Monotropism

Monotropism is an individual's tendency to focus their attention on a small or singular number of interests at any time, with them neglecting or not perceiving lesser interests. This cognitive strategy has been posited as the central underlying feature of autism. A tendency to focus attention tightly has a number of psychological implications, with it being seen as a state of "tunnel vision". While monotropism tends to cause people to miss things outside their attention tunnel, within it, their focused attention can lend itself to intense experiences, deep thinking, and, more specifically, flow states. However, this form of hyperfocus makes it harder to redirect attention, including starting and stopping tasks, leading to what is often described as executive dysfunction in autism, and stereotypies or perseveration, where a person's attention is repeatedly drawn back to the same subject or activity.