What actually is attention to detail?

[Misty Avich]

Don't all humans have attention to details to some extent? Where is the line drawn between NT attention to detail and autism attention to detail? I don't even know if I have attention to detail or not. I worry and overthink things but I was told by my therapist that that's part of my ADHD and anxiety disorder. I sometimes look for patterns or details but I don't always subconsciously notice details if I'm not looking.

I learn better with examples, so perhaps give me a couple of examples including a person seeing the details and a person not seeing the details. Thanks.

 

[Raggamuffin]

If you have an interest in it you probably pay better attention.

ADHD is quite infamous for making dull and uninspired very difficult to see through to completion, unless there's a degree of urgency in getting the task done. I always struggled with attention to detail when dealing with boring things. I'd just rush through it to get it done and it'd often be littered with "careless" mistakes.

Ed

 

[Forest Cat]

Attention to detail is for example the difference between a shoddy paint job and a good one. Or the difference between a Mercedes and a Skoda.

 

[Misty Avich]

Well to me a car's a car lol.
But even NTs have attention to detail if they're interested enough or know they have to get a task done thoroughly because they're being paid, etc.
But it seems to be an autism symptom to have attention to detail.

 

[1ForAll]

I think many Autistics naturally are able to see the fine details with either their hyperfocuses of interest, or with regards to most everything. This is because of either one or more of their very keen senses, very precise or structured ways, and/or needs to make sense of everything, and find patterns, etc.

When many Autistics are children, for instance, many prefer to inspect or take apart and put together toys or items more so than use them in functional ways. As an adult I myself like to either analyze everything to either determine truth, half truth or fiction, or to find more enjoyment with it or avoid it because of my senses.

Many Nts can be very detailed too, because of their own genetics, intelligence, or interests, or through some environmental conditioning, but in general, I think those with Autism are more precise and detailed for the mentioned reasons, and as they can have more ability and find more value with at breaking down things because of who they are and what they need.

 

[kenaij]

One particular way I see attention to detail is in my job. My father has the same thing (he is officially diagnosed, I only suspect I`m autistic based on information and tests) And that is why they often include us in the planning proces of projects.

So when there is an idea at work, I work at a school as a janitor, there might be a project where we need to fit a certain amount of people in a space and certain things need to be present in the room. Most people can form a big picutere of the end result. But this picture often is distorted. They also have a plan of how everything needs to go during that event. Again. The big idea is fine, on paper.
That is usually where I come in. With the buildup I start at the first thing that is logically put into place. Does it work? Yes! move on to the second thing. I go down this list until I hit something that does not work. The other people are already many steps ahead and did not see a potential problem. For example. A certain object can only possibly be place in 1 spot. But that would mean it is in the way of the escape route if the fire alarm goes of. So we need to stop at the step. Find a solution before we can move on.
Same thing goes for the planning of the events during the evening. We start with coffee, people go into a different areau and come back later while others clean up the first area. That seems fine. But the amount of people we have to clean up within the allowed time is not enough. Because the dishwasher for example cannot wash the coffee cups quickly enough. So either order more cups, or go for paper cups.
This is a big part of how I see the attention to detail stuff. Some of us go step by step. Every single small thing within the whole picture. While others seem to only look at the big picture.

I always use a specific example when explaining the focus on patterns. And that is how I helped discover my wife's lactose intolerance. She did not show normal symptoms. Instead of cramps she got really low on energy and got depressed. To the point of not wanting to live anymore. She was 22 at the time. Back than I was really focussed on food. And I noticed the would have these dips of energy whenever she ate or drank something that contained a lot of dairy. Her docter told her it could not be lactose or milk intolerance/allergies because the symptoms did not match. I insisted she still got tested even if insurance did not cover it. And what did they find? Very high scores in the lactose intolerance test. Sadly for her. The symptoms did not dissapear completely after not eating and drinking dairy products afterwards. She was constantly down on energy but for a short period every couple of weeks her energy was back. For maybe 2 or 3 days. She took a anticonception pill at the time. One which you had to stop taking for a day or couple of days every few weeks. What I discovered was that the increase in energy came 1 or 2 days after she did not take the pills. And what do you know. There was lactose in those pills.
Now, all this sounds like I think very highly of myself. But I certainly don`t. This is just the way my brain is wired. Otherwise it might have taken months before they would have figured it out.

Very long post I know. But hopefully it explained how I see these 2 traits that are linked to autism.

 

[Judge]

Over the years I've come to realize just how wide a gap exists in terms of those who see details to a much greater extent than those who don't. Shocking in some cases. Then again on occasion I wish I didn't see things so many others don't even seem to notice. It gets fatiguing to see imperfections in just about everything.

And for those of us with OCD, it seems to "go with the territory".

 

[Misty Avich]

Hmm, I can't really relate to the details examples given, but then again I only have PPD-NOS (or whatever it's called nowadays).
I forget things like health and safety rules unless it's common sense. I usually do things spontaneously.
Sometimes I think of things others won't, for example during the height of the pandemic I was given by my boss a key worker note to show to any cop if I'm stopped on my way to work. Everyone else was like "oh good" and didn't worry about it but I started worrying about being confronted by one of those cops who abuse their own power and might not listen to me or believe the note, and send me home again or even fine me.
So when it comes to anxiety I think of every possible thing that might happen, but if I'm not worrying then I won't worry. I also don't worry if I'm with someone else, because I'll let them do the worrying and the solving instead.

 

[Neonatal RRT]

What is attention to detail? It depends upon the context. Examples:

1. You are outside, walking around, you might see a tree, or you can walk up to the tree and notice the interesting patterns in the bark, or perhaps the patterns of the veining on the leaves.
2. You might be a hanging a picture on the wall. Do you just hang the picture were you think it might look best, by "eyeing it", or are you one to get out the laser level and tape measure and make sure it is precisely placed and level?
3. Do you look at people's faces briefly, or do you notice the tiny wrinkles at the corners of the eyes or mouth? Do you see green eyes, or the multiple colors in the eye that give it a green appearance?
4. If you are building something, do you measure to the nearest millimeter, or the nearest micrometer?
5. You are at the beach walking along the water's edge. Do you see the waves rolling in, or do you notice how the waves are rolling in?

So many other examples, but you get the idea.

 

[Kitsuna]

As someone who has inattentive type ADHD and is on Vyvanse for it, I would say attention to detail is naturally noticing minute things that can be easily overlooked. Examples would be catching typos while writing or spending extra time on craftsmanship when building/creating something.

 

[AspieChris]

For me, I used to think I had a great work ethic because any task I was given would be done absolutely perfect. All of my attention went into details that nobody ever cared about but me. If I’m vacuuming the living room, I move the couch so that it’s clean UNDER the couch too. Some might call it OCD, others would call it attention to detail. I understand now that it’s me hyper focusing on the task because I get pleasure from knowing that it was done in such detail and perfection, so I’m working towards the moment of happiness when it’s completely complete.

However, if it’s not interesting to me…. I’ll do what needs to be done and little else. No hyper focus. No attention to any real detail.

My wife used to say “How can you be so smart and so stupid?” I can do calculus but I’ll get lost driving to a place Ive been to dozens of times. I love math, but that place is somewhere I’m only going to in order to make her happy. It really has to do with my own peace and happiness than my attention to detail.

 

[Tom]

In the military it was part of your training to take in all parts of the situation or environment. If you were on patrol it might be looking for signs of others passing this way - tracks, damaged vegetation, smells, are there animal noises or is all silent, etc. In a technical situation it is monitoring all indicators, using checklists (not failable memory), noting and analyzing tiny variations.

 

[Misty Avich]

I notice typos in writing (well, sometimes I miss them at first) but that's because I'm good at writing and I like my text to be perfect. That's the only thing I notice.
But the other examples I don't really relate to. I make normal eye contact but I don't always notice the colour of people's eyes unless they stand out (like the brown staring sort).

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Writing a control plan detailed with every procedure, reaction plans every ones. Duties 30 years ago 100 pages is attention to detail. The chairman of the technical committee for Iso told me it was the best control plan he had ever seen. He had seen a lot having traveled the world. I understand now, you need to be an Asie to have that degree of concentration. For me it was easy. I wrote a control plan for my new employer when I changed positions. Took mw a couple of days gave it to the quality clerk as an example of how to do it Quality engineer quit a few weeks later plus a new plant manager. Was brought on board as current manager had retied. First question he asked was to see company control plan. Clerk did not want to admit the company did not have. So I just told her to submit mine which she did, in twenty years no one questioned it, as a living document it got revised many times.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

Here they are if any one doubts.

 

[Rodafina]

@Misty Avich

Remember, attention to detail is not only an autistic trait. Anyone can have enhanced attention to detail. It depends what our brains notice as important. As humans, we are all wired to notice things that will keep us safe and alive. In the modern era, “things that are important” has become much more varied, but our brains will still recognize and catalog that which seems important.

 

[kenaij]

Also remember it is the combination of a great many traits that matter in autism diagnosis and not every single trait on its own

 

[confused Hippo]

Also remember it is the combination of a great many traits that matter in autism diagnosis and not every single trait on its own

My therapist recently suggested high functioning autism to me and let me take the AQ, I scored 43/50.

I'm not sure about a lot of my answers and think a lot about individual ones and am doubting the general impression ("I can't be autistic because I look people in the eye" that sort of thing). I now think that might actually be focus on details instead of the whole picture. Not sure, though.

 

[kenaij]

My therapist recently suggested high functioning autism to me and let me take the AQ, I scored 43/50.

I'm not sure about a lot of my answers and think a lot about individual ones and am doubting the general impression ("I can't be autistic because I look people in the eye" that sort of thing). I now think that might actually be focus on details instead of the whole picture. Not sure, though.

I`m willing to bet you are unsure about your answers because there are a lot of technicalities about the questions. All the questions are yes and no based. But I bet you want to answer them with "yes, but", "Yes, if", "No, because"
The questions seem inherently flawed because they have no simple answer.
I talked about this with my wife. And she does not see the problem.
If my above assumption is correct. You could see that as attention to detail. The simple answer is yes or no. But you want to elaborate. Or am I completely missing the mark?

one of the questions in either the AQ or a similar test is. "Has a problem filling out forms." I can fill them just fine. But the above discussion will take place with almost every point in a form. I need a 200 word textbox to feel I can fill in the form properly. So you could state I have a problem with it. Because I think the questions and possible answers are flawed.

 

[Misty Avich]

But isn't a simple yes or no answer like black and white thinking? For most humans the world isn't just based on yes or no. Almost everything has a "yes, if" or "no, but" answer, unless it's completely logical, like maths or puzzles.

Does attention to detail make one good at focusing on themes? For example if you're planning on designing a room with an aquatic theme you may be able to focus on the theme perfectly. I'm great at creativity but I often get lost when focusing directly on a theme. I feel the littlest details aren't always important.