#cavendishspace — Public Fediverse posts

In Which We Answer Some Questions

Here are some questions posed to us for inclusion in an allied organization’s newsletter. We cover community art, direct giving, research, ableism, and more.

Table of Contents

• The artwork on your website is amazing, where does it come from?
  • Featured Art
  • It’s gonna be an art party.
• What is your latest research on?
• What does direct support look like for your organization? The website mentions a lot about mutual aid?
• How can individuals reading get involved in mutual aid in their communities?
• What are some wins you want to share with the community at large?
• What are some barriers you want the community at large to know about regarding ableism?
• How can we best support Stimpunks.org?
• How can Non-Disabled People show up better? And love better?
• I love how activist research is also about transformative action. Can you speak more to this?
• The ideas of community, interdependence, and the political really spoke to me, can you speak more on this?
• “We recognize that there is no justice that neglects disability.” (Philosophy – Stimpunks Foundation)
• I really like these ideas: Community is resistance. Asking for help. Showing up to give help. Collaboration.

The artwork on your website is amazing, where does it come from?

Our art comes from our community. We practice constructionism and actively engage in constructing things in the world. Practicing our art makes our souls grow.

Featured Art

Description: A bursting kaleidoscopic geometrical form with 4 sides of symmetry pointing angularly to each of the four corners of a square shaped canvas against a dark grey textured wall. There is a small red shaped plus at the very center, surrounded by orangish-peach and periwinkle butterfly like shapes at 45 degree angles from each other aligned to the mid center going up and also to the sides. The butterfly shapes are encased in a deeper red flower like shape before a region of light blue geometric textures. Near the corners are feathered white, dark grey-purple, burgundy and orange feather like edges.

Our featured artist is Adriel Jeremiah Wool.

Adriel Jeremiah is an computer programmer with a deep background in origami and folding. This artwork is an extension of a world view involving folding; often involving higher dimensional spaces. Many of these designs contain the mathematical magic of the transcendental numbers of nature, and all of them are the extension of the provisions of space itself; to be both physically folded, and conceptually folded, circularily and across many levels of expression.Shop Art by Adriel

His spectacular new piece derives its color stream from a fluorite crystal that has a spheralite imperfection / inclusion (the red, purple, and orange).

AJ describes what these fractal pieces are in this accordion. Their construction will broaden your perspective on perspective.My artwork is digital photography in a world where objects exist in more than 3 dimensions, and where no known means of physical representation has yet been discovered to exist.

AJ is a regular contributor at Stimpunks. He kindly licenses his work as free cultural work. He helps us tell our stories with his art, music, photography, videos, audio engineering, poetry, prose, and lived experience.

AJ has a gallery in Ketchum, Idaho. Drop by if you’re around. He tries to make it a welcoming third place.

Stimpunks is gently debugging society.

The charity protects, helps and comforts individuals, while pointing out library-level flaws in some of the concepts that end up harming those individuals.

This help is profoundly wonderful, morally and functionally coherent to great need, and as true as a pure circle in its cause-and-effect form.

Adriel Jeremiah Wool

The artist hopes to convey this: that the universe is given forth folded and unfolded. Although explicit understanding helps, it is too cumbersome, and should only provide refinement to something already greater that exists.

That greater thing is what was given to the artist first by the practice of origami. An enlivening of the intuitive mind, experience with a universe of many dimensions, and the promise of creation revealed when one folds a flat square into the likeness of a higher dimensional thing. That inspiration reaches a young mind in a powerful way.
The artist wants the viewer to see proof of what their intuitive mind already knows is true, the universe is a multidimensional phenomenon and the ability to understand its nature already exists within us each.

The artist hopes the viewer will be inspired to seek the understanding of freedoms available to the individual inspired by the exposure to artistic expressions, and of a nature of dimensionality unimaginably greater than the object presented here.

Adriel Jeremiah Wool

A time has come to again look at changes in the way technology allows us to see the world and experience it. First was the human eye, with a lens made of flesh. Later humans developed a replacement for the eye but in the form and fashion of the lens of the eye; this time it was made of glass doped with metals to enhance its control of light. To see, the human eye has a retina filled with responsive cells which look for contrast and color.

Technology has allowed us to create a replacement for the retina called a CCD with metals which respond to color and report those values to a microchip which converts them to bits and bytes for storage. I will present to you the same extension of sight by explaining how the images you will see come into existence.

In my artwork the landscape is created via the execution of a seed of a formula, allowed to grow and flourish in a mathematical set of steps. In a similar way, crystals grow underground in a cave over many millennia but they follow a seed of a universal pattern related to their atomic structure and facilitated by the chemical nature of their environments. In our regular world, we have 3 directions we can move, forward-back, up-down and left-right, but these crystals can move in another set of directions allowed by the universe and mathematics. They are, and must be considered elements of nature, and it follows that the methods used to convey them must be considered legitimate tools of expression. 

A crystal starts at a virtual geometric position, a virtual center, then it mathematically and procedurally grows outward and inward according to a seed formula. However it exists in a dark world devoid of light and color; it is only a cloud of form. As an artist, I create an eye with a lens which follows the same mathematical processes as the lens of a camera and the eye itself. I situate the virtual eye to be gazing upon the crystal as I create sources of light which will illuminate the crystal and reflect light back to the lens.

As an artist I imbue color to the crystal, I imbue reflectivity, I imbue refractability, and I imbue density or transparency exactly towards the same purpose as a painter would do, in combining pigmented oils on canvas with a brush in his or her hand.

My artwork is digital photography in a world where objects exist in more than 3 dimensions, and where no known means of physical representation has yet been discovered to exist.

Adriel Jeremiah Wool

It’s gonna be an art party.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZRFkJsGNjI

We’re gonna make, make something great for
All of us to see and appreciate
It’s gonna be an art party
It’s gonna be an art party

Come on over it’s time to start
It’s a great big party where we make and share art

Art Party (feat. Portugal. The Man & Paul Williams) – YouTube

What is your latest research on?

Monotropism, neuroqueer learning spaces, and Cavendish Space.

What does direct support look like for your organization? The website mentions a lot about mutual aid?

Direct support includes, first and foremost, giving people money with no strings attached. Folks know what they need and how best to spend the money. We also help people navigate our systems by filling forms and making calls for them. We provide warm lines and peer respite. We practice library economies, competency networks, sharing spoons, and support swapping.

“Mutuality is a feeling, an action, and a relationship based on shared benefit between individuals and groups in a society. It materialises in many, many ways and is arguably a universal constant of our human nature. We rely on mutuality to survive and progress through our day to day life.” (Andrewism)

“When systems of power fail, it is mutuality—neighbours helping neighbours—that holds communities together.” (Andrewism)

How can individuals reading get involved in mutual aid in their communities?

Start with pod mapping.

1. Find a few people.
2. Identify your zone.
3. Invite neighbors.
4. Get a name.
5. Have conversations.
6. Support each other.

Source: Mutual Aid 101 – Google Slides

What are some wins you want to share with the community at large?

Our Map of Monotropic Experiences has been widely shared and incorporated into care settings and training.

What are some barriers you want the community at large to know about regarding ableism?

We live in an age of mass behaviorism. Behaviorism such as ABA and PBS are rife in education and healthcare settings. “Behaviorism is a dehumanizing mechanism of learning that reduces human beings to simple inputs and outputs. There is an ever-growing body of research suggesting that behaviorism is not only harmful to how we learn, but is also oppressive, ableist, and racist.” (Human Restoration Project)

Behaviorist education is ableist education. Behaviorist healthcare is ableist healthcare.

How can we best support Stimpunks.org?

• Read our website.
• Share our website.
• Amplify us on social media.
• Give whatever you can, be it time or money or attention.

• stimpunks.org
• RSS Feed
• WordPress
• Bluesky
• Gravatar
• Threads
• Mastodon
• Tumblr
• GitHub
• Twitter/X
• Facebook
• Patreon
• YouTube
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• TikTok
• Counter Social
• Raindrop.io
• Mail

How can Non-Disabled People show up better? And love better?

We exist as friction. Load-share the burden of existing as friction.

• Promote and practice access intimacy instead of forced intimacy.
• Question the narratives of wellness, and engage in critical wellness instead.
• Reframe yourself and others. Help people reframe from the pathology paradigm and medical model to the neurodiversity paradigm and biopsychosocial model. This is hard and important work necessary to all other work. Change the narrative. Start reframing.
• Advocate for accessibility at school, work, and in your community.
• Be a threat to inequity in your spheres of influence.
• Combat the myths.
• Use and promote Identity First Language.
• Elevate care as infrastructure. Stimpunks exists because our systems effectively don’t.
• Celebrate our interdependence!

I love how activist research is also about transformative action. Can you speak more to this?

“three characteristics that delineate activist research from other types of research:”

(1) combination of knowledge production and transformative action;

(2) systematic multi-level collaboration; and

(3) challenges to power.

(Denisha Jones)

A hallmark of good research is that it embraces epistemic justice and rejects scientism.

Another hallmark of good research is naming the systems of power. If you’re not naming the systems of power in your research, you’re missing a vital component.

The ideas of community, interdependence, and the political really spoke to me, can you speak more on this?

In the past, the disability rights movement focused on independence, including it as one of the pillars of the ADA. Disability Justice moves away from independence framing, because independence is a myth.

“I am fighting for an interdependence that embraces need and tells the truth: no one does it on their own and the myth of independence is just that, a myth.” (Mia Mingus)

“Access intimacy is interdependence in action.” (Mia Mingus)

“It is time to celebrate our interdependence!” (Jorn Bettin)

“We recognize that there is no justice that neglects disability.” (Philosophy – Stimpunks Foundation)

Working at my org I really believe this and feel that everyone who works here also believes this. We cannot neglect disability in our policy and conversations and our care. If you have anything to add to this.

There is no path to justice that does not involve direct confrontation with ableism and inaccessibility. To neglect disability is to neglect two of the major forces of injustice.

Ableism is at the root of all -isms.

“Ableism is what makes all other “isms” effective.

White supremacy is the goal, ableism is the toolkit.” (Imani Barbarin)

“…so much of what disability actually is, is just humanity; and so much of what ableism is, is a humanity heist.” “Ableism enables all forms of inequity and hampers all liberation efforts.” (Talila A. Lewis)

Disabled and neurodivergent people are always edge cases, and edge cases are stress cases.

We choose the margin, because design is tested at the edges.

“Living as we did on the edge we developed a particular way of seeing reality. We looked both from the outside in and from the inside out. We focused our attention on the centre as well as on the margin. We understood both.” (bell hooks)

“No one knows best the motion of the ocean than the fish that must fight the current to swim upstream.” “By focusing on the parts of the system that are most complex and where the people living it are the most vulnerable we understand the system best.” (Tressie McMillan Cottom)

I really like these ideas: Community is resistance. Asking for help. Showing up to give help. Collaboration.

I think if we’re going to have a future we need to embrace and act in these ideas. How would someone start if they are new to these ideas and new to community engagement?

Find people with which you share a concern or passion. You can do this via the pod mapping described above.

“Communities of Practice are groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.” (Wenger-Trayner, E. & Wenger-Trayner, B. 2015)

• Find your people.
• Communicate.
• Iterate.

“Through free association, people will find those of mutual interests in every sphere of life to form groups on the basis of their affinity.” (Andrewism)

#ableism #accessIntimacy #accessibility #activistResearch #affinityGroups #art #behaviorism #biopsychosocial #care #cavendishSpace #community #competencyNetwork #constructionism #criticalWellness #directSupport #disabilityJustice #edgeCases #edges #education #epistemicInjustice #equity #forcedIntimacy #framing #identityFirst #interdependence #libraryEconomy #monotropism #mutualAid #mutuality #neuroqueerLearningSpaces #pathologyParadigm #peerRespite #podMapping #power #scientism #sharingSpoons #supportSwapping #warmLines #wellness

Map of Monotropic Experiences

Monotropism seeks to explain autism in terms of attention distribution and interests. 

OSF Preprints | Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire

This map highlights 20 common aspects of monotropic experience.

How many do you experience?

Created by Helen Edgar of Autistic Realms in collaboration with Stimpunks.

Inspired by the fabulous Map of Procrastination by Gemma Correll, I have created a map of monotropic experiences that reflects the main issues that impact my own life.

Curious to know what you would add or take away from this if you are Autistic/ADHD/AuDHD and resonate with this theory.

–Helen Edgar

License: “Map of Monotropic Experiences” by Helen Edgar is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Table of Contents

• Areas of the Map
• Learn More in Our Glossary
• What is Monotropism?

Areas of the Map

1. Attention Tunnels
2. Penguin Pebbling Cove of Friendship
3. Tendril Theory (@EisforErin)
4. Mountains of Ruminating Thoughts
5. Cyclones of Unmet Needs
6. Rabbit Holes of Research
7. Infodump Canyon
8. Rhizomatic Communities
9. River of Monotropic Flow States
10. Campsite of Cavendish Spaces
11. Meerkat Mounds (Gray-Hammond & Adkin)
12. Riverbanks of Monotropic Time
13. Shark Infested Waters of Neuronormativity, Behaviourism & Double Empathy Problems (Milton, 2012)
14. Beach of Body Doubling
15. Burnout Whirlpools
16. Panic Hills of Low-Object Permanence
17. Forest of Joy Awe and Wonder
18. Lake of Limerence
19. Tides of the Sensory Sea
20. Sudden Storms of Unexpected Events

Learn More in Our Glossary

• Attention Tunnels – Entering flow states – or attention tunnels – is a necessary coping strategy for many of us. Flow states are the pinnacle of intrinsic motivation. (Murray)
• Penguin Pebbling – “Penguin pebbling” is a little exchange between two people to show that they care and want to build a meaningful connection. (Edgar)
• Tendril Theory – When I’m focused on something, my mind sends out a million tendrils of thought, expands into all of the thoughts & feelings. When I need to switch tasks, I must retract all of the tendrils of my mind. This takes some time. (@EisforErin)
• Rumination – When your thoughts are all swirly and you just keep chewing on the same thought over and over and you can’t stop thinking about it and it’s distracting you and sometimes even putting you in a really bad mood or making you irritable. (Chipura)
• Unmet Needs – Mismatch between the areas we actually receive support, compared to the areas we would ideally like support. (Cassidy, et al)
• Rabbit Hole – “Down the rabbit hole” is an English-language idiom or trope which refers to getting deep into something, or ending up somewhere strange. (Wikipedia)
• Infodumping – Talking a lot about a topic in great detail.
• Autistic Rhizome – A growing and evolving network of Autistic communities with no hierarchy or dependence on anothers existence. (Edgar)
• Flow States – Entering flow states – or attention tunnels – is a necessary coping strategy for many of us. Flow states are the pinnacle of intrinsic motivation. (Murray)
• Cavendish Space – Psychologically and sensory safe spaces suited to zone work, flow states, intermittent collaboration, and collaborative niche construction. (Boren)
• Meerkat Mode – Heightened state of vigilance and arousal that involves constantly looking for danger and threat. It is more than hyper-arousal, it is an overwhelmed monotropic person desperately looking for a hook into a monotropic flow-state. (Adkin)
• Monotropic Time – When absorbed in our special interests or passions it can feel like entering a portal. Normal time can feel like it is dissolving, the outside world may feel like it is melting away. This can be really rejuvenating for the sensory system and help to recharge the bodymind. (Edgar)
• Neuronormativity – Neurormativity is a set of norms, standards, expectations and ideals that centre a particular way of functioning as the right way to function. It is the assumption that there is a correct way to exist in this world; a correct way to think, feel, communicate, play, behave and more. (Wise)
• Behaviourism – Behaviorism is a dehumanizing mechanism of learning that reduces human beings to simple inputs and outputs. There is an ever-growing body of research suggesting that behaviorism is not only harmful to how we learn, but is also oppressive, ableist, and racist. (McNutt)
• Double Empathy Problem – The ‘double empathy problem’ refers to the mutual incomprehension that occurs between people of different dispositional outlooks and personal conceptual understandings when attempts are made to communicate meaning. (Milton)
• Body Doubling – A “body double” is a person or even pet who is present with us while we work. This provides a gentle form of accountability — their presence serves as a reminder of what we’re supposed to be doing so we’re less likely to get distracted. (McCabe)
• Burnout – Autistic burnout is a state of physical and mental fatigue, heightened stress, and diminished capacity to manage life skills, sensory input, and/or social interactions, which comes from years of being severely overtaxed by the strain of trying to live up to demands that are out of sync with our needs. (Raymaker)
• Object Permanence – Autistic children have difficulties with their understanding of: what’s here, what’s now, what is permanent, and so on. (Lawson)
• Autistic Joy – Autistic joy is one of our favorite things about being autistic. It can be intense as a meltdown, but filled with overwhelming happiness and excitement. When we experience joy, we feel the excited vibrations throughout our bodies. To release the energy, we do a “happy stim.” We will jump up and down, excitedly flap our hands, sometimes even dance. (Blackwater)
• Limerence – Limerence is a state of involuntary obsession with another person. The experience of limerence is different from love or lust in that it is based on the uncertainty that the person you desire also desires you. (Psychology Today)
• Sensory Experiences – Neurodivergent people are hypersensitive to mindset and environment due to a greater number of neuronal connections. They have both a higher risk for trauma and a large capacity for sensing safety. (Elisabeth)
• Unexpected Events – If an autistic person is pulled out of monotropic flow too quickly, it causes our sensory systems to dysregulate. 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. (Rose)

What is Monotropism?

Monotropism is a theory of autism developed by autistic people, initially by Dinah Murray and Wenn Lawson.

Read about explanations and applications of the theory, its history, and what’s happening now.

Monotropic minds tend to have their attention pulled more strongly towards a smaller number of interests at any given time, leaving fewer resources for other processes. We argue that this can explain nearly all of the features commonly associated with autism, directly or indirectly. However, you do not need to accept it as a general theory of autism in order for it to be a useful description of common autistic experiences and how to work with them.

If we are right, then monotropism is one of the key ideas required for making sense of autism, along with the double empathy problem and neurodiversity. Monotropism makes sense of many autistic experiences at the individual level. The double empathy problem explains the misunderstandings that occur between people who process the world differently, often mistaken for a lack of empathy on the autistic side. Neurodiversity describes the place of autistic people and other ‘neurominorities’ in society.

Monotropism – the mind as an interest system

#attentionTunnels #behaviorism #bodyDoubling #burnout #cavendishSpace #flow #infodump #limerence #monotropicTime #monotropism #neuronormativity #penguinPebbling #rabbitholing #rumination #sensoryProcessing #tendrilTheory #unmetNeeds

Map of Monotropic Experiences

Monotropism seeks to explain autism in terms of attention distribution and interests. 

OSF Preprints | Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire

This map highlights 20 common aspects of monotropic experience.

How many do you experience?

Created by Helen Edgar of Autistic Realms in collaboration with Stimpunks.

Inspired by the fabulous Map of Procrastination by Gemma Correll, I have created a map of monotropic experiences that reflects the main issues that impact my own life.

Curious to know what you would add or take away from this if you are Autistic/ADHD/AuDHD and resonate with this theory.

–Helen Edgar

License: “Map of Monotropic Experiences” by Helen Edgar is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Sticker and Poster

The map is available as a sticker and a poster in our merch store.

The map is available as a digital download in our virtual store if you’d like to print it for yourself. A training presentation to accompany the map is also available. Payment is optional but appreciated.

Table of Contents

• Areas of the Map
• Vocabulary of the Map
• Difficulties of Neuronormative Domination
• Flow States
• Stuck States
• Socializing and the Importance of Environment
• Using the Map
• What is Monotropism?
• Training

Areas of the Map

1. Attention Tunnels
2. Penguin Pebbling Cove of Friendship
3. Tendril Theory (@EisforErin)
4. Mountains of Ruminating Thoughts
5. Cyclones of Unmet Needs
6. Rabbit Holes of Research
7. Infodump Canyon
8. Rhizomatic Communities
9. River of Monotropic Flow States
10. Campsite of Cavendish Spaces
11. Meerkat Mounds (Gray-Hammond & Adkin)
12. Riverbanks of Monotropic Time
13. Shark Infested Waters of Neuronormativity, Behaviourism & Double Empathy Problems (Milton, 2012)
14. Beach of Body Doubling
15. Burnout Whirlpools
16. Panic Hills of Low-Object Permanence
17. Forest of Joy Awe and Wonder
18. Lake of Limerence
19. Tides of the Sensory Sea
20. Sudden Storms of Unexpected Events

Vocabulary of the Map

• Attention Tunnels – Entering flow states – or attention tunnels – is a necessary coping strategy for many of us. Flow states are the pinnacle of intrinsic motivation. (Murray)
• Penguin Pebbling – “Penguin pebbling” is a little exchange between two people to show that they care and want to build a meaningful connection. (Edgar)
• Tendril Theory – When I’m focused on something, my mind sends out a million tendrils of thought, expands into all of the thoughts & feelings. When I need to switch tasks, I must retract all of the tendrils of my mind. This takes some time. (@EisforErin)
• Rumination – When your thoughts are all swirly and you just keep chewing on the same thought over and over and you can’t stop thinking about it and it’s distracting you and sometimes even putting you in a really bad mood or making you irritable. (Chipura)
• Unmet Needs – Mismatch between the areas we actually receive support, compared to the areas we would ideally like support. (Cassidy, et al)
• Rabbit Hole – “Down the rabbit hole” is an English-language idiom or trope which refers to getting deep into something, or ending up somewhere strange. (Wikipedia)
• Infodumping – Talking a lot about a topic in great detail.
• Autistic Rhizome – A growing and evolving network of Autistic communities with no hierarchy or dependence on anothers existence. (Edgar)
• Flow States – Entering flow states – or attention tunnels – is a necessary coping strategy for many of us. Flow states are the pinnacle of intrinsic motivation. (Murray)
• Cavendish Space – Psychologically and sensory safe spaces suited to zone work, flow states, intermittent collaboration, and collaborative niche construction. (Boren)
• Meerkat Mode – Heightened state of vigilance and arousal that involves constantly looking for danger and threat. It is more than hyper-arousal, it is an overwhelmed monotropic person desperately looking for a hook into a monotropic flow-state. (Adkin)
• Monotropic Time – When absorbed in our special interests or passions it can feel like entering a portal. Normal time can feel like it is dissolving, the outside world may feel like it is melting away. This can be really rejuvenating for the sensory system and help to recharge the bodymind. (Edgar)
• Neuronormativity – Neurormativity is a set of norms, standards, expectations and ideals that centre a particular way of functioning as the right way to function. It is the assumption that there is a correct way to exist in this world; a correct way to think, feel, communicate, play, behave and more. (Wise)
• Behaviourism – Behaviorism is a dehumanizing mechanism of learning that reduces human beings to simple inputs and outputs. There is an ever-growing body of research suggesting that behaviorism is not only harmful to how we learn, but is also oppressive, ableist, and racist. (McNutt)
• Double Empathy Problem – The ‘double empathy problem’ refers to the mutual incomprehension that occurs between people of different dispositional outlooks and personal conceptual understandings when attempts are made to communicate meaning. (Milton)
• Body Doubling – A “body double” is a person or even pet who is present with us while we work. This provides a gentle form of accountability — their presence serves as a reminder of what we’re supposed to be doing so we’re less likely to get distracted. (McCabe)
• Burnout – Autistic burnout is a state of physical and mental fatigue, heightened stress, and diminished capacity to manage life skills, sensory input, and/or social interactions, which comes from years of being severely overtaxed by the strain of trying to live up to demands that are out of sync with our needs. (Raymaker)
• Object Permanence – Autistic children have difficulties with their understanding of: what’s here, what’s now, what is permanent, and so on. (Lawson)
• Autistic Joy – Autistic joy is one of our favorite things about being autistic. It can be intense as a meltdown, but filled with overwhelming happiness and excitement. When we experience joy, we feel the excited vibrations throughout our bodies. To release the energy, we do a “happy stim.” We will jump up and down, excitedly flap our hands, sometimes even dance. (Blackwater)
• Limerence – Limerence is a state of involuntary obsession with another person. The experience of limerence is different from love or lust in that it is based on the uncertainty that the person you desire also desires you. (Psychology Today)
• Sensory Experiences – Neurodivergent people are hypersensitive to mindset and environment due to a greater number of neuronal connections. They have both a higher risk for trauma and a large capacity for sensing safety. (Elisabeth)
• Unexpected Events – If an autistic person is pulled out of monotropic flow too quickly, it causes our sensory systems to dysregulate. 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. (Rose)

Difficulties of Neuronormative Domination

There are many things that impact your ability to succeed in life and that affect your well-being if you are Autistic. This is due to the fact that the world is predominantly set up for the neuromajority of people, not the minority of Autistic/ADHD or other neurodivergent, disabled or marginalised groups. Historically, this has led to Autism research mostly being carried out by non-Autistic people with the aim of trying to fix Autistic people, to make them fit into neurotypical ways of being and to appear more ‘normal’ in society. As Ryan Boren said during a recent Stimpunks discussion, “Neuronormative domination is a public health crisis’, (Boren, 2025). We need to reframe our thinking and practice to ensure we are neurodiversity-affirming so that everyone can succeed and so that no one is left behind or stuck at the edges of society without support.

Outdated and inaccurate research influenced by non-Autistic perspectives has had harmful consequences for Autistic people. Viewing Autism through a deficit lens has led to a denial of autonomy and human rights, as Autistic individuals are perceived as abnormal and in need of correction. This has been reflected by the Shark-Infested Waters of Neuronormativity on the map. This water permeates all of society and seeps through the cracks, so people may not even notice its harm; yet it seeps through and affects families, relationships, work, education, health and social care settings.

We need to move away from deficit-based views of Autism and instead embrace neuro-affirming theories led by Autistic people such as the theory of Monotropism. By embracing neurodiversity and validating the lived experiences of Autistic people and listening to stories shared in community spaces, we can create an ecology of care and equity that supports everyone so we all have a chance to thrive.

Flow States

Monotropism is a neuro-affirming theory of Autism. Everyone benefits from flow states, but for Autistic people, flow is even more important. Everyone has a certain amount of energy and capacity to get through their days. For monotropic people (Autistic/ ADHD), their energy and attention resources are more focused on fewer things at any one time and flow states are essential to help you get through the day and balance your mind and body. Being engaged in a flow state if you are monotropic can feel like your energy is being restored.

We need to embrace flow states and our authentic Autistic identity. This will enable the river of monotropism to run through society, so Autistic people can thrive and not feel like they are constantly trying to swim upstream against the tide.

Really getting to know young monotropic people’s passions and centring their learning around their interests can be hugely beneficial. It enables greater academic progress and supports their bodymind, communication skills and sensory system. 

A happy monotropic bodymind = a happy flow state!

Sharing joy about your interests as a monotropic person is more than just sharing your hobby with someone; it can create deeper connections, which also allows your sensory system to become more regulated. A happy mind in a flow state generally means a happier body, and vice versa! Interest-led groups have been shown to be really beneficial for many Autistic people (Wood, 2018)

Stuck States

Being a monotropic person in a world that is designed for the benefit of the majority of polytropic people is exhausting. If you can’t access safe spaces, engage in your interests and feel connected, then you are more likely to enter a stuck state. 

If you are in a stuck state, it will affect your well-being. A stuck state affects everything, from how you experience and are able to understand and interpret your sensory needs (including interoception) to how well you can function and live the life you want. Stuck states are states of inertia, unable to start or may be unable to stop. You may feel trapped in a constant loop of ruminating thoughts.

Socializing and the Importance of Environment

By making changes to the environment in schools, workplaces, and other settings and providing opportunities that honour authentic ways Autistic people communicate and adaptations that may need to be in place to meet sensory needs it will benefit everyone. 

Embracing neurodiversity means embracing and validating the lived experience of everyone, including Autistic/ ADHD and other marginalised people. Enabling flow states and providing an environment where everyone’s well-being is supported will help whole communities to thrive. We need to listen to Autistic/ ADHD people and create a sense of pride around monotropic experiences.

Using the Map

• Where are you on the map?
• Where do you want to be?
• How can you get there?
• What support will you need?
• What is your biggest hurdle ?

What is Monotropism?

Monotropism is a theory of autism developed by autistic people, initially by Dinah Murray and Wenn Lawson.

Read about explanations and applications of the theory, its history, and what’s happening now.

Monotropic minds tend to have their attention pulled more strongly towards a smaller number of interests at any given time, leaving fewer resources for other processes. We argue that this can explain nearly all of the features commonly associated with autism, directly or indirectly. However, you do not need to accept it as a general theory of autism in order for it to be a useful description of common autistic experiences and how to work with them.

If we are right, then monotropism is one of the key ideas required for making sense of autism, along with the double empathy problem and neurodiversity. Monotropism makes sense of many autistic experiences at the individual level. The double empathy problem explains the misunderstandings that occur between people who process the world differently, often mistaken for a lack of empathy on the autistic side. Neurodiversity describes the place of autistic people and other ‘neurominorities’ in society.

Monotropism – the mind as an interest system

https://youtu.be/qUFDAevkd3E?si=ngjxiXDFn2E-v92J

Training

Our training builds on the Map of Monotropic Experiences to help reframe how we understand ourselves and Autistic people, not through the deficit-focused lens of traditional autism research, but through lived experience and Autistic voices.

Our open source training offers a radical, affirming reframe of Autism, grounded in the theory of monotropism — a way of understanding the deep, focused attention patterns common among Autistic and ADHD individuals.

Rather than seeing Autistic traits as deficits, monotropism recognises our monotropic “interest-based nervous system” as a natural and meaningful way of engaging with the world.

At the heart of our work is the importance of embracing authentic Autistic identity, not as something broken or needing correction, but as a valuable and vibrant way of being. Building strong community connections and validating lived experiences are central to this journey.

You’ll Learn To:

✅ Understand the theory of monotropism and the importance of flow
✅ Recognise how environments can create “stuck states”
✅ Explore the detrimental impact of neuronormative domination on Autistic well-being
✅ Create flow-supportive environments where ALL minds can thrive
✅ Understand intersectionality and the Double Empathy Problem for deeper inclusion
✅ Celebrate authentic Autistic identity and the strength of community storytelling and shared experiences

Perfect for: schools, healthcare settings, workplaces, and community networks.
A creative tool for reflection, connection, and meaningful change.

Timing and Preparation: The training content is approximately 4,000 words, designed to cover around 45 minutes of presentation time. Delivered live as a workshop with space for discussion and Q&A, it typically runs for 1-2 hours and can be expanded into a full-day session if preferred.

#attentionTunnels #behaviorism #bodyDoubling #burnout #cavendishSpace #flow #infodump #limerence #monotropicTime #monotropism #neuronormativity #penguinPebbling #rabbitholing #rumination #sensoryProcessing #tendrilTheory #unmetNeeds

Our community thrives on collaborative niche construction in Cavendish Space.

https://stimpunks.org/space/cavendish/

#education #neurodiversity #disability #EdChat #CavendishSpace #NicheConstruction

Our community thrives on collaborative niche construction in Cavendish Space.

https://stimpunks.org/space/cavendish/

#education #neurodiversity #disability #EdChat #CavendishSpace #NicheConstruction

Our community thrives on collaborative niche construction in Cavendish Space.

https://stimpunks.org/space/cavendish/

#education #neurodiversity #disability #EdChat #CavendishSpace #NicheConstruction

Our community thrives on collaborative niche construction in Cavendish Space.

https://stimpunks.org/space/cavendish/

#education #neurodiversity #disability #EdChat #CavendishSpace #NicheConstruction

Our community thrives on collaborative niche construction in Cavendish Space.

https://stimpunks.org/space/cavendish/

#education #neurodiversity #disability #EdChat #CavendishSpace #NicheConstruction