Autistic "Hyperfocus". How does it work?

[FoxLovinPat]

@FoxLovinPat I would only add that is not black and white. We do have agency. It may take effort, but you can force yourself to do a task that is not interesting. My fear is always giving up. Saying "I can't" without even trying.

I'll get into it more in that thread I hinted at wanting to post sometime soon but sadly that was often the case for me back in school. I'd just give up, thinking something along the lines of "What's the point if I'll get a bad grade even if I do try?"

Maybe I was just being lazy, but that's what the thread will get into.

I'm being a tease here I know.

 

[Meowmeister]

I've always wondered about hyperfocus. There seem to be different issues that are hard to define (as always): focus (as in lack of distraction), interest (as in motivation to do something), and the ability to *control* focus and/or interest (executive function?).

My experience in short is: I don't have good focus. I've never been able to concentrate with sounds or visual distractions. I need complete silence and no people can be close. However, I have super intense interests. I can get obsessed about a particular problem or issue and can dedicate every single waking hour to it. I can't tune out things, though. A sound would distracted me. But I would go back. Switching tasks would be very, very difficult.

I don't have much control over it. So going back to your dad, no, I can't magically direct my attention. If I don't care about something, it's very hard to get motivated to do it.

Having said that, though, many times the difficult part is getting started. In school, I wasn't interested in several classes, but once I got started with a task the motivation to do well would keep me going. Many times I would get suck into it because I have a lot of curiosity. It's like with a book that you are dreading to read but once you start reading you realize that you want to continue. And then, you are in hyper-interest mode.

I have read about autistic people who are so focused that you can't even talk to them. Like in a trance. Kind of what @330 is describing. That's not me for sure. BUT, I can be like that when I daydream. People think I'm gone, which is correct

Dude, I so relate.

 

[Levitat0r]

Thanks everyone for your responses.
So what I'm gathering is that it does depend on the individual and that also "Autistic Hyperfocus" might not even be a thing.. except for maybe special interests.
Tho that latter one seems a bit iffy so I probably should tread with caution on that one.

I'm also ofc gathering that you guys agree that my father was incorrect and it wasn't something I could just apply to my studying and that I wasn't being lazy for "not activating that hyperfocus".
And ya that always annoyed me, like if he struggling with my schoolwork, getting poor grades and I'd be told that if I just use my "gift" of hyperfocus I'd be acing my classes in no time. That I just had to use that smart Aspie brain of mine and everything would just come to me.

As one might imagine none of that talk helped, if anything it made me feel stupid and incapable because according to my father I should be able to just use my "gift" to get good grades, easy peezy but yet no matter how much he said that and no matter how much I tried to focus on my schoolwork it just never clicked, there wasn't some switch flipped in my head all of a sudden where I was just suddenly able to hyperfocus on my studies and just get it all.

Though I do wonder if I did learn through osmosis as someone put it on here since there was times where I didn't really study much at all yet I somehow still got a good enough grade on a test. That was very inconsistent though and not exactly something I could rely on 100% so I dunno what was going on there.

I just know that no matter how much my father told me I was smart and had a special brain I never really felt smart, I'd feel special tho but not in the savant kinda way, more in the "I struggle with things that others seemingly do not" kinda way.
Like let's look at math as the biggest example.. I'd note that my classmates around me seemed to be doing their math in their head, no need for writing formulas on paper (they only did so in cases where they had to show their work) and no need for a calculator, and yet here I was unable to do calculations in my head.. I'd even struggle with the most basic ones, I needed to use a calculator and paper and even then I somehow still wouldn't get the right answer x.x

If we view "gifts" from a faith perspective, then they are given to serve a purpose, and then it makes sense that it's not like a tool you can direct at anything you want. If we're talking about focus from an "intense dedicated interest" perspective, I feel like that "just happens", or it's inspired by life circumstances. You can't just switch it on for some random topic, like horticulture or macrame or whatever. My music choices feel like they were inspired so as to tell a story, like a cosmic letter, to keep me company.

If we're talking about focus from the perspective of the esoteric, near-sighted, nitpicking, minutiae, down-to-the-nuts-and-bolts tendency, I feel like that's built-in to me. The "geeking" tendency, I guess. I always wanted to be someone where there is no "magic" technology around me. I feel like I have some basic understanding of how pretty much everything works, with a few exceptions.

 

[Tom]

Interesting topic. I haven't investigated this before so what follows is just my initial speculating.


Just to clarify. Hyperfocus is the action and Special Interest an Object of the focus.

I break Hyperfocus down to two parts:

A) Disconnecting from surroundings.
B) Connecting strongly with the Object.

The Object can be a subject of study, a craft, mental calculations, etc.

It's possible for many people NT and ASD to do this, but are ASD folks particularily good at it?

I think yes, for some at least.

ASD folks often prefer to distance themselves from surroundings and may have an inate ability, to greater or lesser degree to do so. Think of the Autistic child showing disconnect from their surroundings at a young age.

Conversely we often prefer focusing narrowly. Put another way preferring to focus on the tree rather then the forest.

It comes into play naturally with special interests. Can it be used on other things, at will?

It can, though perhaps not for all. With me personally it was quite hard to do when younger but my ability to do so improved over time (a lot of time). I am just guessing here but it seemed to me to be linked to improved self control.

 

[FoxLovinPat]

I'm begining to wonder if this thread was a mistake, because I'm hearing from some of you about how you managed to harness your "Hyperfocus" for good useful things, and yet here I am/was only really able to use mine on my special interests. What was I/am I doing wrong? Is it truly just down to laziness? Just not applying myself enough?

And note when I say my special interests I don't mean actually useful ones like some of you have, mine are essentially just hobbies. Such as reading or playing games, and often getting invested in the worlds I discover from reading or gaming. I can't turn that into a career at all.
It would seem I drew the short straw in regards to my special interests.

 

[Tom]

I'm begining to wonder if this thread was a mistake, because I'm hearing from some of you about how you managed to harness your "Hyperfocus" for good useful things, and yet here I am/was only really able to use mine on my special interests. What was I/am I doing wrong? Is it truly just down to laziness? Just not applying myself enough?

And note when I say my special interests I don't mean actually useful ones like some of you have, mine are essentially just hobbies. Such as reading or playing games, and often getting invested in the worlds I discover from reading or gaming. I can't turn that into a career at all.
It would seem I drew the short straw in regards to my special interests.

Can I quote myself here

"It can, though perhaps not for all. With me personally it was quite hard to do when younger but my ability to do so improved over time (a lot of time). I am just guessing here but it seemed to me to be linked to improved self control."

I'm 65 and still working on it.

I think, at least for me, it is a matter of doing what I think would be best to do over what I would prefer (which is often doing nothing).

As far as drawing the short straw as far as special interests, no I think you are pretty much the norm. Very few can turn their special iterest into a career. For most of us it is just that, a hobby we do for enjoyment.

Are you stuck in inertia? I don't believe it. Just about anyone can make progress. I just think Aspies in general are on a longer learning curve. Many of us don't really hit our prime till middle or even late age.

The 'I can't do it' has to become 'Maybe I can' and then 'Hmmm, I kind of did it' and off you go...

 

[Rodafina]

@FoxLovinPat, have you spent much time looking into monotropism? It's pretty much what you are talking about, but using it as a search term brings up some interesting internet rabbit holes.

From wikipedia just for an overview of the idea:

Since the amount of attention available to a person is limited, cognitive processes are forced to compete. In the monotropic mind, interests that are active at any given time tend to consume most of the available attention, causing difficulty with other tasks such as conventional social interaction. Language development can be affected, both through the broad attention required and the psychological impact of language, which provides a tool for others to manipulate a child's interest system.

Monotropic individuals have trouble processing multiple things at once, particularly when it comes to multitasking while listening. For example, some students have trouble taking notes in class while listening to a teacher and may find it difficult to read a person's face and comprehend what they are saying simultaneously. A common tendency is for individuals to avoid complex sensory environments because of this hypersensitivity. Monotropic individuals may suppress attention and focus on something else, or develop great depth in a given interest or skill.

https://monotropism.org/
https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/me-and-monotropism-unified-theory-autism
Some forum folks participated in a thread about it, too.

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/monotropism.45874/

 

[marc_101]

@FoxLovinPat First, there is always time to change.

Second, you're getting the wrong impression. I procrastinate like a champion and my life could be way better if I could be better at executive function. Graduate school was a torture.

I'm in this forum because I want to understand more about ASD so I can make things better.

 

[FoxLovinPat]

Well that last comment was really due to me low self esteem getting to me.
My brain was taking in your stories of how you were able to focus on x and be successful in it and decides to scream at me "Look at these other autistic people! They were able to focus on things and turn them into successful life paths, why can't you?! What's your excuse, can you really use autism if other autists have been successful? Perhaps you really were just being lazy."

...I probably should post that other thread soon, could be helpful for me.

 

[Levitat0r]

Interesting topic. I haven't investigated this before so what follows is just my initial speculating.


Just to clarify. Hyperfocus is the action and Special Interest an Object of the focus.

I break Hyperfocus down to two parts:

A) Disconnecting from surroundings.
B) Connecting strongly with the Object.

The Object can be a subject of study, a craft, mental calculations, etc.

It's possible for many people NT and ASD to do this, but are ASD folks particularily good at it?

I think yes, for some at least.

ASD folks often prefer to distance themselves from surroundings and may have an inate ability, to greater or lesser degree to do so. Think of the Autistic child showing disconnect from their surroundings at a young age.

Conversely we often prefer focusing narrowly. Put another way preferring to focus on the tree rather then the forest.

It comes into play naturally with special interests. Can it be used on other things, at will?

It can, though perhaps not for all. With me personally it was quite hard to do when younger but my ability to do so improved over time (a lot of time). I am just guessing here but it seemed to me to be linked to improved self control.

I'm not aware of where the term is fully defined. I'm never fully disconnected from my surroundings except for when I'm asleep. The emphasis, though, shifts around enough that people tell me I'm a space cadet. I've taken to looking at pictures of myself to try to understand why friendship, dating, and community have been decades out before. And what I see is that my eyes don't focus like everyone else's because I'm always up in my own brain. That doesn't mean I'm not present. People just assume it does.

 

[Levitat0r]

@FoxLovinPat, have you spent much time looking into monotropism? It's pretty much what you are talking about, but using it as a search term brings up some interesting internet rabbit holes.

From wikipedia just for an overview of the idea:



https://monotropism.org/
https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/me-and-monotropism-unified-theory-autism
Some forum folks participated in a thread about it, too.

https://www.autismforums.com/threads/monotropism.45874/

It did seem like a good time to bring some definition into the discussion.

lol... "no theory of mind"... whose mind? The minds that won't talk to you and which act like you don't exist? You can't tackle people and force them to be sociable. That wouldn't be very sociable, now would it?

 

[Hypnalis]

I'm begining to wonder if this thread was a mistake, because I'm hearing from some of you about how you managed to harness your "Hyperfocus" for good useful things, and yet here I am/was only really able to use mine on my special interests. What was I/am I doing wrong? Is it truly just down to laziness? Just not applying myself enough?

Applying 100% of your energy to something (anything) isn't a simple thing.
So it's unfortunate you've experienced it being treated as something that could be switched on/off.
(I think you should forgive your father though - it's an easy mistake to make, and only a small error to apply it as he did.)

I'd suggest what matters is getting a deeper understanding of your own capabilities and limits.

One thing to consider: very few people, NT or ND, can choose something and stay 95+ % focused on it for a long time. Hardly anyone can do it "on demand" - e.g. for something they're not deeply interested in.

But if you could access that mind-state for your special interests (a capability), perhaps you can work on applying to to other things (building on an existing ability).

You can't know how far you can go with this until you try.
If you work on it, you'll probably find people who can help (it's present )(in among the frauds) in the "self-improvement" communities.

 

[FoxLovinPat]

Have you spent much time looking into monotropism? It's pretty much what you are talking about, but using it as a search term brings up some interesting internet rabbit holes.

Some forum folks participated in a thread about it, too.

Sorry am currently at work or others I wouldn't responded to this directly much sooner.

I actually have heard about that, watched a video regarding it from an Autistic content creator on YouTube. I do remember thinking that it kinda sounded like it could apply to me but then also not at the same time so I dunno really.
Can't remember if I took the online test she linked in the video or if I merely opened it in another tab and forgot about it.

An issue I have is trying to remember enough about my past to gauge if I actually showed certain signs or not. I really wish my memory wasn't so bad, and I also wish I knew why it is.

 

[AuAL]

I'm begining to wonder if this thread was a mistake, because I'm hearing from some of you about how you managed to harness your "Hyperfocus" for good useful things, and yet here I am/was only really able to use mine on my special interests. What was I/am I doing wrong? Is it truly just down to laziness? Just not applying myself enough?

And note when I say my special interests I don't mean actually useful ones like some of you have, mine are essentially just hobbies. Such as reading or playing games, and often getting invested in the worlds I discover from reading or gaming. I can't turn that into a career at all.
It would seem I drew the short straw in regards to my special interests.

@FoxLovinPat, from my experience, it has nothing to do with “laziness”. My parents criticised me for anything not focussed on my university studies - I was shamed into discarding a skateboard that I had made myself during highschool.

To quote @Tom, there has to be a strong connection with the object of the focus. It cannot be something that someone else says is “important“. It has to be something you connect with. If you are VERY lucky, this might be something in the orbit of your professional life (at least for your career prospects.) At times that worked out for me.

It does not come easy. Just as @marc_101 noted, I would be well qualified to procrastinate at international competition level. As I have said before, it can take an inordinate amount of time to get “in the zone”, to bring hyperfocus to bear on “useful” (work-related) purposes.

How can I sum this up? My experience has been that hyperfocus is a thing that I (can) do. (Sometimes it is almost involuntary.) It does not always come “at will.” It is not something that can be “switched on“ for whatever task you, or someone else, want, when you/they want. (There needs to be an interest for it.)

We are all on a spectrum - your mileage may vary.

 

[Levitat0r]

@FoxLovinPat, from my experience, it has nothing to do with “laziness”. My parents criticised me for anything not focussed on my university studies - I was shamed into discarding a skateboard that I had made myself during highschool.

To quote @Tom, there has to be a strong connection with the object of the focus. It cannot be something that someone else says is “important“. It has to be something you connect with. If you are VERY lucky, this might be something in the orbit of your professional life (at least for your career prospects.) At times that worked out for me.

It does not come easy. Just as @marc_101 noted, I would be well qualified to procrastinate at international competition level. As I have said before, it can take an inordinate amount of time to get “in the zone”, to bring hyperfocus to bear on “useful” (work-related) purposes.

How can I sum this up? My experience has been that hyperfocus is a thing that I (can) do. (Sometimes it is almost involuntary.) It does not always come “at will.” It is not something that can be “switched on“ for whatever task you, or someone else, want, when you/they want. (There needs to be an interest for it.)

We are all on a spectrum - your mileage may vary.

As I said, I think there's an aspect of that that's built-in, where it's just the way you see and approach everything. But in terms of having that drive to dedicate yourself to some subject matter every day for months or years, that kind of has to fall into place. Maybe a key distinction is that the inspiration has to emerge from the material itself, so your school can't just tell you "Go study archaeology", and suddenly it's fascinating for several years, or whatever.

I think I remember when I was a kid, I even sat with my face right up against the computer screen because it felt more comfortable than taking in the entire screen, and I would look at maybe one word at a time, where the cursor was. I gradually grew out of that specific habit just due to experience and practice. But the tendency is still there, to kind of universally zoom way in on pretty much everything.

 

[AuAL]

As I said, I think there's an aspect of that that's built-in, where it's just the way you see and approach everything. But in terms of having that drive to dedicate yourself to some subject matter every day for months or years, that kind of has to fall into place. Maybe a key distinction is that the inspiration has to emerge from the material itself, so your school can't just tell you "Go study archaeology", and suddenly it's fascinating for several years, or whatever.

Exactly! Finding what that is can take a long time, but I believe it is out there, for all of us. (It took me 8 years to get my undergraduate degree, and another 8 years to get my PhD, across 4 different universities. Thirteen of those years were part-time study.)

 

[marc_101]

@AuAL and @Levitator And finding that thing or things requires trying. Perhaps the missing ingredient is hope. The cognitive process that tells you that the future will be better than the past and that we have a say in it. Losing hope is the worse that can happen to us.

 

[Levitat0r]

@AuAL and @Levitator And finding that thing or things requires trying. Perhaps the missing ingredient is hope. The cognitive process that tells you that the future will be better than the past and that we have a say in it. Losing hope is the worse that can happen to us.

Sometimes I think the loss of hope offers the prospect of a gift of peace.

 

[marc_101]

Not a problem with it, provided it's truly peace and not resignation to live in a not-very-peaceful condition.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I'm begining to wonder if this thread was a mistake, because I'm hearing from some of you about how you managed to harness your "Hyperfocus" for good useful things, and yet here I am/was only really able to use mine on my special interests. What was I/am I doing wrong? Is it truly just down to laziness? Just not applying myself enough?

And note when I say my special interests I don't mean actually useful ones like some of you have, mine are essentially just hobbies. Such as reading or playing games, and often getting invested in the worlds I discover from reading or gaming. I can't turn that into a career at all.
It would seem I drew the short straw in regards to my special interests.

I'm sorry you feel this way. Just to clarify (and maybe get you some perspective on this): My hyperfocusing on my finals at school wasn't something intentional or probably even healthy. I was feeling the lowest I ever felt during that time, having massive problems at home, and the only thing my brain (and sanity) clung to was getting out of there. Logically, the way for me to do this was getting a high enough grade to get accepted on the first try at a uni for my field. I think my brain got into total survival mode, and studying became essential to survival. I haven't been able to get into this amount of hyperfocus mode for exams or studying since then, which I take as a good sign on my overall wellbeing. That said, I'm glad it happened since it was my way of coping, but please don't take it as something to aspire to.

As for the other things, I sign myself up on the growing list of competition-level procrastinators here. Seriously. My hyperfocus in daily life happens mainly when I'm reading a book or watching a series I like a lot and it triggers some extreme interest in a topic from the book or series and I spend a few hours - or days - completely immersed in that topic. That's not really "useful" for my career or anything, unless Greek gods, the names of all our galaxy's planets' natural satellites or chess rules are in any way relevant to my field (they aren't).

I feel often that I have drawn the short straw in regards to my autism characteristics, too. But as marc_101 says, at some point it's also about the attitude.