00:02:17
    the time on particularly my videos
  • 00:02:19
    related to PDA the pathological demand
  • 00:02:21
    avoidance profile of autism from people
  • 00:02:23
    who seem to have like slipped on a
  • 00:02:26
    banana peel and fallen into my content
  • 00:02:29
    they're always like everyone's coming up
  • 00:02:30
    with a new illness every week these days
  • 00:02:32
    and it's like okay autism isn't an
  • 00:02:34
    illness and also no psychologists have
  • 00:02:37
    been talking about PDA since 1980.
  • 00:02:39
    actually that's 43 years so no no no no
  • 00:02:41
    no this paper in 2005 was called
  • 00:02:44
    attention monotropism and the diagnostic
  • 00:02:47
    criteria for autism and excitingly all
  • 00:02:50
    three of the authors of this paper were
  • 00:02:52
    autistic one of whom was an autistic
  • 00:02:54
    woman called Diana Mori and she saw
  • 00:02:56
    traits of autism in herself at the time
  • 00:02:59
    but it was only later in life she
  • 00:03:01
    finally accepted that she could use the
  • 00:03:04
    autism label because she originally kind
  • 00:03:07
    of felt like she wasn't autistic enough
  • 00:03:08
    I feel like that's an experience a lot
  • 00:03:10
    of us can relate to so what is it
  • 00:03:12
    monotropism can be explained simply as
  • 00:03:14
    the tendency for our interests or just
  • 00:03:17
    whatever we happen to be focused on in a
  • 00:03:20
    given moment to pull us in more strongly
  • 00:03:23
    than it would for most people every
  • 00:03:25
    person has a limited amount of attention
  • 00:03:27
    available to them at any given moment
  • 00:03:29
    monotropism suggests that autistic
  • 00:03:31
    brains tend to prefer to focus on fewer
  • 00:03:34
    things at any given time and at a higher
  • 00:03:37
    intensity we get sucked into attention
  • 00:03:39
    tunnels and once we get sucked into them
  • 00:03:42
    it can be hard to pull ourselves out of
  • 00:03:44
    them and move on to something else does
  • 00:03:46
    that sound familiar at all because it
  • 00:03:47
    sounds very familiar to me depending on
  • 00:03:49
    how much you like metaphors you could
  • 00:03:51
    also describe monotropism using a
  • 00:03:53
    metaphor of light so if we imagine a
  • 00:03:56
    metaphorical room and we imagine a
  • 00:03:58
    neurotypical person walks into that room
  • 00:04:00
    and they've got a more polytropic mind
  • 00:04:02
    they may stand in the doorway and see
  • 00:04:04
    the entire room lit by like a soft
  • 00:04:07
    overhead light every object in the room
  • 00:04:09
    appears to be lit somewhat evenly and
  • 00:04:12
    then by comparison and the autistic
  • 00:04:13
    individual the monotropic individual
  • 00:04:15
    would be viewing the room through a
  • 00:04:17
    torch beam and seeing you know fewer
  • 00:04:19
    objects at a time through a much more
  • 00:04:21
    intense and concentrated light but how
  • 00:04:24
    does this explain everything about
  • 00:04:26
    autism number one social differences so
  • 00:04:28
    in order to receive an Autism diagnosis
  • 00:04:30
    you must have what the DSM-5 calls
  • 00:04:33
    social deficits if you imagine that
  • 00:04:35
    autistic people like to process one
  • 00:04:38
    channel of information at a time it
  • 00:04:40
    might kind of be easy to see why
  • 00:04:42
    socializing would be more difficult for
  • 00:04:44
    us and why we would have social
  • 00:04:45
    differences in my video about masking
  • 00:04:47
    and what masking feels like from the
  • 00:04:49
    inside which is one of my first videos I
  • 00:04:50
    ever made I spoke about how I just feel
  • 00:04:53
    like I'm doing a juggling act I've got
  • 00:04:55
    to be looking at a person I've got to be
  • 00:04:57
    monitoring whether I'm making enough eye
  • 00:04:59
    contact with them assessing how much eye
  • 00:05:00
    contact they're making with me and then
  • 00:05:02
    kind of trying to match that I'm looking
  • 00:05:03
    at their facial expression which is
  • 00:05:05
    moving very quickly and obviously
  • 00:05:07
    involves a lot of different features
  • 00:05:08
    moving and doing all sorts of different
  • 00:05:10
    things I'm going to try and decode that
  • 00:05:12
    meaning they're speaking I've got to
  • 00:05:13
    focus on what they're saying I've got to
  • 00:05:15
    focus on their tone and what that might
  • 00:05:17
    mean obviously their body language if
  • 00:05:19
    there's maybe more than one person
  • 00:05:20
    speaking then you've got multiple people
  • 00:05:22
    to focus on and then obviously the
  • 00:05:24
    background noise and all the other
  • 00:05:25
    things that's going on in the world as
  • 00:05:26
    well and then you've all also going to
  • 00:05:27
    think about yourself so am I reacting
  • 00:05:29
    correctly what is my facial expression
  • 00:05:30
    doing do I look sincere do I look like
  • 00:05:32
    I'm interested in what they're saying
  • 00:05:33
    they're saying something sad do I look
  • 00:05:35
    sad enough you know all that kind of
  • 00:05:37
    thing what am I doing with my body
  • 00:05:38
    language does it match what they're
  • 00:05:39
    doing do I want to be doing the same
  • 00:05:40
    thing as them is that weird and then you
  • 00:05:42
    always think about what you're gonna say
  • 00:05:43
    next and be ready and then when do I
  • 00:05:45
    speak and I've got something to say
  • 00:05:46
    should I interrupt is it going to be
  • 00:05:48
    rude I'm not speaking enough I need to
  • 00:05:50
    be speaking more there is a lot to do
  • 00:05:52
    and even if you intellectually
  • 00:05:54
    understand social rules it's still kind
  • 00:05:58
    of difficult to perform them on the spot
  • 00:05:59
    everything's happening very rapidly
  • 00:06:02
    you've got to react very quickly and you
  • 00:06:04
    can see how this would be exhausting for
  • 00:06:06
    somebody who really prefers having one
  • 00:06:09
    channel of information or fewer channels
  • 00:06:11
    of information coming in at a time it's
  • 00:06:13
    kind of a non-slaught of stuff and so
  • 00:06:16
    monotropism would explain why autistic
  • 00:06:18
    people often say they can hear what
  • 00:06:19
    someone's saying more they can
  • 00:06:20
    concentrate more if they're not making
  • 00:06:22
    direct eye contact because then you're
  • 00:06:24
    reducing the number of you know channels
  • 00:06:26
    of information that are coming in you're
  • 00:06:27
    not getting all this information from a
  • 00:06:29
    person's face you can stare at a fixed
  • 00:06:31
    object and then your brain is better
  • 00:06:32
    able to process what's being said to you
  • 00:06:34
    I've shared so many times this story
  • 00:06:36
    because I used to when I first was
  • 00:06:37
    looking into autism I was like I don't
  • 00:06:39
    know do I ever really have a problem
  • 00:06:40
    with eye contact I don't know and then I
  • 00:06:41
    remember the story where I was yelled
  • 00:06:43
    out by a teacher Designing Technology
  • 00:06:45
    very important subject you know I'm sure
  • 00:06:47
    it's important to some people he wanted
  • 00:06:49
    us to make eye contact with him and he
  • 00:06:51
    made it very clear at the start of the
  • 00:06:52
    lesson you must not look at anywhere
  • 00:06:54
    other than at me so I was very conscious
  • 00:06:55
    of that and I was like look at him look
  • 00:06:57
    at him look at him and then at some
  • 00:06:59
    point he turns around and shouts at me
  • 00:07:02
    your eye contact is appalling you're
  • 00:07:04
    gonna stand up for the next half an hour
  • 00:07:05
    so I had to stand up I was in shock
  • 00:07:07
    because I was like I'm pretty sure I was
  • 00:07:09
    staring at you the whole time but I kept
  • 00:07:11
    thinking I need to be look at him I need
  • 00:07:12
    to be looking at him which probably
  • 00:07:13
    suggests that my eyes were wandering and
  • 00:07:15
    I was looking out the window and I was
  • 00:07:16
    looking at the equipment that he was
  • 00:07:17
    talking about and I wasn't staring him
  • 00:07:19
    down the entire time which is weird like
  • 00:07:20
    why did he even want that I don't know
  • 00:07:22
    no matter how like ever come across
  • 00:07:24
    socially when I'm you know trying really
  • 00:07:26
    hard in my asking sometimes I think I do
  • 00:07:28
    come across well people say that I come
  • 00:07:30
    across well it never feels like I'm
  • 00:07:32
    coming across well it never feels
  • 00:07:34
    intuitive as I say it always feels like
  • 00:07:37
    juggling like fragmented like I can't
  • 00:07:39
    really process how well the interaction
  • 00:07:41
    is going so I think this is why I've
  • 00:07:43
    kind of throughout my life despite the
  • 00:07:45
    fact that I like people I'm interested
  • 00:07:46
    in Psychology I'm interested in people I
  • 00:07:48
    often avoided socializing like on hidden
  • 00:07:50
    toilet cubicles or ran to the library so
  • 00:07:52
    I don't have to speak to people to be on
  • 00:07:54
    my own to get a bit of a break because I
  • 00:07:55
    think it's mentally exhausting this also
  • 00:07:57
    links to the language delays that are
  • 00:07:59
    sometimes seen in autism autism is
  • 00:08:02
    sometimes mistaken for deafness and if
  • 00:08:04
    you look on the childhood traits of
  • 00:08:06
    autism page on the NHS website very
  • 00:08:09
    first trait is not responding to their
  • 00:08:11
    own name it could be that for some
  • 00:08:13
    monotropic individuals language itself
  • 00:08:15
    is actually quite difficult to pick up
  • 00:08:17
    maybe you're just hearing it as like
  • 00:08:18
    individual sounds and are not quite able
  • 00:08:20
    to piece it together as words and
  • 00:08:22
    sentences as easily as other people ask
  • 00:08:25
    although I don't think I had any sort of
  • 00:08:27
    language to delay and it wasn't
  • 00:08:28
    something my parents were concerned
  • 00:08:30
    about there are lots of clips of me
  • 00:08:31
    ignoring seemingly ignoring my mom in a
  • 00:08:34
    way my son who is not autistic he just
  • 00:08:36
    wouldn't do he would always respond to
  • 00:08:38
    the kind of things that she's asking me
  • 00:08:39
    and I'm like in the middle of playing
  • 00:08:41
    she'll ask me about what I'm doing or
  • 00:08:42
    she'll ask me to show her something or
  • 00:08:44
    say something and I'll just ignore it
  • 00:08:46
    they uh oh
  • 00:08:48
    let's see
  • 00:08:49
    show me your Teletubby shirt on the film
  • 00:08:52
    Meg
  • 00:08:53
    where's your Teletubby shirt
  • 00:08:55
    [Music]
  • 00:08:58
    yeah
  • 00:09:02
    even as old as five six years old I'm
  • 00:09:06
    still doing that to some extent either
  • 00:09:07
    repeaters like I haven't heard them or
  • 00:09:10
    like I'm really being rude so the son of
  • 00:09:12
    Diana Murray one of the original authors
  • 00:09:14
    of this monotropic paper from 2005 he
  • 00:09:17
    was part of the recent research on
  • 00:09:19
    monotropism he's still you know super
  • 00:09:21
    vocal about his mother's work he was
  • 00:09:23
    also diagnosed himself at the age of 32
  • 00:09:25
    and he kind of describes himself as
  • 00:09:26
    having a more female presentation of
  • 00:09:28
    autism which I think is how you describe
  • 00:09:31
    most members of my family as well even
  • 00:09:33
    though I'm the only autistic female he
  • 00:09:35
    wrote a piece for the British
  • 00:09:36
    psychological society and in the article
  • 00:09:38
    he says if our attention is elsewhere
  • 00:09:41
    auditory input might register as an
  • 00:09:43
    unwelcome Interruption we would much
  • 00:09:45
    rather ignore or it might not register
  • 00:09:47
    at all and then when talking about
  • 00:09:49
    learning language and it discusses a
  • 00:09:51
    child who's just been taught the word
  • 00:09:53
    cat the 2005 paper says the following
  • 00:09:55
    once the infant has learned the word cat
  • 00:09:58
    the adult possesses a tool for men
  • 00:10:00
    populating the infant's interest system
  • 00:10:02
    disruption of the attention tunnel is a
  • 00:10:04
    painful experience language May suddenly
  • 00:10:06
    become unattractive for a deeply
  • 00:10:08
    monotropic infant so in this context
  • 00:10:09
    when it says interest system it's just
  • 00:10:11
    kind of essentially talking about what
  • 00:10:14
    the child is paying attention to in that
  • 00:10:15
    given moment so as a child if you're
  • 00:10:17
    very locked into what you were doing you
  • 00:10:19
    mean you just kind of have not heard
  • 00:10:20
    your parents you may have been kind of
  • 00:10:22
    under sensitive to that sound in the
  • 00:10:24
    given moment or you may have been overly
  • 00:10:25
    sensitive and heard them you know
  • 00:10:27
    calling your name and you recognize your
  • 00:10:29
    name you're like oh this is trying to
  • 00:10:30
    get my attention and that feels painful
  • 00:10:32
    to you to kind of rip yourself away from
  • 00:10:34
    the thing that you're currently
  • 00:10:35
    engrossed in so you ignore them because
  • 00:10:37
    you kind of you know want that to go
  • 00:10:39
    away and it's not something you want to
  • 00:10:40
    engage with it has negative associations
  • 00:10:42
    for you in this way you can kind of see
  • 00:10:44
    how being hyper and hypo sensitive to
  • 00:10:47
    sensory stimuli can cause social
  • 00:10:50
    differences it's already starting to all
  • 00:10:52
    link together but number two let's talk
  • 00:10:53
    about sensory differences a bit more
  • 00:10:55
    deeply so why does some autistic people
  • 00:10:56
    feel like they're oversensitive to
  • 00:10:59
    brightness just smell taste textures
  • 00:11:02
    whether that's textures of food or
  • 00:11:04
    textures of clothing and then the
  • 00:11:05
    opposite side you have some people who
  • 00:11:07
    feel like they're under sensitive and
  • 00:11:08
    say that they have a very high tolerance
  • 00:11:10
    for pain and things like that and why do
  • 00:11:12
    some of us feel like we're both
  • 00:11:14
    depending on the day depending on the
  • 00:11:16
    context sometimes you do hear it kind of
  • 00:11:18
    spoken about as if autistic people will
  • 00:11:20
    either be overly or they'll be under
  • 00:11:21
    sensitive to sensory things but I don't
  • 00:11:23
    think it's always that simple in black
  • 00:11:25
    and white if I was trying to concentrate
  • 00:11:27
    on something deeply at my computer and
  • 00:11:29
    someone started blasting really loud
  • 00:11:31
    music at me all of a sudden out of
  • 00:11:32
    nowhere that would be horrible but if I
  • 00:11:34
    myself put on my headphones and play
  • 00:11:36
    some loud music or I go to a concert of
  • 00:11:38
    music I like and have chosen to hear
  • 00:11:40
    then I'm quite happy to hear that loud
  • 00:11:42
    music I suppose in the context of the
  • 00:11:44
    concert I have chosen for that to be my
  • 00:11:46
    focus that is where I am and that is
  • 00:11:48
    where I want to be if someone's blasting
  • 00:11:50
    music while I'm trying to focus on
  • 00:11:52
    something else then they're trying to
  • 00:11:53
    yank my brain in a different direction
  • 00:11:54
    and that's not very monotropism friendly
  • 00:11:57
    so monotropism explains our sensory
  • 00:11:59
    experience being more more intense
  • 00:12:00
    because when monotropic people are
  • 00:12:02
    focused on something we use more of our
  • 00:12:05
    mental resources on that thing so our
  • 00:12:07
    experience of that thing might just be
  • 00:12:09
    more and that might explain why the
  • 00:12:11
    world is brighter louder smellier just a
  • 00:12:15
    bit of an onslaught sometimes for
  • 00:12:17
    autistic people and adhds as well but
  • 00:12:19
    also when you're inside the attention
  • 00:12:21
    tunnel as with the language example you
  • 00:12:23
    may miss things outside of it they may
  • 00:12:26
    just go over your head I ignore hunger
  • 00:12:29
    all the time I do eat enough food but I
  • 00:12:32
    often do need reminding and sometimes
  • 00:12:34
    autistic people are explained as having
  • 00:12:35
    poor interceptions so they're not
  • 00:12:37
    necessarily able to sense Sensations
  • 00:12:39
    like hunger within their own body I'm
  • 00:12:41
    hungry right now I can tell if I try and
  • 00:12:43
    Zone into it that I am hungry right now
  • 00:12:45
    I can feel that sensation but I can
  • 00:12:46
    block it out because I'm really excited
  • 00:12:48
    about talking to you about monitor
  • 00:12:50
    officer because this has certainly
  • 00:12:51
    become my interest with the last few
  • 00:12:53
    weeks and my family are sick of hearing
  • 00:12:55
    about it stimming how does monotropism
  • 00:12:57
    explain stemmings if you don't know
  • 00:12:59
    stimming is one of the things that the
  • 00:13:01
    DSM-5 the diagnostic criteria calls
  • 00:13:03
    restrictive and repetitive behaviors in
  • 00:13:05
    autism we can flap our hands I did a
  • 00:13:08
    little as a child wrap back and forth do
  • 00:13:10
    both at the same time so that's a good
  • 00:13:12
    time we might use fidget toys we might
  • 00:13:14
    pinch bits of our skin or bits of
  • 00:13:17
    clothing or tags on clothing or mess
  • 00:13:19
    without hair or twiddle our fingers or
  • 00:13:21
    do like finger flicking you know just
  • 00:13:23
    like little repetitive movements that we
  • 00:13:25
    do why do we do this why do we do this
  • 00:13:27
    because it's nice but why is it nice for
  • 00:13:29
    me stimming is always pretty much been
  • 00:13:31
    about concentration and about
  • 00:13:33
    heightening my concentration it's always
  • 00:13:36
    been a super immersive I've described it
  • 00:13:38
    as being like a meditative experience
  • 00:13:40
    for me I can get completely sucked into
  • 00:13:43
    my own world it like enhances this
  • 00:13:45
    ability that I have to hyper focus on
  • 00:13:47
    things so I would usually stim while
  • 00:13:49
    playing as a child I would flap my dolls
  • 00:13:52
    and like rock back and forth and then
  • 00:13:53
    like play out a story of like what my
  • 00:13:55
    dolls were doing in my head rather than
  • 00:13:56
    actually moving the dolls because that
  • 00:13:58
    allowed me to be more in the play it
  • 00:14:00
    seems like it was the same experience
  • 00:14:01
    for Temple Grandin when she was a child
  • 00:14:04
    and she was quoted in the original
  • 00:14:05
    monotropism paper as a child she would
  • 00:14:08
    be intensely preoccupied with the
  • 00:14:10
    movement of the spinning coin I saw
  • 00:14:12
    nothing or heard nothing people around
  • 00:14:14
    me were transparent that's like such a
  • 00:14:16
    beautiful way of describing it yet like
  • 00:14:18
    the world disappears and the world in my
  • 00:14:21
    head or whatever I'm focusing on at the
  • 00:14:23
    time comes alive a stimming can also be
  • 00:14:25
    a comforting thing maybe because it
  • 00:14:27
    enhances your concentration helps you to
  • 00:14:29
    go into kind of like Natural State I
  • 00:14:31
    pinch my neck all the time it's big
  • 00:14:32
    butted a lot so I must get on my necks a
  • 00:14:34
    bit discolored I think and for me that's
  • 00:14:36
    that's about comfort and I think
  • 00:14:37
    monotropism can kind of explain why the
  • 00:14:40
    movements are so repetitive within
  • 00:14:42
    stimming like why do we do the same
  • 00:14:43
    thing again and again in a world where
  • 00:14:45
    there's so much chaos and you don't know
  • 00:14:46
    what's going to happen next I'm like oh
  • 00:14:48
    there's an ice cream van over there it's
  • 00:14:50
    you know it's nice to kind of know what
  • 00:14:53
    you're gonna feel next and then maybe
  • 00:14:54
    because we get stuck on one channel we
  • 00:14:56
    get stuck on a loop of doing that same
  • 00:14:58
    thing and it's just soothing and
  • 00:15:00
    peaceful and nice the sensations flow
  • 00:15:03
    and we know exactly what sensation to
  • 00:15:05
    expect next these are people who live in
  • 00:15:07
    a world in which sudden experiences
  • 00:15:09
    repeatedly occur so in that world
  • 00:15:11
    anything that's predictable is
  • 00:15:13
    comforting number four we're going to
  • 00:15:14
    talk about special interests and Hyper
  • 00:15:16
    Focus which should probably be quite
  • 00:15:17
    obvious how this fits Under the Umbrella
  • 00:15:19
    of monotropism according to a 2011 study
  • 00:15:22
    75 to 95 of autistic people report
  • 00:15:25
    having a special interest as I've said
  • 00:15:27
    so many times in my videos related to
  • 00:15:29
    special interests an autistic special
  • 00:15:31
    interest is not an autistic special
  • 00:15:33
    interest because of the particular
  • 00:15:35
    category of interest you know it doesn't
  • 00:15:36
    have to be transport it can be anything
  • 00:15:39
    at all what is important is the
  • 00:15:41
    intensity of focus that is what makes it
  • 00:15:44
    an autistic special interest it's like
  • 00:15:46
    your passion your level of devotion
  • 00:15:48
    you're almost like uncontrollable need
  • 00:15:51
    to be doing that thing all the time and
  • 00:15:52
    then while you're doing that thing the
  • 00:15:54
    intensity of focus the way you get
  • 00:15:55
    sucked into this tunnel the world around
  • 00:15:57
    you becomes somewhat transparent and
  • 00:16:00
    you're just in it most of the time it's
  • 00:16:02
    kind of an antidote to all the things
  • 00:16:04
    that are difficult about being an
  • 00:16:06
    autistic person in the world at least
  • 00:16:07
    that's kind of how I experience it I
  • 00:16:10
    need my interests in order to feel okay
  • 00:16:12
    and that's one of the reasons why school
  • 00:16:14
    is so painful because you're kind of
  • 00:16:16
    ripped away from doing that and pushed
  • 00:16:17
    towards all of the things that you find
  • 00:16:19
    difficult instead on a daily basis my
  • 00:16:22
    interests and my hobbies and my projects
  • 00:16:24
    have always been the best thing about
  • 00:16:26
    being alive to me I would say aside from
  • 00:16:28
    obviously other people that I love as
  • 00:16:30
    well but in order to be happy on a
  • 00:16:32
    day-to-day basis I need them and this I
  • 00:16:33
    think explains time blindness as well
  • 00:16:35
    because like your sense of Time Slips
  • 00:16:37
    Away the world around you Falls away and
  • 00:16:39
    it is often easier to create order and
  • 00:16:41
    predictability within a special interest
  • 00:16:43
    again it can be deeply upsetting when
  • 00:16:45
    you're interrupted from working on these
  • 00:16:48
    interests and people may not understand
  • 00:16:49
    why you have such a big reaction to this
  • 00:16:51
    oh my gosh the rage I would feel when I
  • 00:16:54
    was video editing at age 13 when my mom
  • 00:16:57
    would tell me that dinner was ready the
  • 00:16:58
    dinner that she'd very kindly prepared
  • 00:17:00
    for me I would be like I'm coming and
  • 00:17:03
    then like 10 minutes later I'd still be
  • 00:17:05
    there and then they'd be calling again
  • 00:17:07
    and I would have no idea that 10 minutes
  • 00:17:09
    had passed my mom would make me little
  • 00:17:10
    Cups of Tea all the time and the amount
  • 00:17:13
    of Cups of Tea that went cold probably
  • 00:17:15
    80 that she made for me I can't it's one
  • 00:17:17
    of the reasons why I really struggled to
  • 00:17:19
    stay hydrated because I just can't I
  • 00:17:21
    can't remember to take a sip of water
  • 00:17:23
    while I'm in what I'm doing so I think
  • 00:17:25
    that's one of the major things that
  • 00:17:26
    really separates an autistic special
  • 00:17:28
    interest from a neurotypical hobby and
  • 00:17:30
    the intensity and devotion that we pour
  • 00:17:32
    into these interests does kind of link
  • 00:17:34
    to perfectionism I've spoken about this
  • 00:17:36
    a lot again in my PDA content it's one
  • 00:17:38
    of the theories for why some people fit
  • 00:17:40
    this pathological demand avoidance
  • 00:17:41
    profile of autism but even just autistic
  • 00:17:43
    people in General's from as early as the
  • 00:17:45
    1940s have been seen in research to be
  • 00:17:48
    very perfectionist to not really be able
  • 00:17:50
    to handle anything going wrong within
  • 00:17:53
    their interests or outside of their
  • 00:17:54
    interests many children with autism are
  • 00:17:57
    extremely distressed at any experience
  • 00:17:59
    of failure and hate to be corrected if
  • 00:18:00
    they make an error and this makes sense
  • 00:18:02
    to me if you imagine like if you're
  • 00:18:04
    deeply focused on something in the whole
  • 00:18:05
    world around you has disappeared that
  • 00:18:07
    thing is kind of Your World at least in
  • 00:18:09
    that moment and maybe the stakes are
  • 00:18:11
    higher the experience of you know being
  • 00:18:13
    in doing that thing is heightened and
  • 00:18:15
    therefore when something goes wrong the
  • 00:18:16
    experience of that and the emotions
  • 00:18:18
    associated with that are also heightened
  • 00:18:21
    okay so number five I'm going to talk
  • 00:18:22
    about insistence on sameness and also
  • 00:18:25
    need to be in control so just as
  • 00:18:27
    stimming under the monotropic lens kind
  • 00:18:29
    of makes sense it's like you know
  • 00:18:31
    predictable controllable input the
  • 00:18:33
    insistence on sameness that is really
  • 00:18:35
    hard to say and need for routine and
  • 00:18:37
    structure are kind of similar you know
  • 00:18:38
    trying to find some order in a chaotic
  • 00:18:41
    world it's a world that's always trying
  • 00:18:43
    to yank your brain out of what it's
  • 00:18:45
    doing and in a different direction
  • 00:18:47
    without your permission so you may feel
  • 00:18:49
    quite strongly about wanting to stay on
  • 00:18:51
    a fixed safe path that you trust a lot
  • 00:18:54
    of autistic people prefer structure and
  • 00:18:56
    routine that's kind of like a stereotype
  • 00:18:58
    of autism at the stage and it's one of
  • 00:19:00
    the accommodations that people make once
  • 00:19:02
    someone has an Autism diagnosis to make
  • 00:19:04
    sure that they know exactly what's going
  • 00:19:05
    to happen within their day I have a
  • 00:19:07
    family member who throughout as long as
  • 00:19:10
    I've known them my whole life they have
  • 00:19:12
    to go to the shop at the same time every
  • 00:19:14
    day without fail whether or not they
  • 00:19:16
    need anything they will make sure they
  • 00:19:18
    find something that they need some
  • 00:19:19
    reason to go to the shop they just
  • 00:19:20
    absolutely must go and I can definitely
  • 00:19:22
    relate to this feeling there are
  • 00:19:24
    sometimes things where I've got it fixed
  • 00:19:25
    in my mind that I'm doing a certain
  • 00:19:26
    thing and I cannot move on with my day
  • 00:19:29
    unless those expectations that I've set
  • 00:19:32
    up for myself have been met otherwise
  • 00:19:34
    it's kind of deeply upsetting and you
  • 00:19:36
    can end up like crying and shaking in a
  • 00:19:38
    corner and being like Oh my God why is
  • 00:19:39
    it such a big deal but for some reason
  • 00:19:40
    my mind latched onto things being a
  • 00:19:42
    certain way and then not that way and I
  • 00:19:44
    can't handle it there's a really great
  • 00:19:45
    BBC program with Chris Packham who is
  • 00:19:48
    diagnosed as autistic and he kind of
  • 00:19:50
    spoke to a diverse group of autistic
  • 00:19:52
    people and the one guy on there he had
  • 00:19:55
    to absolutely had to every day do things
  • 00:19:58
    in his routine at exactly the same time
  • 00:20:02
    it was kind of like painful to watch to
  • 00:20:05
    the minute everything needed to be
  • 00:20:07
    perfect and then obviously on the other
  • 00:20:09
    side of it you have autistic people many
  • 00:20:12
    people who fit the PDA profile as I do
  • 00:20:14
    also people who have a diagnosis of ADHD
  • 00:20:16
    and autism which I do who can't deal
  • 00:20:20
    with routines and I feel like strangely
  • 00:20:22
    it is very similar this need to control
  • 00:20:25
    like every second of your day and know
  • 00:20:27
    exactly what's happening on your
  • 00:20:28
    schedule at every moment and then also
  • 00:20:30
    this need to not be controlled by a
  • 00:20:33
    schedule and have complete control over
  • 00:20:34
    what you do every single given moment it
  • 00:20:37
    all kind of comes back to this feeling
  • 00:20:39
    of needing to know that to the best of
  • 00:20:42
    your ability you're going to be safe
  • 00:20:43
    from this feeling of being pulled out of
  • 00:20:45
    what you're doing and have something
  • 00:20:47
    unexpected happen to you as Fergus
  • 00:20:49
    Murray States much of autistic Behavior
  • 00:20:52
    can be seen as attempts to restore some
  • 00:20:54
    kind of equilibrium okay so number six
  • 00:20:56
    this is kind of another social one it's
  • 00:20:58
    literal thinking how can monotropism
  • 00:21:01
    explain the fact that that some autistic
  • 00:21:03
    people at least as children they may
  • 00:21:05
    grow up to understand it but they may
  • 00:21:07
    not be able to understand sarcasm or
  • 00:21:09
    they may interpret phrases like break a
  • 00:21:11
    leg literally and not know what on Earth
  • 00:21:14
    someone's going on about but as we get
  • 00:21:16
    older even if we do understand these
  • 00:21:18
    phrases and we don't interpret them
  • 00:21:20
    literally anymore often we interpret
  • 00:21:22
    them literally first and like maybe
  • 00:21:24
    picture what someone said literally and
  • 00:21:26
    then we kind of have to like process it
  • 00:21:28
    even if it's quite quick we still have
  • 00:21:30
    like a little extra step I feel of
  • 00:21:32
    processing before we can be like oh
  • 00:21:34
    that's what they mean okay for me if
  • 00:21:36
    somebody says beat around the bush I
  • 00:21:39
    always imagine someone with a broom
  • 00:21:40
    hitting a bush I remembered sometimes
  • 00:21:43
    there were music videos I can think of I
  • 00:21:45
    don't know does Riptide do it the music
  • 00:21:46
    video for Riptide it also was six foot
  • 00:21:48
    seven foot by Lil Wayne the music video
  • 00:21:51
    takes all the lines literally and I was
  • 00:21:54
    just like this is this is hilarious this
  • 00:21:56
    is a masterpiece and I think there was
  • 00:21:58
    something about that that was really
  • 00:21:59
    appealing to my brain it's always been a
  • 00:22:01
    joke thing but between me and my husband
  • 00:22:03
    he knows I don't like idioms and when he
  • 00:22:05
    says them to me he's like unnerving I
  • 00:22:07
    get kind of like an irritated response
  • 00:22:09
    I'm like oh why do people say that it's
  • 00:22:10
    so silly it's so stupid like almost a
  • 00:22:12
    bit snobfish about them and so he'll
  • 00:22:14
    often try and Slot them into
  • 00:22:15
    conversation it's become like a joke
  • 00:22:17
    thing maybe just because my brain
  • 00:22:19
    doesn't like them I it takes an extra
  • 00:22:20
    processing step maybe and monotropism
  • 00:22:23
    kind of explains that the autistic mind
  • 00:22:26
    likes one thing to follow another in a
  • 00:22:29
    more direct way so we kind of prefer
  • 00:22:32
    things to be more literal and to the
  • 00:22:34
    point again like needing one thing to
  • 00:22:37
    follow another and be neat oh it's all
  • 00:22:39
    kind of linking back to the
  • 00:22:40
    perfectionism stuff number seven
  • 00:22:41
    autistic inertia and interruptions so
  • 00:22:45
    when we talk about having difficulties
  • 00:22:47
    with executive dysfunction which is kind
  • 00:22:50
    of like our ability to plan what we're
  • 00:22:52
    gonna do and then actually follow
  • 00:22:54
    through and execute that task when we're
  • 00:22:56
    talking about that with autism we're
  • 00:22:57
    often talking about autistic inertia we
  • 00:23:00
    could really struggle with getting
  • 00:23:01
    started on tasks asks and kind of just
  • 00:23:03
    sit and stare blankly into space and be
  • 00:23:06
    like I cannot move my body I really
  • 00:23:07
    struggle with getting out of bed I
  • 00:23:09
    always have done my whole life and then
  • 00:23:11
    also getting stuck once you do get
  • 00:23:12
    started and then also struggling to then
  • 00:23:15
    stop and pull yourself out of that and
  • 00:23:17
    how that can feel very I don't know rude
  • 00:23:20
    just in general in a day there's a lot
  • 00:23:22
    of expectations to like pivot and change
  • 00:23:24
    and be like right I'm doing this and
  • 00:23:26
    then you have to do this next step here
  • 00:23:27
    and that is kind of mentally exhausting
  • 00:23:29
    for us I think it's as if we've loaded a
  • 00:23:31
    car to the brim with thoughts and
  • 00:23:32
    feelings and then we suddenly have to
  • 00:23:34
    steer it round a sharp corner in my most
  • 00:23:36
    recent signs of PDA video like how PDA
  • 00:23:39
    feels from the inside video I spoke
  • 00:23:41
    about how things like getting out of bed
  • 00:23:43
    to me can feel like facing fears it can
  • 00:23:46
    feel like ripping a plaster off is what
  • 00:23:48
    I compared it to and then I also
  • 00:23:49
    compared it to like skydiving and having
  • 00:23:51
    to push yourself to jump out of an
  • 00:23:53
    airplane even though it's terrifying
  • 00:23:55
    like it's so not intuitive I love this
  • 00:23:58
    quote from the 2005 paper to a person in
  • 00:24:01
    an attention tunnel every unanticipated
  • 00:24:03
    change is abrupt and is truly if briefly
  • 00:24:06
    catastrophic a complete disconnect from
  • 00:24:08
    the previous safe State a plunge into a
  • 00:24:11
    meaningless blizzard of Sensations it's
  • 00:24:13
    kind of like our ability to hyper Focus
  • 00:24:15
    to get into these tunnels these deep
  • 00:24:17
    flow States is our greatest strength and
  • 00:24:20
    our greatest weakness okay so number
  • 00:24:21
    eight in general I feel like monotropism
  • 00:24:24
    can explain pathological demand
  • 00:24:26
    avoidance that profile of autism and
  • 00:24:28
    just demand avoidance in general the
  • 00:24:30
    original paper on monotropism quotes
  • 00:24:31
    another paper from 1943. one child they
  • 00:24:34
    were observing was highly satisfied
  • 00:24:36
    unless someone made a persistent attempt
  • 00:24:39
    to interfere with his self-chosen
  • 00:24:41
    actions any demand that even a
  • 00:24:43
    self-imposed demand which do tend to
  • 00:24:45
    affect pdas as well me thinking to
  • 00:24:47
    myself I need to go and make the bed
  • 00:24:49
    that is an interruption to wherever you
  • 00:24:52
    know your attention is focused in that
  • 00:24:54
    given moment that is a requirement that
  • 00:24:56
    you pull yourself out of doing that
  • 00:24:57
    which is a painful experience and go and
  • 00:24:59
    do this other thing over here which
  • 00:25:01
    might be why a lot of us have either
  • 00:25:03
    internalized or externalized negative
  • 00:25:06
    reactions to other people asking us to
  • 00:25:08
    do things even if those things seem
  • 00:25:10
    relatively small so it feels like demand
  • 00:25:12
    avoidance is a protection mechanism PDA
  • 00:25:15
    is often described as an anxiety driven
  • 00:25:18
    need to remain in control and there are
  • 00:25:20
    studies to suggest it is linked to a
  • 00:25:22
    dislike of uncertainty so again it comes
  • 00:25:25
    back to that need to have autonomy over
  • 00:25:27
    what you're doing in any given moment
  • 00:25:29
    that need to feel a sense of like safety
  • 00:25:32
    like I am not going to be ripped away
  • 00:25:34
    from doing this someone asking you to do
  • 00:25:36
    something is almost always them asking
  • 00:25:39
    you to either in the moment or in the
  • 00:25:41
    future stop what you're doing and go and
  • 00:25:43
    do something else so it's always asking
  • 00:25:45
    you to Pivot and that can feel intrusive
  • 00:25:48
    and it might be similarly as jarring as
  • 00:25:50
    hearing a sudden sound I described in my
  • 00:25:52
    PDA video how to me the feeling of a
  • 00:25:55
    small demand like somebody saying oh
  • 00:25:57
    could I please squeeze past you in the
  • 00:25:58
    supermarket gives me a very similar
  • 00:26:01
    feeling to to hearing somebody whistling
  • 00:26:04
    right behind me while I'm walking down
  • 00:26:06
    the street it's a similar feeling of
  • 00:26:07
    like prickling under my skin and kind of
  • 00:26:10
    like an irritation sensation I probably
  • 00:26:12
    would have described it as both of those
  • 00:26:13
    things are interruptions monotropic
  • 00:26:16
    individuals just may feel safest
  • 00:26:18
    whenever we feel like we have complete
  • 00:26:19
    control over what is happening to us our
  • 00:26:21
    minds are doing what every mind likes to
  • 00:26:23
    do and they're trying to minimize the
  • 00:26:25
    pain that we experience on a day-to-day
  • 00:26:27
    basis and that's why we're avoiding
  • 00:26:28
    demands number nine I want to talk a bit
  • 00:26:30
    about intense relationships with other
  • 00:26:32
    people and the fact that many autistic
  • 00:26:34
    people you particularly hear it from
  • 00:26:36
    autistic women but I'm sure it has
  • 00:26:38
    happened for many other people as well
  • 00:26:39
    they have a misdiagnosis of borderline
  • 00:26:42
    personality disorder sometimes people
  • 00:26:44
    have a diagnosis of both and feel like
  • 00:26:46
    both resonate with them but for some
  • 00:26:48
    people it blocks them off from you know
  • 00:26:50
    looking further and getting that
  • 00:26:52
    diagnosis of autism which would explain
  • 00:26:54
    more different you know facets of their
  • 00:26:56
    experience so you can maybe see why some
  • 00:26:58
    autistic people would have very intense
  • 00:27:00
    relationships if you think about the
  • 00:27:01
    torch be you could become very deeply
  • 00:27:04
    focused on infatuated with a particular
  • 00:27:07
    person I think we often find that like
  • 00:27:09
    as well as having special interests we
  • 00:27:11
    have special people in our lives people
  • 00:27:13
    who we are very loyal to people who we
  • 00:27:15
    love unconditionally and very deeply we
  • 00:27:19
    maybe just grow a very strong
  • 00:27:21
    attachments to particular people and
  • 00:27:23
    maybe sometimes more quickly than other
  • 00:27:25
    people would on the other hand you can
  • 00:27:26
    also see how monotropism might make it
  • 00:27:28
    very difficult for you to maintain
  • 00:27:30
    friendships and why your friendships May
  • 00:27:32
    slip away from you because you're
  • 00:27:33
    spending so much time in this tunnel
  • 00:27:35
    focused on your interests and like the
  • 00:27:37
    world slips away and everyone becomes
  • 00:27:38
    transparent and you're not maybe always
  • 00:27:40
    the best at replying to messages for me
  • 00:27:42
    the best friendships that I've kept hold
  • 00:27:43
    of are the ones that really don't
  • 00:27:44
    require that much maintenance often
  • 00:27:46
    their friendships with other people who
  • 00:27:48
    are neurodivergent as well but not
  • 00:27:49
    always I can't respond to your message
  • 00:27:52
    every day but that doesn't mean I don't
  • 00:27:54
    love you unconditionally and I don't
  • 00:27:56
    think you're like one of the most
  • 00:27:57
    amazing things on this Earth it does
  • 00:27:59
    feel like the torch beam I can't spread
  • 00:28:00
    myself very thinly with relationships as
  • 00:28:02
    a child you know it would be like one or
  • 00:28:04
    two very special friends it was my
  • 00:28:07
    cousin for most of my life and then it's
  • 00:28:09
    also been the same for romantic
  • 00:28:10
    relationships for me it can be bad like
  • 00:28:11
    sometimes people might not deserve that
  • 00:28:13
    level of devotion that we're trying to
  • 00:28:15
    give to them you know and also it can be
  • 00:28:16
    really great if you have somebody else
  • 00:28:18
    who you know really likes you as well it
  • 00:28:20
    can just slot together and work and you
  • 00:28:22
    can be like cool you know we're both
  • 00:28:24
    committed to this let's go we might be
  • 00:28:26
    able to see how this intensity of
  • 00:28:28
    devotion might be misdiagnosed among
  • 00:28:31
    like you know other traits like maybe if
  • 00:28:32
    you were speaking about autistic
  • 00:28:33
    meltdowns as well then they were perhaps
  • 00:28:35
    interpreted as an anger Outburst you can
  • 00:28:37
    see how maybe those two things together
  • 00:28:39
    could lead to a misdiagnosis of
  • 00:28:40
    borderline personality disorder on the
  • 00:28:42
    NHS page for borderline personality
  • 00:28:44
    disorder one of the traits listed is
  • 00:28:46
    intense but unstable relationships yeah
  • 00:28:49
    I mean you can imagine if somebody
  • 00:28:51
    became very fixated on somebody quite
  • 00:28:53
    quickly and then maybe they were
  • 00:28:55
    rejected obviously a lot of autistic
  • 00:28:57
    people we could feel this rejection
  • 00:28:59
    sensitivity and I suppose if someone is
  • 00:29:01
    in your tunnel they're in your torch
  • 00:29:02
    beam and then they reject you that could
  • 00:29:03
    be deeply upsetting number 10 how does
  • 00:29:06
    monotropism explain dyspraxia from
  • 00:29:09
    looking into the research it seems like
  • 00:29:11
    adhds do have some sort of difficulties
  • 00:29:13
    with movements more so than neurotypical
  • 00:29:15
    people but then autistic people have
  • 00:29:18
    movement difficulties that are more
  • 00:29:20
    consistent with a dyspraxia diagnosis if
  • 00:29:22
    you don't know what dyspraxia is I'll
  • 00:29:24
    leave my video where I talk about the
  • 00:29:25
    traits of dyspraxia but basically you
  • 00:29:27
    struggle with moving stuff you struggle
  • 00:29:28
    with hand-eye coordination you might
  • 00:29:30
    find difficult to ride a bike it also
  • 00:29:32
    can relate to like moving your mouth and
  • 00:29:34
    speech delays and things like that as
  • 00:29:35
    well that makes sense to me through a
  • 00:29:37
    monotropic lens because movements and
  • 00:29:40
    particularly learning new movements
  • 00:29:42
    involves coordinating different parts of
  • 00:29:45
    your body and making them do different
  • 00:29:48
    things at the same time and again it's
  • 00:29:51
    like the socializing thing lots of
  • 00:29:52
    different threads of information if you
  • 00:29:54
    imagine like hitting a ball with a bat
  • 00:29:56
    you've got this ball like rapidly
  • 00:29:58
    launching at you so you've got to watch
  • 00:30:00
    that follow that with your eyes and
  • 00:30:01
    you've also got to think about your
  • 00:30:03
    movement and how you're standing and how
  • 00:30:05
    you're going to hit the ball and how
  • 00:30:07
    hard you're going to hit the ball and
  • 00:30:08
    it's all happening very quickly and it's
  • 00:30:10
    you know a juggling act again obviously
  • 00:30:12
    this isn't the same the autistic people
  • 00:30:13
    can never be good at movements I think
  • 00:30:14
    it can be more difficult for us to learn
  • 00:30:16
    movements and it'll be more so for some
  • 00:30:18
    people than others and me learning to
  • 00:30:20
    ride a bike was near impossible it was
  • 00:30:21
    difficult for me to learn how to drive
  • 00:30:23
    as well took me a bit longer than it did
  • 00:30:25
    for most people number 11 how does
  • 00:30:27
    monotropism explain meltdowns shutdowns
  • 00:30:30
    burnout just general mental health
  • 00:30:32
    difficulties well as we kind of
  • 00:30:33
    explained it's jarring it's painful to
  • 00:30:36
    be moved out of this attention tunnel
  • 00:30:38
    and if you think about how a lot of
  • 00:30:39
    autistic people are expected to live our
  • 00:30:41
    lives we're expected to live our lives
  • 00:30:43
    often on other people's schedules being
  • 00:30:46
    pulled from tasks to tasks to task
  • 00:30:47
    whether it's in school or it's in a job
  • 00:30:49
    or even just in a home life like okay
  • 00:30:51
    now we're going here Fergus Murray calls
  • 00:30:54
    you know each of these different
  • 00:30:55
    transitions wrenching dislocations and I
  • 00:30:58
    think that that is a really good
  • 00:30:59
    description of it our attention is being
  • 00:31:01
    knocked off its natural cause again and
  • 00:31:04
    again and it's really exhausting it
  • 00:31:06
    makes sense that autistic people would
  • 00:31:07
    be more likely to suffer things like
  • 00:31:09
    depression and anxiety having to exist
  • 00:31:11
    like this in a chaotic world there's a
  • 00:31:12
    page that I really love on
  • 00:31:14
    monotropism.org and it's about the
  • 00:31:17
    monotropic split which was a term that
  • 00:31:19
    someone called Tanya adkin came up with
  • 00:31:21
    to me this just encapsulates the
  • 00:31:24
    experience of being at school and then
  • 00:31:26
    also like socializing in particular so
  • 00:31:28
    well it feels fragmented it feels Patchy
  • 00:31:31
    the fact that we're often required to do
  • 00:31:33
    this mental gymnastics the splitting in
  • 00:31:36
    order to fit into a polytropic world is
  • 00:31:39
    exhausting eventually after a day of
  • 00:31:41
    trying to push through can lead to the
  • 00:31:43
    Meltdown Tanya adkin kind of describes a
  • 00:31:46
    shutdown as an internalized version of a
  • 00:31:48
    meltdown so when you know it's not
  • 00:31:50
    socially appropriate for me to have a
  • 00:31:52
    meltdown right now I can't do this in
  • 00:31:53
    public I've got to like keep it in and
  • 00:31:55
    in some ways that can be worse like
  • 00:31:57
    meltdowns can be worse for the people in
  • 00:31:59
    your environment but then going to shut
  • 00:32:00
    down nobody knows no somebody knows how
  • 00:32:03
    bad you're feeling you're internalizing
  • 00:32:04
    and I think that's how I spent my school
  • 00:32:06
    life I very much shrunk into myself the
  • 00:32:10
    whole time I was there until basically
  • 00:32:12
    the end of high school and then when I
  • 00:32:14
    went to college I started trying to mask
  • 00:32:15
    more and trying to push through that
  • 00:32:17
    which was then even more exhausting and
  • 00:32:19
    was probably why I then dropped out
  • 00:32:21
    which I have a whole video talking about
  • 00:32:22
    you end up in autistic burnout which can
  • 00:32:25
    take a very long time it can take years
  • 00:32:27
    to recover from is when you've
  • 00:32:29
    consistently just been pushing yourself
  • 00:32:31
    past your limits not allowing yourself
  • 00:32:33
    to do what feels natural and intuitive
  • 00:32:36
    and making yourself do what is not
  • 00:32:39
    natural and not intuitive to you
  • 00:32:41
    constantly trying to make yourself be
  • 00:32:44
    polytropic when that's just not who you
  • 00:32:46
    are basically I think in order to be
  • 00:32:48
    happy we have to be allowed to be
  • 00:32:50
    monotropic it is who we are we have to
  • 00:32:52
    be allowed to have this time to deeply
  • 00:32:54
    focus on our interests whatever those
  • 00:32:55
    interests may be obviously as long as
  • 00:32:57
    they're not hurting us and hurting
  • 00:32:59
    anybody else finally number 12 how does
  • 00:33:01
    monotropism explain the fact that
  • 00:33:03
    autistic people are so different from
  • 00:33:04
    each other there doesn't tend to be like
  • 00:33:06
    one consistent presentation or what an
  • 00:33:08
    autistic person looks like we're also
  • 00:33:10
    different but why are we all so
  • 00:33:11
    different why is it that when you've met
  • 00:33:13
    one autistic person you've met one
  • 00:33:14
    autistic person I mean obviously in
  • 00:33:16
    general people are all different and
  • 00:33:18
    autistic people are people so that comes
  • 00:33:19
    into it but it makes sense if you look
  • 00:33:21
    at it through the lens of we've mostly
  • 00:33:23
    all what different interests we're
  • 00:33:24
    mostly all been exposed to different
  • 00:33:26
    things the child we've been for whatever
  • 00:33:28
    reason drawn to specific things as a
  • 00:33:30
    child we've spent a lot of time on those
  • 00:33:32
    things and maybe less time socializing
  • 00:33:34
    and less time building other skills we
  • 00:33:37
    may have more obvious strengths and
  • 00:33:40
    weaknesses compared to other people I
  • 00:33:42
    think it's a common autistic experience
  • 00:33:44
    that people might assume was stupid it
  • 00:33:46
    may be just yeah because we have very
  • 00:33:48
    uneven skill sets you know like I was
  • 00:33:51
    good at writing essays and good with
  • 00:33:53
    words but not so good at speaking with
  • 00:33:57
    words and putting my hand up in class
  • 00:33:58
    and you know maybe it's difficult to
  • 00:34:01
    reconcile like this person who seems
  • 00:34:04
    like sometimes there's not a lot going
  • 00:34:05
    on or they don't always have a lot to
  • 00:34:07
    offer then goes away and produces this
  • 00:34:10
    incredible thing in whatever area they
  • 00:34:12
    happen to be interested in so yeah never
  • 00:34:13
    underestimate autistic people there we
  • 00:34:15
    are there's the there's the takeaway
  • 00:34:17
    we've got different interests we've been
  • 00:34:18
    spending our time for our whole life
  • 00:34:20
    doing very different things it's kind of
  • 00:34:22
    interesting though because thanks to the
  • 00:34:23
    internet a lot of us haven't now you
  • 00:34:25
    know we're discovering more information
  • 00:34:26
    about autism and we're developing a
  • 00:34:29
    special interest in autism and then
  • 00:34:31
    speaking to other autistic people and
  • 00:34:33
    it's like the autistic Community has
  • 00:34:34
    kind of found a like common special
  • 00:34:36
    interest in autism that's bringing us
  • 00:34:39
    all together which is just ah it makes
  • 00:34:41
    me feel a bit emotional you can apply
  • 00:34:42
    monotropism to so many different areas
  • 00:34:44
    you know like decision making and
  • 00:34:46
    difficulties with working memory but
  • 00:34:48
    like holding on to different threads of
  • 00:34:50
    information I think it's an amazing
  • 00:34:51
    Theory it's amazing that it was created
  • 00:34:53
    by actual autistic people and probably
  • 00:34:56
    very telling that for who would have
  • 00:34:58
    thought it you know the people who
  • 00:34:59
    actually live in autistic Minds might
  • 00:35:01
    know a thing or two about autistic Minds
  • 00:35:04
    compared to people who were just looking
  • 00:35:05
    at a meltdown and watching somebody
  • 00:35:07
    rocking and then being like restrictive
  • 00:35:09
    repetitive you can even potentially
  • 00:35:12
    explain the lack of empathy which we
  • 00:35:14
    know is not a thing it's not inherent to
  • 00:35:16
    autism that you will have less empathy
  • 00:35:18
    but if you're stuck in an attention
  • 00:35:20
    tunnel people around you might be
  • 00:35:21
    transparent you might not notice what's
  • 00:35:23
    going on you might not be able to read
  • 00:35:25
    when someone's upset because you may
  • 00:35:26
    struggle to juggle the information and
  • 00:35:28
    read someone's facial expressions you
  • 00:35:30
    may miss things you may not notice
  • 00:35:31
    things you may be distracted it doesn't
  • 00:35:33
    mean you don't care just this year
  • 00:35:35
    another paper came out which Fergus
  • 00:35:37
    Murray worked on and this was about the
  • 00:35:39
    development of the monotropism
  • 00:35:41
    questionnaire the mq which hopefully
  • 00:35:43
    I'll make another video soon where I go
  • 00:35:45
    through that questionnaire I haven't
  • 00:35:46
    done it yet at all because I wanted to
  • 00:35:48
    save it to do it in a video so I don't
  • 00:35:49
    know I don't know how monotropic I am I
  • 00:35:52
    feel like I very much am but we'll see
  • 00:35:54
    subscribe if you'd like to see that
  • 00:35:56
    video and in the meantime if you're
  • 00:35:58
    struggling to get yourself to do things
  • 00:35:59
    in your life due to demand avoid or
  • 00:36:02
    autistic inertia I have this video of 12
  • 00:36:04
    tips I think hopefully some of these
  • 00:36:06
    might be able to help you if you're
  • 00:36:08
    finding yourself getting stuck and also
  • 00:36:10
    if you're kind of dealing with feelings
  • 00:36:12
    of overwhelm and intense emotions as
  • 00:36:15
    well thank you so much for watching bye
Tags
  • autism
  • monotropism
  • autistic experience
  • sensory differences
  • special interests
  • social challenges
  • stimming
  • executive functioning
  • neurodiversity
  • ADHD