Rapaport Hannah, Clapham Hayley, Adams Jon, Lawson Wenn, Porayska-Pomsta Kaśka, Pellicano Elizabeth
Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Autism Adulthood. 2024 Sep 16;6(3):362-373. doi: 10.1089/aut.2023.0032. eCollection 2024 Sep.
There is considerable conceptual overlap between Autistic hyperfocus and flow, yet these phenomena have seldom been associated in the literature. Moreover, no studies have provided an in-depth empirical investigation of Autistic people's flow-like or hyperfocus experiences. In this study, we sought to address this gap by investigating Autistic people's phenomenological experiences of task immersion, and how their experiences relate to existing conceptualizations of flow, hyperfocus, and monotropism.
To address this aim, we drew on data from a broader qualitative study, designed in partnership with Autistic community members, to understand Autistic people's experiences of Autistic inertia. For that broader study, Autistic and non-Autistic researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 Autistic adults about their everyday experiences of starting and stopping tasks. During these interviews, participants repeatedly discussed their experiences of task immersion and the benefits and challenges associated with it. We analyzed these responses specifically, using reflexive thematic analysis, adopting a combination of deductive and inductive approaches within an essentialist framework.
Our participants' accounts closely matched conceptual understandings of flow, Autistic hyperfocus, and monotropism. Specifically, the analysis revealed the all-encompassing nature of task immersion experiences, and how it could be difficult to "find the balance" between the joy and other aspects of everyday life. Despite the drawbacks, participants were glad to be immersed because they felt they could be themselves, with no pretences.
These results are important for reframing task immersion as a state of great potential value to Autistic people's lives, but one that may require additional support if it is to play its role in enabling Autistic people to flourish.
自闭症患者的高度专注与心流状态在概念上有相当大的重叠，但在文献中，这些现象很少被联系在一起。此外，尚无研究对自闭症患者的心流体验或高度专注体验进行深入的实证调查。在本研究中，我们试图通过调查自闭症患者在任务沉浸方面的现象学体验，以及他们的体验与心流、高度专注和单一意向性的现有概念之间的关系，来填补这一空白。
为实现这一目标，我们借鉴了一项更广泛的定性研究的数据，该研究是与自闭症社群成员合作设计的，旨在了解自闭症患者的自闭症惯性体验。在那项更广泛的研究中，自闭症和非自闭症研究人员对24名自闭症成年人进行了半结构化访谈，询问他们开始和停止任务的日常体验。在这些访谈中，参与者多次讨论了他们的任务沉浸体验以及与之相关的益处和挑战。我们专门分析了这些回答，采用反思性主题分析，在本质主义框架内结合演绎和归纳方法。
我们参与者的描述与心流、自闭症高度专注和单一意向性的概念理解密切匹配。具体而言，分析揭示了任务沉浸体验的全面性，以及在日常生活的乐趣和其他方面之间“找到平衡”可能有多困难。尽管存在缺点，但参与者很高兴能沉浸其中，因为他们觉得自己可以毫无伪装地做自己。
这些结果对于将任务沉浸重新定义为对自闭症患者生活具有巨大潜在价值的一种状态很重要，但如果要使其在帮助自闭症患者蓬勃发展中发挥作用，可能需要额外的支持。
