I find this type of science is infuriating. Monotropism as a theory of autism or adhd is equivalent to saying that “tendency to focus on a few things” is a theory of autism or adhd. You’re describing the symptoms, which explains almost nothing. A theory of autism would explain the underlying physical causes of the behavior.
I was diagnosed with ADD as a kid (before it was ADHD). People always describe the disorder as "lack of focus" but that's a really poor description for what I have.
I would say I have "hyper focus", to the point where if I'm working on something interesting, I will lose track of time and am unable to redirect my attention to anything else.
This makes me incredibly "spacey" as often my mind is still fixated on the task even long after I've stopped working on it. It also makes it very hard for me to accomplish any task I don't think are interesting...
And often a new idea will strike me like an epiphany that immediately takes the top spot of my attention.
The result is I have hundreds of half finished projects in flight across countless areas of interest.
If an alarm goes off to tell me to switch tasks, I tell it "fuck you" unless I know another person is counting on me to be timely in meeting them. I no longer respect people who suggest "keep a calendar" as a solution to my problems.
We've refined and relabeled the art of naming the demon that possess a person based on the characteristics of their symptoms. Then put a scientific sheen on the proscribed exorcisms and potions, without understanding the underlying issue. Modern day shamanism.
That is a bit hyperbolic (we clearly have real knowledge of the underlying neurological mechanisms), but closer to the truth than most people like to acknowledge.
If anybody has a question for a clinical psychiatrist from Norway who has worked with both adults, children, and at an inpatient unit, over many years, feel free to ask. Maybe I can contribute something compared to many of the computer-related discussions here that are beyond my expertise.
On the article I would somewhat agree but it’s too limited a view. It ignores too much of the at current assumed underlying causes that we know are relevant. For instance, it’s more correct to say that autism is associated with an increased attentions to “details”, not small things, and challenges with associations and broad concepts, maybe grounded all the way down to increased dendritic connectivity due to less aggressive pruning. of Also, the effect of motivation to focus over a period of time on unrewarding activities is not well incorporated into this theory of (monotropism). I thing there are some valid obersvation but it’s way to simplistic a model when working with real life ADHD.
For instance, on interesting commonality seems to be inability to filter out information. But ADHD are unable to filter out Salient content (like a conversation) and autism are usually unable to filter out details or granular sensory stimuli.
This is all well meaning and nice... Still between Dr Russel Barkley's excellent lectures and papers' reviews, and Dr Rege's very clear explanations, both on Youtube, your time may well be better spent there instead of here if you have an interest on the subject.
It is sad to see that mental health awareness is leading to over diagnosis and leading people down a rabbit hole. Especially these genz's obsession of using psychological jargon to express their inadequacies when in reality soome adjustments could have helped most people
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This makes me incredibly "spacey" as often my mind is still fixated on the task even long after I've stopped working on it. It also makes it very hard for me to accomplish any task I don't think are interesting...
And often a new idea will strike me like an epiphany that immediately takes the top spot of my attention.
The result is I have hundreds of half finished projects in flight across countless areas of interest.
Not diagnosed autistic, but ADHD.
That is a bit hyperbolic (we clearly have real knowledge of the underlying neurological mechanisms), but closer to the truth than most people like to acknowledge.
The DSM was never meant to carry the burden we've placed upon it. https://asteriskmag.com/issues/12-books/you-arent-in-the-dsm
On the article I would somewhat agree but it’s too limited a view. It ignores too much of the at current assumed underlying causes that we know are relevant. For instance, it’s more correct to say that autism is associated with an increased attentions to “details”, not small things, and challenges with associations and broad concepts, maybe grounded all the way down to increased dendritic connectivity due to less aggressive pruning. of Also, the effect of motivation to focus over a period of time on unrewarding activities is not well incorporated into this theory of (monotropism). I thing there are some valid obersvation but it’s way to simplistic a model when working with real life ADHD. For instance, on interesting commonality seems to be inability to filter out information. But ADHD are unable to filter out Salient content (like a conversation) and autism are usually unable to filter out details or granular sensory stimuli.
Anyways. Ask and I can attest give my perspective
Oof. I'm glad I turned down the volume in response to this warning. Why not just remove this awful sound?