The Paradigm Shift of Monotropism:

Autism is a Difference in How We Pay Attention

Monotropism is a gift of a lens through which we can see the immense beauty of autism and a facilitator of empathy and understanding that connects us through our shared humanity. Viewed through this lens, autism emerges not as a disorder of deficits, but as a distinct way of ‘paying attention’ and interacting with the worlds within us and around us. This perspective weaves together the diverse aspects of autism—hypersensitivities, difficulty processing intense emotions, social challenges and gifts, a remarkable ability to hyperfocus—and offers a more accurate and comprehensive view of autism. And importantly, it is a view of autism that is consistent with the lived experience of autistic adults.

Monotropism was was first developed and publicized By Dinah Murray, Wenn Lawson and Mike Lester and more recently popularized by Dinah’s son Fergus Murray in his fantastic article: Me and Monotropism: A unified theory of autism. Fergus also maintains monotropism.org which is the go-to resource for monotropic theory, research and perspectives.