I thought #sarg2023 was an excellent event - made possible by so much work going on across Scotland addressing research questions of genuine value to the #ActuallyAutistic population.

I loved how many of the themes I discussed had already been brought up in talks earlier in the day!

It left me feeling hopeful.

The talks were all recorded as well as being streamed live to people who got free tickets, so I hope to be able to share my actual talk before long - in the meantime, here's a link to the text again.
https://monotropism.org/wellbeing/

I was invited to give the closing keynote at the Scottish Autism Research Group conference yesterday #SARG2023, on the theme of autistic wellbeing.

I talked for 45 minutes (plus Q&A) about #monotropism, and all of the ways that it should inform how we think about autistic wellbeing.

The text is here:
https://monotropism.org/wellbeing/

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

Coping strategies that worked at school often go horribly wrong

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

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

#SARG2023

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

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

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

#SARG2023

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

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

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

#SARG2023

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

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

#SARG2023

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

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

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

#SARG2023 #ActuallyAutistic

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

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

Inertia can be as extreme as catatonia for some Autistic people

#SARG2023

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

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

#SARG2023 #ActuallyAutistic #ActuallyADHD

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

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

#SARG2023

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

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

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

#SARG2023 #ActuallyAutistic

I’ve been live-posting from the Scottish Autism Research Group conference today – tagging @actuallyautistic for the benefit of those who don’t follow (relevant) hashtags

Threads:

• Welcome, Hilde Geurts keynote: https://autistics.life/@transponderings/110932457158115115

• David Thorpe, Irene Alvardo Reinoso, Ally Mair, Carmen Rosas-Pérez 15-minute talks: https://autistics.life/@transponderings/110932866836461902

• Ten lightning talks: https://eldritch.cafe/@transponderings/110933364078257693

• Fergus Murray keynote: https://autistics.life/@transponderings/110933778554717963

#SARG2023

The closing keynote is by @ferrous, on monotropism and wellbeing

(Background on monotropism: https://monotropism.org)

Monotropism is basically a tendency to have tightly focused attention/interest at any given time, and is a leading theory of Autism, explaining more of the standard Autistic traits without assuming deficits than most mainstream theories

#SARG2023 #monotropism #AutisticWellbeing #ActuallyAutistic

@transponderings@eldritch.cafe Coffee break now – back at 15:30 (or maybe a bit later as we’re running slightly behind time?)

#SARG2023

@transponderings@eldritch.cafe The theology section was more interesting than I thought it would be, giving me a slightly different perspective on the period of my life when I was a Christian

Carrie Ballantyne’s talk intrigued me when they (I think) said that psychology is a stereotypical career path for Autistic graduates!

#SARG2023 #LightningTalks #ActuallyAutistic

Higher noise sensitivity + inadequate acoustic environments + lack of understanding = negative impact in the short and long term

Next steps for Carmen Rosas-Pérez:

• survey for noise-sensitive people: https://www.surveylab.com/pageTag/SurveyCampaign/cId/c691eec8a46b7525d78219435729ff19685b81a1da/ (please participate!)
• listening experiment (online – no link – and in Edinburgh)

Email contact: mr2008@hw.ac.uk

(Lunch break now)

#SARG2023 #SoundSensitivity #acoustics #ActuallyAutistic

Music, silence, natural environment – all positive influences on health and wellbeing

‘The way I experience music that I like is through my whole body, is through my skin, like waves of music. That’s really, really special and I’d hate to lose that’

Schools in particular can be sensory hell

Things that help: quiet/outdoor spaces, *being believed*

We need agency over our environment – building design seldom takes us into account

#SARG2023 #SoundSensitivity #ActuallyAutistic

Agency – and predictability – are relevant too:

‘I feel like a lot of it is about control and it’s not about, for me, necessarily loud noises. I can put my music on as loud as I like, and it’s not painful to me to listen to loud music, but it makes me anxious if there’s loud sounds that I am not generating.’

#SARG2023

There can be a lack of understanding and acceptance, which can affect health and wellbeing negatively

‘They won’t let my daughter wear headphones in her classroom, because they don't want they're all wearing headphones and it’s like, no, let her have one earbud in so she can still hear the teacher if the teacher calls her name. [...] We need her to lose herself in her piece of work for you to get a piece of work out of her, so that she can actually stay in her classroom.’

#SARG2023

(That last post was straight from a slide btw)

High sound sensitivity affects every aspect of life

• Sensitivity is variable
• High perceptual capacity and engagement with the surrounding environment
• Diagnosis has increased their knowledge and confidence

‘I just thought I heard everything the same as everybody else, and that they were better at kind of processing it than I was in some ways’

#SARG2023 #SoundSensitivity