AUTISTIC AND GIFTED THINGS...

I'm not sure if people know what they're talking about when they talk about hyperfocus in autism and high intellectual abilities. Hyperfocus is one of my traits and at the same time a great ability. But many people imagine an extremely focused guy trying really hard to concentrate, with a sweaty forehead and veins popping out from the effort.
But no, sorry to ruin your fantasy. Hyperfocus, in my case, means that once I enter that flow state, my mind becomes a rocket and can operate at a speed that would make your ass wrinkle. But no popping veins and sweating on my forehead. In that flow, I'm reading, writing on the computer, taking notes in a notebook, listening to BB King at full volume, occasionally playing a game of chess or mahjongg, and eating some olives or nuts. I don't know how it is for other people, but it seems that doing all these things works as a stimulant and at the same time as a brake, keeping my overclocked brain from slipping and ending up exhausted. Also, as an occasional regulator, Lyon, my poodle, appears and starts running on the bed, inviting me to play, and then I get up to play with him for a while and have tea with my wife, who's working in her kitchen.
That's hyperfocus for me. I can spend an entire afternoon like that and get a lot of work done. And what happens if I focus on just one thing? Well, I'll do it wrong and end up in a bad mood.
Strange things about strange brains... The important thing is to have fun while I work...

#ADHD moment 9,975,271: I looked at my watch, saw I had 5 minutes u til my scheduled lunch, somehow got so distracted I ended up pulling books to withdraw for an hour and 20 minutes, then realized what time it was when my cart was overflowing with books and I could barely push it back to my desk. #HyperFocus #TimeBlindness

Hyperfocus is wild @actuallyadhd

Wir haben in 15 Tagen 31 Module gebaut.
Mitten im Alltag, oft am Küchentisch.
Ohne Geld. Ohne Investoren.
Heute ist das System fertig – jetzt beginnt das Feintuning.
Eigentlich sollte ich mich auf einen Job als Bürokauffrau bewerben. Aber ich kann das gerade nicht.
#adhs #appentwicklung #selbstgemacht #ki #programming #PromptEngineering #prompter #ai #hyperfocus #tech #programmierung #SystemEngineering #appdevelopment

The little one has developed a new #hyperfocus interest over the last couple of weeks: RMS Titanic (and it's sister ships HMHS Britannic and RMS Olympic).

This weekend we've been #3DPrinting a model of the Titanic (technically also the Olympic) and this morning I had to say that I needed to "go do something" and just sit a while in another room to get away from the overwhelming barrage of questions.

I totalt get it though. I also had a hyperinterest in the Titanic as a kid...

Mastodon - help stop me impulse-buying $1300 worth of computer bits to build a new computer because I've decided I need to only have #Linux on my laptop before travel and #adhd #hyperfocus is a bitch!

#ScribesAndMakers 3/18 What would your best creative life look like if you stretch beyond realistic, but still keep it plausible?

Hahaha, oh, I wish I could have beyond be plausible. Literally just happened. Nearly a decade of #burnout #freeze had flattened writing. I barely did any.

Some healing cleared it. I spent days in #hyperfocus then couldn’t sleep. A few days of tired mush, and back to #fatigue now with some writing. So idk, cos not that.

we watched #flow last night. very cool and interesting. it looks SO MUCH like a #videogame.

afterward, we realized it was made in #blender

do not get into a blender #hyperfocus do not get into a blender hyperfocus do not....

Ich glaube ich habe ein Buch geschrieben. Also nicht ganz. Ein erster Entwurf.
Aber ich glaube es ist gut. Wie veröffentlicht man sowas?
#adhs #hyperfocus

I’ve been re-reading and editing the first two chapters of my new fanfic story for days, and there are still parts to expand on. The initial hyperfocus is over, I got so wired I didn’t sleep much for two nights, though I had a good night in between and have got almost back to normal this afternoon after more naps.

This is why I reject the neurodivergent superpower narrative. It doesn’t just let me live.

Today turned out to be an #adhd #hyperfocus monster day of progress on our boat.
So I'm now stuck on the settee, sneezing, unable to move and feeling very cold.
Definitely a crash, but trying to help myself by remembering all the progress
https://mas.to/@SustainableSailing/114149184426202731
https://mas.to/@SustainableSailing/114150305460147042
and
https://mas.to/@SustainableSailing/114151211760201358

I have a #bird feeder almost right in my face while I'm #wfh. I keep being given bird identification guides/apps but studying those doesn't seem to #hyperfocus me. What I really want is a tech solution...

I have parts arriving to set up #frigate #security #cameras. Grabbing a still and identifying it a) as a bird and b) as a particular species still seems somewhat daunting (ObXKCD)

Except I now remember that frigate runs a (100% local!) #ai identification thing that sounds like it works pretty well. It can almost certainly tell me I have a bird. It can very likely run a script. That script can...uh....do whatever it is that #merlin does. Hm.

Anyone who says hyperfocus is a superpower can't fathom how destructive it is to not be able to control your focus. People get how bad not having focus is, but the opposite is ALSO AWFUL!

I got hit with it just before we were supposed to go to sleep and ended up moving bedtime to 5am because I could not break the focus even with help.

Now I am exhausted, aching head to toe, and need to find a way to be able to work with mental batteries on savings mode.

5:30pm

me: I wonder why I feel so exhausted and headachy

also me: *has had 15 saltines and a glass of water since breakfast*

So anyway, #ADHD #hyperfocus is fun, y'all should go hydrate and have some food

Not me spending half the day tweaking vim linting and tmux configs instead of staying on task.

Damnit.

#ProductiveProcrastination #NeuroSpicy #HyperFocus #OohShiney.

//: UnMooding //

https://guardianrecords.bandcamp.com/?from=search&search_item_id=3895071334&search_item_type=b&search_match_part=%3F&search_page_id=4116664197&search_page_no=1&search_rank=1&search_sig=88444e0beb2320cbbf9859201c375d68

Cities Skylines 2 is fun. Unfortunately, I do lose all track of time and all interest in taking care of myself.

Something to be wary of next time I start that game.

Now available on YouTube, an #OnlineAutscape2025 “More Autistic Joy” presentation:

On the 7th of February at 20:00 GMT/UTC, Jorik Mol, “professionally autistic”, presented “Now I wanna think about all the good times – The joys of Breaking the Boundaries”.

Watch now at: https://youtu.be/88-EGSq_dmg

Slides with clickable read-along links: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qEl3c4O8bVsB-oJ9lhLi-PCbRkV6Fbq6zZtx29cCOjk/edit#slide=id.g32b2dc19ab3_0_274

“Jorik's first book of 2025 is Breaking the Boundaries, describing his experiences as a lived experience mentor of autistic higher education students. These stories highlight the particular joys of being neuroqueer and finding one's community, gender joy, the joy of art, the joy of hyperfocus and the joy of fighting the good fight.”

I spent a few happy hours getting partway into the info-collation for a blog post. Shaking off the notion of it being weird, silly, etc to be listing ages of an actor and each of his characters as if many people care when I realised how nice it was to have something to focus on. Lately my desire for the house-clearance marathon has stalled, as has art, gaming, you name it. The #AuDHD #brain has its wants and needs.