The bullet points were helpful! I often utilize them when I’m struggling with laying out my thoughts.
Looking at and understanding the info presented in this way and Murray’s research helps me to understand my experience of OCD (that maybe I am naming for the first time 😅) that is ultimately helpful and feels supportive. Thank you.
It may be that there are 2+ spectra that affect this whole thing: one related to focus, and another related to memory. Perhaps more.
Imagine someone on the 'multitropic/chaos' end of the spectrum in terms of attention, but on the 'monotropic/order' end in terms of memory.
Such folks would be interested in many things but tend to only remember fewer things, so maybe that makes them more distractable. This could mean they're 'dysfunctional' about the things they're interested in, which would cause frustrations for the individual and would from the outside seem like an 'executive dysfunction'.
Imagine someone on the 'monotropic/order' end of the spectrum in terms of attention, but on the 'multitropic/chaos' end in terms of memory.
Such folks would be interested in very few things, but would remember a wide range of things about those things. Outside of things they're interested in, they don't care to remember much anyway and would be 'dysfunctional' in those other things. And the hyperfocus on very few things, in itself, could also be seen from the outside as a kind of 'executive dysfunction'.
This to me is one possible view of why 'executive dysfunction' is 'woolly' as Fergus says.
In any case, I still don't like the idea of hyperfocusing on 'monotropism' alone, i.e. standalone. I think a view involving multiple spectra, like these two examples, could crystallize a lot of this stuff about allistics, autistics and the autism spectrum, OCD, ADHD, executive dysfunction, etc. In the history of human psychology, all advances can be seen as refinement through the addition of new mental functions spectra. Personality went from incredibly simplistic gender-based ideas to simple notions like 'introvert/extrovert' to Meyers-Briggs 2x2, to the 13+ spectra we now see in the DSM. Cognitively, there used to be 'normal' and 'retarded', which I don't have to tell you has been dramatically improved as we've added many more spectra to that area. Understanding 'smarts' as being on multiple spectra within a given person has been tremendously powerful. Pele had a high athletic IQ. Stephen Hawking had a high math/physics type IQ. So many different kinds of intelligence, in a different mix in every different person. Finding other appropriate characteristics to which to apply the idea of monotropism beyond merely 'attention' could reveal a lot of valuable interactions and emergent characteristics and could go a long way toward helping to refine woolly notions like 'executive dysfunction'. :)
As a recently diagnosed at 21 years old autistic woman, I say this post spoke to my heart since my current struggles do come from not accepting my „weirdness“. Is like im saying yeah, i now know why i act this way, so i can try to search for ways to act normal instead. Which of course, never works - despite my efforts, i always end up falling out of the norm. Yesterday i was asking myself if i should start another newsletter here to write about my atypical experiences and maybe connect with people that can relate, but the immediate thought that stopped me was „but what if people you know read it? Then the mask you have built during your entire life will fall“. And now i wonder if thats not a good thing in the end of the day…
I urge you to do everything you can to unmask ASAP. The longer it goes on, the worse things get - your entire social circle is affected, with long term consequences. I broke my CPTSD only after unmasking. I had overheard a war veteran saying, "If you're not talking about it, it's still PTSD." That was the tipping point for me. Unmask. Whoever can't deal with your autism and "weirdness" is really not worth the time and emotional investment you put in trying to satisfy their expectations. Best wishes!
*I loved the overhead light/flashlight metaphor. When I'm having trouble focusing on housework, I wait til evening, keep all the lights in the house off and then put on a headlamp. It totally helps me focus, and I thought maybe because it connected to the neural pathway of past methamphetamine use, but it could absolutely be from literal narrowing and resulting illumination of focus.
*thank you for providing a transcript! Do you have a favorite transcription tool?
I have a desk in the basement and sometimes I go down there to write in the dark, it helps me focus too!
I use descript to edit these, it’s a text-based podcast editor so the transcription is built in. it’s not bad but it does skip/misunderstand words kind of a lot so still gotta spend a little time proofreading.
As a late-diagnosed multi-ethnic Autistic in my 60's all we had was weird.
The bullet points were helpful! I often utilize them when I’m struggling with laying out my thoughts.
Looking at and understanding the info presented in this way and Murray’s research helps me to understand my experience of OCD (that maybe I am naming for the first time 😅) that is ultimately helpful and feels supportive. Thank you.
Thanks for this.
It may be that there are 2+ spectra that affect this whole thing: one related to focus, and another related to memory. Perhaps more.
Imagine someone on the 'multitropic/chaos' end of the spectrum in terms of attention, but on the 'monotropic/order' end in terms of memory.
Such folks would be interested in many things but tend to only remember fewer things, so maybe that makes them more distractable. This could mean they're 'dysfunctional' about the things they're interested in, which would cause frustrations for the individual and would from the outside seem like an 'executive dysfunction'.
Imagine someone on the 'monotropic/order' end of the spectrum in terms of attention, but on the 'multitropic/chaos' end in terms of memory.
Such folks would be interested in very few things, but would remember a wide range of things about those things. Outside of things they're interested in, they don't care to remember much anyway and would be 'dysfunctional' in those other things. And the hyperfocus on very few things, in itself, could also be seen from the outside as a kind of 'executive dysfunction'.
This to me is one possible view of why 'executive dysfunction' is 'woolly' as Fergus says.
In any case, I still don't like the idea of hyperfocusing on 'monotropism' alone, i.e. standalone. I think a view involving multiple spectra, like these two examples, could crystallize a lot of this stuff about allistics, autistics and the autism spectrum, OCD, ADHD, executive dysfunction, etc. In the history of human psychology, all advances can be seen as refinement through the addition of new mental functions spectra. Personality went from incredibly simplistic gender-based ideas to simple notions like 'introvert/extrovert' to Meyers-Briggs 2x2, to the 13+ spectra we now see in the DSM. Cognitively, there used to be 'normal' and 'retarded', which I don't have to tell you has been dramatically improved as we've added many more spectra to that area. Understanding 'smarts' as being on multiple spectra within a given person has been tremendously powerful. Pele had a high athletic IQ. Stephen Hawking had a high math/physics type IQ. So many different kinds of intelligence, in a different mix in every different person. Finding other appropriate characteristics to which to apply the idea of monotropism beyond merely 'attention' could reveal a lot of valuable interactions and emergent characteristics and could go a long way toward helping to refine woolly notions like 'executive dysfunction'. :)
Thanks for that!
You might find Dinah and Mike Lesser's 'Monotropic Variations', which I unearthed after we recorded this, provides some food for thought:
https://monotropism.org/dinah/monotropic-variations/
As a recently diagnosed at 21 years old autistic woman, I say this post spoke to my heart since my current struggles do come from not accepting my „weirdness“. Is like im saying yeah, i now know why i act this way, so i can try to search for ways to act normal instead. Which of course, never works - despite my efforts, i always end up falling out of the norm. Yesterday i was asking myself if i should start another newsletter here to write about my atypical experiences and maybe connect with people that can relate, but the immediate thought that stopped me was „but what if people you know read it? Then the mask you have built during your entire life will fall“. And now i wonder if thats not a good thing in the end of the day…
I urge you to do everything you can to unmask ASAP. The longer it goes on, the worse things get - your entire social circle is affected, with long term consequences. I broke my CPTSD only after unmasking. I had overheard a war veteran saying, "If you're not talking about it, it's still PTSD." That was the tipping point for me. Unmask. Whoever can't deal with your autism and "weirdness" is really not worth the time and emotional investment you put in trying to satisfy their expectations. Best wishes!
Thank you for giving me enough courage and confidence to finally start this: https://open.substack.com/pub/atypicalofme
Yes! Ja! Si! Good start! Kudos! :)
wow, thank you. i think after the day i've had today that was exactly what i was needing to hear (read)...
*I loved the overhead light/flashlight metaphor. When I'm having trouble focusing on housework, I wait til evening, keep all the lights in the house off and then put on a headlamp. It totally helps me focus, and I thought maybe because it connected to the neural pathway of past methamphetamine use, but it could absolutely be from literal narrowing and resulting illumination of focus.
*thank you for providing a transcript! Do you have a favorite transcription tool?
I have a desk in the basement and sometimes I go down there to write in the dark, it helps me focus too!
I use descript to edit these, it’s a text-based podcast editor so the transcription is built in. it’s not bad but it does skip/misunderstand words kind of a lot so still gotta spend a little time proofreading.