Tag: Flow
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Awe, Wonder and Monotropic Attention in Neuroqueer Learning Spaces
If Helen De Cruz designed a learning space, what would it look like? Helen Edgar follows wonder and awe through monotropism, glimmers, flow and Cavendish Space.
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Little Fluffy Clouds: An Invitation To Play
Multisensory Play Ideas: Little Fluffy Clouds Sensory Session
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Penguin Pebbling: Theory, Practice and the Five Neurodivergent Love Locutions — A Guide for Practitioners
Penguin Pebbling is a low-demand, neurodiversity-affirming card game built around the Five Neurodivergent Love Locutions — five relational modes natural to many Autistic and neurodivergent people: infodumping, parallel play, support swapping, penguin pebbling, and deep pressure
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Five Autistic Love Locutions: Showing Care And Love In Different Ways
Autistic people have always had our own ways of showing love. Discover the five Autistic love locutions — infodumping, parallel play, support swapping, penguin pebbling and deep pressure.
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Monotropism, Limerence And Autistic ADHD Experiences
Limerence in Autistic and ADHD people may be shaped by monotropism, a natural tendency toward deep focus and emotional intensity. Rather than being unhealthy or excessive, this pattern reflects how monotropic people engage deeply with relationships, meaning, and how they form connections.
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Stimming as Embodied Sensory Language
Reframing stimming beyond “behaviour” as embodied sensory language, monotropic flow, and neuroqueer, interdependent connection with the world.
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The Neuronormative Paradigm: Naming The Systems That Harm
The Neuronormative Paradigm, conceptualised by Nick Walker, names the systems that define and enforce what society considers normal. This exploration piece contrasts the neuronormative paradigm with the neurodiversity paradigm, which recognises all ways of being as vital to human diversity.
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Χάρτης Μονοτροπικών Εμπειριών
ThalloMinds has kindly translated The Map of Monotropic Experiences (Χάρτης Μονοτροπικών Εμπειριών) that I created in collaboration with Stimpunks! Huge thanks for all the hard work!
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Shared Flow: Turning Attention To Support Children Together
Discover Dinah Murray’s concept of co-tropicality—turning our attention together. Explore how joining Autistic children in their flow builds trust, co-regulation, and deep relational connection through shared focus and joy.
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Monotropism vs Polytropism: ADHD, AuDHD & Autistic Attention
Explore how monotropism shapes Autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD attention. Dispelling myths, uncovering research and exploring why neuroaffirming support matters for our wellbeing.
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Monotropism and Polytropism Explained
Learn how monotropism differs from polytropism, plus research showing ADHDers and AuDHDers score higher on the Monotropism Questionnaire.
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Neuroqueer Learning Spaces: Free Training for Reimagining Education
Neuroqueer Learning Spaces: Free Training for Reimagining Education By Autistic Realms & Stimpunks Foundation
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Neuro-Affirming Neurodivergent & Disabled Wheel of Life: Reclaiming Flow on Our Own Terms
Neuro-Affirming Neurodivergent & Disabled Wheel of Life: Reclaiming Flow on Our Own Terms Workbook available for instant download.
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Glimmers: Autistic Joy and Monotropism
Glimmers are small, powerful moments of Autistic joy that emerge when we’re deeply immersed in what matters to us. Learn how monotropism & flow create space for joy in an overwhelming world. #AutisticJoy #Glimmers #monotropism
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Summer Rhythms for Autistic Parents & Carers: Low‑Demand Parenting, Managing Energy & Sensory Needs
A practical guide for Autistic parents and carers to support energy flow, sensory regulation, and family balance through the summer holidays
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Going Deeper: Rest, Burnout, and Monotropic Flow
Autistic burnout recovery often means going deeper into flow, not switching off. Find out about reclaiming rest through monotropic focus, spiral time, and meaningful immersion.
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Autistic Pride: Rest, Resistance & Monotropism
Written for Autistic Pride Day 2025: what Autistic Pride means to me, from monotropism and the cost of masking to reclaiming rest and finding belonging in community.
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Unmasking: Reclaiming Our Monotropic Attentional Resources?
Exploring masking and unmasking: reclaiming our monotropic attentional resources, reconnecting with ourselves and community
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Mossy Minds & Monotropism
An exploration of moss and monotropic ways of being. An invitation to slow down, sink in, and reconnect through sensory depth and shared presence in liminal spaces.
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The Power of Monotropic Flow: Reclaiming Ourselves Through Creative Practice
“Art opens up space for healing and a way of reclaiming your own narrative”. Letting go of how we should rest or should work opens up a pathway towards restorative flow.
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Reclaiming Rest: Autistic Burnout, Monotropism, and Resistance
Rest can become a radical act in a world that often equates our worth with productivity, especially for Autistic or otherwise neurodivergent people navigating the tides of burnout, where even our ways of resting may look different.
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Neuroqueering Time: Bergson, Deleuze, and Monotropism (an exploration)
Time as a double temporality problem, exploring interest gravity for monotropic people and flow as a temporal home…..
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Monotropic Time – A Short Blog
Monotropic Time: A Different Rhythm If you are Autistic, ADHD, or AuDHD, time may not feel like a straight line, and you may feel you are constantly battling against the time on the clock. Your internal perception of time may feel more like a spiral, looping, stretching, expanding and contracting, sometimes speeding up and other…
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Monotropic Time & Neuroqueering Temporalities
Monotropic Time & Neuroqueering Temporalities Dwelling in Resonance: Monotropism, Monotropic Time, Spirals & Neuroqueer Temporalities
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Monotropic Time
Each person’s experience of time is likely to be influenced by culture, age, disability and neurodivergence. For Autistic/ADHD/AuDHD people, time is anything but linear or neutral and is not a universally accepted given.
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Neuro-Affirming Research in Practice: Supporting Autistic Students, Embracing Monotropism In The Classroom And Beyond
Written by Tanya Adkin and Helen Edgar, based on the presentation we delivered to the National Autistic Society Professionals’ Conference in March, 2025. Shared with permission from NAS. We will explore the importance of the theory of monotropism and the significance of flow states and suggest some practical strategies educators can implement to create more…
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Monotropism and Autistic Play
All play is ok! There is no right way to play! All play is ok! There is no right way to play! To embrace Autistic play is to embrace the theory of monotropism. We need to enable the right environments and foster meaningful relationships so people can engage in flow and have cognitive, sensory and…
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Obstacles in the way of Neuro-Affirming Practice in Educational Settings & Ways Forward
Implementing neurodiversity-affirming practices in education, healthcare, and other systems is often hindered by pervasive narratives and biases. Recognizing and addressing these obstacles is crucial for fostering inclusive and supportive environments for neurodivergent and disabled individuals. Here are some common barriers that I have been working on with Stimpunks, who have a more in-depth page with…
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Autism & The Map of Neuronormative Domination: Stuck States vs Flow States
The Map of Monotropic Experiences now has a home of its own. Read more about neuronormative domination, the water the whole map sits in, at monotropicmap.org, and explore each of the twenty areas of the map there too. In collaboration with Ryan Boren, Chelsea Adams and Norah Hobbs from Stimpunks I have created: Autism &…
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The Map of Monotropic Experiences: A Summary
The Map of Monotropic Experiences now has a home of its own. You can explore each of the twenty areas in more depth at monotropicmap.org. The free training and downloads are on the main Map of Monotropic Experiences page. The Map of Monotropic Experiences, created by Helen Edgar of Autistic Realms in collaboration with the…
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Neuronormative Domination, Monotropism & The Map of Monotropic Experiences
The Map of Monotropic Experiences now has a home of its own. Read more about neuronormative domination, the water the whole map sits in, at monotropicmap.org, and explore each of the twenty areas of the map there too. In collaboration with Stimpunks, I created a Map of Monotropic Experiences. This is a revised edition of…
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Autistic Burnout – Supporting Young People At Home & School
Autistic burnout in young people is real—and recovery starts with understanding. This post offers neuroaffirming ways to spot the signs, reduce demands, and truly support. 💛 #AutisticBurnout #Neuroaffirming #Monotropism #AutisticSupport
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Monotropic Interests and Looping Thoughts
The theory of monotropism was developed by Murray, Lawson and Lesser in their article, Attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism (2005). Monotropism is increasingly considered to be the underlying principle behind autism and is becoming more widely recognised, especially within autistic and neurodivergent communities. Fergus Murray, in their article Me and Monotropism:…
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Map of Monotropic Experiences
The Map of Monotropic Experiences now has a home of its own. Visit monotropicmap.org to explore each of the twenty areas, mark your own map and find the free training. You can also find the free training and downloads further down this page. Monotropism seeks to explain Autism in terms of attention distribution and interests. …
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Monotropism and Collective Flow
In Milan Kundera’s novel, ‘The Unbearable Lightness of Being’ (1981), he described the heaviness of life, the restrictive oppression and boundaries that can tie us all down, yet there is freedom in the possibilities the mind can bring and in the choices we can make. We can subvert the restrictions of neuronormative society; we can,…
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Exploring ‘Being With’
I experience and interpret ‘Being With’ as a process of be-coming together. Deleuze’s concept of the line of flight allows us to explore and follow meaning together. This article will explore these ideas in a bit more detail. This post is a pulling together of several discussions I have had online over the past few…
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An Autistic Experience of Social Media
I am writing this one month into my journey of setting up Autistic Realms; I aim to support and develop understanding and awareness about neurodivergence, education and mental health. As a late-identified autistic person and also a parent and teacher, I have always found real-life communication and interaction quite ‘difficult’ and complex to navigate. I…
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Neurodivergent Co-Regulation
Being neurodivergent can be really hard work in a world that is mostly still lacking in an understanding of the differences in sensory, social, and communication needs of autistic/ADHD and other neurodivergent people. Different lived experiences can create a double empathy gap (Milton, 2012). This means that people’s needs are often not adequately met, and…
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Monotropism, Holotropism & Floatation Experiences
I am autistic and monotropic, and I am interested in exploring Helen Mirra’s theory of holotropism (2023) and how this may impact flow states and regulation. Holotropism synthesises the theory of monotropism (Murray, 2005) with deep ecology and holistic anatomy. Holotropism is a: “multi-dimensional, spacious, edgeless terrain under the monotropism map…To be holotropic is to have…
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Autistic Community: Connections and Becoming
Everyone seeks connection in some way or another. Connections may look different for autistic people. In line with the motto from Anna Freud’s National Autism Trainer Programme (Acceptance, Belonging and Connection), creating a sense of acceptance and belonging is likely to be more meaningful for autistic people than putting pressure on them to try and…
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Monotropism and The Monotropism Questionnaire
This article was originally written for and published by Neurodiverse Connection (Aug 2023) What is monotropism? The theory of monotropism was developed by Murray, Lawson and Lesser (2005) in their article, Attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism. Monotropic people focus more attention and energy resources on a more limited number of channels of interest…
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Embracing Autistic Children’s Monotropic Flow States
Article originally written and published for Neurodiverse Connection (Sept 2023) Autistic and ADHD people are more likely to be monotropic than the rest of the population (Garau, V. et al., June 2023). This means they focus more energy and resources on fewer interests/tasks/ sensory input at any one time compared to non-autistic polytropic people. Developing a…
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Monotropism, Autism & OCD
Exploring similarities and differences between Autistic and OCD monotropic flow states. Can attention tunnels freeze, and thoughts get stuck?
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Monotropism Questionnaire: Take It and Understand Your Results
Post first published 28th July 2023 Over the past few weeks, there has been a sudden surge of interest in the Monotropism Questionnaire (MQ), pre-print released in June 2023 in the research paper ‘Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire.‘ by Garau, V., Murray,…
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Monotropism and Experiences of being Monotropic
The theory of Monotropism was developed by Dr Dinah Murray, Wenn Lawson and Mike Lesser (2005) in their article, Attention, monotropism and the diagnostic criteria for autism. Monotropism is increasingly considered to be the underlying principle behind autism and is becoming more widely recognised, especially within autistic and neurodivergent communities. Fergus Murray,(2018), describes montropism as:…
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Autism & OCD – What Could Help
Updated October 2026. Autism and OCD overlap in ways that are easy to mistake for one another, and getting that wrong leads to the wrong support. This post sets out the differences and what could help; for the attention side of the story, Monotropism, autism and OCD explains why thoughts can loop, and the monotropism…
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Monotropism = Happy Flow State
Updated October 2026. This was my first attempt to explain monotropic flow to parents, and I still believe its central point: deep interests are not a problem to be managed but the place where Autistic, ADHD and PDA young people regulate and recover. I have written a fuller plain-language monotropism guide since, and glimmers and…
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Autism is fluid
Updated October 2026. “Being Autistic” is one of the searches that brings most people here, so a word on where this post sits now. It is a short statement of the neurodiversity paradigm: autism is a way of being, not a disorder to fix, and Autistic needs are fluid. If you want the vocabulary behind…
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Neurodivergent Friendly Classrooms
Updated October 2026. I wrote this for Twinkl in 2023, and the attendance crisis it describes has only deepened. The classroom ideas still apply. Since then I have written about why behaviour-based approaches such as PBS do harm, and about the monotropism that underlies so much of what teachers see; both are worth reading alongside…
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Supporting neurodivergent students who are struggling to attend school
Updated October 2026. School attendance remains the question I am asked about most by families and schools, and the reasons have not changed: unmet needs, sensory overload, masking and burnout. This post sets out what schools can do. For the burnout side read the Autistic burnout hub and the teacher guide; for parents, Parent ideas…
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Supporting pupils through Autistic Burnout (Neuro-Affirming Teacher Guide)
Supporting pupils through Autistic Burnout (Neuro-Affirming Teacher Guide)
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Supporting autistic students experiencing OCD in a school setting
Updated October 2026. More pupils are living with OCD alongside being Autistic than most schools realise, and the support that works is rarely the standard behaviour plan. This guide is still my starting point for teachers; read it with Autism and OCD: what could help and, where burnout is part of the picture, the Autistic…
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Autism, OCD, Alexithymia & Interoception
Updated October 2026. Alexithymia and interoception are two of the least understood pieces of the autism and OCD picture, and I still get messages about this post every week. Since writing it I have explored the same territory through monotropism, which helps explain why anxious thoughts loop, and gathered the support side in Autism and…
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Education Crisis – Neurodiversity Affirming Teacher Training Needed
Language Identity First Language: In line with preferences from the Autistic community I will be using Identity First Language (ie. Autistic person, NOT person with Autism) Neurodiversity – This relates to the biological fact that human brains and minds differ from each other. Neurodiversity aligns with the idea that all children are unique and…
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Supporting Children through Autistic Burnout (Parent/Carer Guide)
Updated October 2026. This guide was one of the first things I wrote for Autistic Realms, and it is still the page most parents arrive at. Since then I have gathered everything on burnout into one place, the Autistic burnout hub, and written about how burnout differs from depression and about spoon theory and energy.…
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Parent ideas for autistic children struggling with school attendance
Updated October 2026. If your child cannot face school, there is always a reason, and the ideas here are about finding it rather than forcing attendance. Since I wrote this I have added a parent guide to Autistic burnout, which is behind a great deal of school distress, and a short explainer on spoon theory…
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Ideas for Autistic Children who are Struggling at School
Updated October 2026. This was among the first posts on Autistic Realms and it is still the one I send to parents who sense something is wrong before anyone else does. The signs below hold. For what to do next, Parent ideas for Autistic children struggling with school attendance follows on, and the Autistic burnout…
