Member-only story
Starved of Focus
The Impact of Monotropism
It was like an epiphany the first time I was introduced to the term. So much made sense all of a sudden, like a key puzzle piece snapping into place. Certain struggles seemed to become clear, and there was a sense of elation at finally attaching a name to such an all-encompassing experience and need.
Monotropism
This is how I think…or at least how I need to. Imagine attention as ten spools of thread, each one attaching to an observable object. Most people are able to attach those threads to many different elements, following each simultaneously.
I’m a bit different, though.
My attention doesn’t spread so easily. I can only concentrate on a few different items at any given time, and sometimes, all ten threads need to lead to the same object. It has recently come to my attention that many others experience monotropism. In fact, it is a characteristic of autism that is fairly common. It just wasn’t a topic of conversation when I desperately needed to understand my differences.
School wasn’t enjoyable for me. I constantly tried to find some way to change the experience in some way in order to make it easier to swallow. So many years are spent in school…the idea of existing in misery for the foreseeable future got quite overwhelming at times.
