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Thinking and interests

Thinking and interests

An overview of how autistic people think and what holds their attention: special interests, monotropism, cognitive styles, routines and sameness, and savant skills. Each section links to a full entry.

A short tour of how autistic people think and what holds their attention. Each part links to a longer page.

Last reviewed 5 October 2026 · one person's reading of the research · 23 research and 4 community sources

Theories of autism Emerging

A 2019 meta-analysis of 75 studies of adults (3,361 autistic adults, about three quarters of them male, and 5,344 non-autistic adults) found a large difference on theory-of-mind tasks, pooled from 39 of those studies.21 A 1998 paper reporting three meta-analyses found that people with intellectual disability, as well as autistic people, score below typically developing people on these tasks, so the difficulty is not unique to autism.22 In 2006 Francesca Happé, Angelica Ronald and Robert Plomin argued that it was "time to give up on a single explanation for autism", pointing to twin data that suggested social, communication and repetitive traits are influenced by largely different genes; those data measured autistic-like traits in a general-population twin sample, not diagnosed autistic people.23

Full entryTheories of autism The big explanatory theories of autism, from theory of mind and weak central coherence to predictive coding, monotropism and double empathy: when each was proposed, what evidence supports or undercuts it, and how autistic scholars have criticized the theory-building itself.

"Theory of mind" means thinking about what other people know and believe. A big review of 75 studies of adults found that autistic groups score lower on tests of it.21 People with an intellectual disability also score lower, so it is not only an autistic thing.22 In 2006 three scientists said it was time to stop looking for one single cause of autism. Twin studies suggested that different genes shape different traits.23

Full entryTheories of autism Scientists have offered many big ideas, or theories, to explain autism. This page tells you what each one says, how well it has held up, and what autistic writers think of them.
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Emerging

Summarizes Theories of autism. The theory-of-mind findings come from meta-analyses of cross-sectional studies, mostly of adults without intellectual disability. The argument against a single explanation rests on twin data on traits in the general population.

Emerging

Big reviews of many studies back the first two points. The last point is an argument based on one twin study, so scientists are not sure.

Special interests Emerging

Megan Griffith describes special interests as areas where a person becomes "essentially an expert" through months, and more often years, of research and immersion.c1 In a survey of autistic adults, about two thirds reported a special interest, more often men than women, and most had more than one.1 Two studies from separate research groups compared autistic and non-autistic children and teenagers without intellectual disability, and both found about the same number of interests in each group but different types and intensity.2,3

Full entrySpecial interests The deep, lasting interests many autistic people describe, and the clinical idea of "restricted" or "circumscribed" interests behind the term. What autistic writers mean by it, where the clinical framing came from, and what research shows about how common the interests are, wellbeing, gender and work.

Megan Griffith says that people can become experts in a special interest. They learn about it for months, and more often for years.c1 In one survey, about two in three autistic adults said they had a special interest. Most had more than one.1 Two studies compared autistic and non-autistic children. Both groups had about the same number of interests. But the autistic children's interests were of different kinds, and they felt them more strongly.2,3

Full entrySpecial interests Many autistic people have deep interests that last a long time. This page tells you what autistic writers mean by special interests, where the doctors' words for them came from, and what scientists have found so far.
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Emerging

Summarizes Special interests. The description comes from community writing. The adult figure is from one survey, and the finding on type and intensity from two independent studies of children and teenagers that used the same parent questionnaire.

Emerging

Autistic writers describe these interests clearly. The numbers come from one survey of adults and two studies of children.

Monotropism Emerging

Dinah Murray first presented the idea at the Durham autism conference in 1992, in a paper called "Attention Tunnelling and Autism".c2,c3 Fergus Murray, an autistic science teacher and Dinah Murray's child, puts it in one line: "monotropism is the tendency for our interests to pull us in more strongly than most people."c4 The main questionnaire was posted as a preprint in 2023, and in the searches made for the full entry, no peer-reviewed version had appeared by October 2026.4 Among the studies the full entry reviews, the direct tests are the questionnaire studies and two small laboratory studies from one group, and the laboratory predictions (slower disengagement, brain-wave signs of hyperfocus) were not borne out in the samples tested.4,5,6

Full entryMonotropism The idea that autistic attention gathers into a few strong interests at a time. Where it came from, why many autistic people recognize themselves in it, how little of it has been tested, and the arguments over what it explains.

Dinah Murray first shared this idea in 1992.c2,c3 Her child, Fergus Murray, is an autistic science teacher. Fergus Murray says monotropism means our interests pull us in more strongly than they pull most people.c4 The main questionnaire about it came out in 2023 as a preprint. That is a paper other scientists have not checked yet. No checked version had come out by 2026.4 Two small lab studies looked for signs the idea predicts. They did not find those signs in the people they tested.4,5,6

Full entryMonotropism The idea that autistic attention goes into a few strong interests at a time. Where the idea came from, why many autistic people like it, and how little scientists have tested it so far.
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Emerging

Summarizes Monotropism. The idea comes from autistic writers. Its tests so far are one questionnaire, still a preprint, and two small laboratory studies from one group, which did not find what the theory predicts.

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Preprint

A paper made public before it has been checked by other researchers (peer review).

Emerging

This idea came from autistic writers. Scientists have only started to test it. The few tests so far did not find what the idea predicts.

Cognitive styles Established

Weak central coherence, enhanced perceptual functioning and the empathizing-systemizing theory are proposed explanations for why many autistic people notice details that others pass over.7,8,9 The largest meta-analysis of visual tasks, pooling 56 articles with about 1,000 autistic participants, found no enhanced local processing and no deficit in global processing overall; in a closer analysis, autistic participants processed the global level more slowly.10 In one large study of children, autistic children reported global features less often when free to choose, and handled them as well as other children when asked to.11

Full entryCognitive styles The main theories of how autistic people process information (weak central coherence, enhanced perceptual functioning and systemizing), how each has held up when tested, what research shows about reasoning and creativity, and what autistic writers mean by bottom-up thinking.

Many autistic people notice small details that others miss. Scientists have three main ideas about why. These ideas have not been proven.7,8,9 One big review pooled studies of about 1,000 autistic people. Overall, they were not worse at seeing the whole picture, and not better at details. A closer look found they took in the whole picture more slowly.10 In one large study, autistic children talked about the whole picture less often when they could choose. When asked to, they did it as well as other children.11

Full entryCognitive styles Scientists have several ideas about how autistic people take in the world. This page says how each idea did when tested, and how autistic writers describe their own thinking.
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Established

Summarizes Cognitive styles. The label covers the global and local test findings, from a meta-analysis and a large study of children. The three theories are hypotheses.

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Global and local

Global processing takes in the whole (a face, a shape, a story's point). Local processing takes in its parts.

Established

The test results come from a big review and a big study, and they are solid. The three ideas about why are still guesses that need testing.

Routines and sameness Established

The DSM-5 lists "insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior" as one of four criteria in its restricted and repetitive behavior domain, and a diagnosis needs at least two of the four, so not every autistic person meets this one.12,13 Intolerance of uncertainty, the tendency to react badly to not knowing what will happen, goes closely with anxiety in autistic people: a 2020 meta-analysis of 10 studies, with 562 participants aged 4 to 24, found a large correlation between the two.14 A 2024 meta-analysis of 33 papers with 8,347 autistic participants found that repetitive behaviors, intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety all went together, with the uncertainty and anxiety link stronger in younger participants.15 It is not settled whether insistence on sameness is a response to anxiety, a source of it, or a separate trait.

Full entryRoutines and sameness Why many autistic people rely on routines and find change hard. How sameness fits the diagnosis, its close link with intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety, what autistic adults say routines do for them, and the first programs aimed at uncertainty.

Doctors use a guidebook to decide if someone is autistic. It lists needing things to stay the same as one of four signs in one group. A person needs only two of the four, so not every autistic person has this one.12,13 Some people find it very hard not to know what will happen next. Scientists call this intolerance of uncertainty. In young autistic people, it goes closely with anxiety, which means strong worry.14 Another big review found that repeated behaviors, this worry about not knowing, and anxiety all go together.15 Scientists are not sure yet which one comes first.

Full entryRoutines and sameness Many autistic people rely on routines and find change hard. Here is how this fits the diagnosis, how it links to worry about not knowing what comes next, what autistic adults say routines do for them, and what programs have been tried.
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Established

Summarizes Routines and sameness. Two meta-analyses agree on the link between intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety, though they pool many of the same studies and the studies are cross-sectional. Which comes first is not settled.

Established

Two big reviews agree on the link between worry and not knowing what comes next. They show what goes together, not what causes what.

Savant skills and the genius myth Emerging

The figure quoted most often, that 1 in 10 autistic people is a savant, traces to a 1978 postal survey by Bernard Rimland in which parents of 531 of 5,400 autistic children reported savant skills that were never tested.16,17 Estimates of savant-level skill run from under 1 in 100 to about 1 in 4, depending on the definition and the informant, and figures above half come from broad definitions of a special skill, counted at any age or as reported by parents.17,16,18,19 Many famous scientists and artists have been proposed as autistic after their deaths. A historian of medicine reports the view of medical historians that without definite proof, such retrospective diagnoses are "often … nothing more than mere speculation".20

Full entrySavant skills and the genius myth What savant skills are and how often autistic people have them, the main theories of why they arise, how films and television turned the autistic genius into a stereotype, and what claims that famous people from history were autistic can and cannot rest on.

A savant skill is an amazing skill in a person who also has a disability. People often say that 1 in 10 autistic people has one. That number comes from a 1978 survey of parents, and nobody tested the skills.16,17 Later studies found numbers from under 1 in 100 to about 1 in 4. It depends on what counts as a special skill and who is asked.17,16,18,19 Some famous people from long ago have been called autistic after they died. Historians of medicine warn that without clear proof, these claims are often just guesses.20

Full entrySavant skills and the genius myth Some people have one amazing skill, like naming the weekday of any date. This is called a savant skill. Only some autistic people have one. Films often show autistic people as geniuses, and people sometimes claim famous people from the past were autistic. This page looks at what is known.
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Emerging

Summarizes Savant skills and the genius myth. Single studies with different definitions and informants give very different rates. Diagnoses of historical figures cannot be tested and are reported as claims.

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Savant skill

A remarkable skill in a person who also has a developmental disability or another brain condition.

Emerging

The numbers change a lot with how a special skill is counted. Claims about famous people from long ago cannot be tested.

Sources

Research

  1. 1Grove R, Hoekstra RA, Wierda M, et al. Special interests and subjective wellbeing in autistic adults. Autism Research, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1931
  2. 2Turner-Brown LM, Lam KSL, Holtzclaw TN, et al. Phenomenology and measurement of circumscribed interests in autism spectrum disorders. Autism, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361310386507
  3. 3Anthony LG, Kenworthy L, Yerys BE, et al. Interests in high-functioning autism are more intense, interfering, and idiosyncratic than those in neurotypical development. Development and Psychopathology, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579413000072
  4. 4Garau V, Murray AL, Woods R, et al. Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire. Preprint (OSF Preprints), 2023. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/ft73y
  5. 5Dwyer P, Sillas A, Prieto M, et al. Hyper-focus, sticky attention, and springy attention in young autistic children: Associations with sensory behaviors and cognitive ability. Autism Research, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3174
  6. 6Dwyer P, Sillas A, Saron CD, et al. Investigating autistic hyperfocus and monotropism: Limited convergence of event-related potentials, laboratory tasks, and questionnaire responses. Research in Autism, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reia.2025.202683
  7. 7Happé F, Frith U. The Weak Coherence Account: Detail-focused Cognitive Style in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0039-0
  8. 8Mottron L, Dawson M, Soulières I, et al. Enhanced Perceptual Functioning in Autism: An Update, and Eight Principles of Autistic Perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-005-0040-7
  9. 9Baron-Cohen S. Autism: The Empathizing–Systemizing (E-S) Theory. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04467.x
  10. 10Van der Hallen R, Evers K, Brewaeys K, et al. Global processing takes time: A meta-analysis on local–global visual processing in ASD. Psychological Bulletin, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000004
  11. 11Koldewyn K, Jiang YV, Weigelt S, et al. Global/Local Processing in Autism: Not a Disability, but a Disinclination. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1777-z
  12. 12American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), 2013. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596
  13. 13Grove R, Begeer S, Scheeren AM, et al. Evaluating the latent structure of the non-social domain of autism in autistic adults. Molecular Autism, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-020-00401-x
  14. 14Jenkinson R, Milne E, Thompson A. The relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety in autism: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Autism, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320932437
  15. 15Bird S, Moid LAE, Jones CA, et al. The relationships between restrictive/repetitive behaviours, intolerance of uncertainty, and anxiety in autism: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102428
  16. 16Howlin P, Goode S, Hutton J, et al. Savant skills in autism: psychometric approaches and parental reports. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0328
  17. 17Treffert DA. The savant syndrome: an extraordinary condition. A synopsis: past, present, future. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2008.0326
  18. 18Meilleur AAS, Jelenic P, Mottron L. Prevalence of Clinically and Empirically Defined Talents and Strengths in Autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2296-2
  19. 19Clark T, Jung JY, Roberts J, et al. The identification of exceptional skills in school-age autistic children: Prevalence, misconceptions and the alignment of informant perspectives. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.13113
  20. 20Karenberg A. Retrospective diagnosis: use and abuse in medical historiography. Prague Medical Report, 2009. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19591388/
  21. 21Velikonja T, Fett AK, Velthorst E. Patterns of Nonsocial and Social Cognitive Functioning in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.3645
  22. 22Yirmiya N, Erel O, Shaked M, et al. Meta-analyses comparing theory of mind abilities of individuals with autism, individuals with mental retardation, and normally developing individuals. Psychological Bulletin, 1998. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.3.283
  23. 23Happé F, Ronald A, Plomin R. Time to give up on a single explanation for autism. Nature Neuroscience, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1770

Community sources

  1. c1Griffith M. Welcome to AuDHD: How to Survive (and Thrive) as an Adult with Autism and ADHD. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2026. Chapter 1, "What Is Autism, ADHD, and AuDHD?". Megan Griffith's site
  2. c2Murray DKC. Attention Tunnelling and Autism. Living with Autism: The Individual, the Family, and the Professional (Durham conference proceedings), 1992. https://monotropism.org/dinah/attention-tunnelling-and-autism/
  3. c3Murray F, Lawson W. History of Monotropism. monotropism.org, 2022. https://monotropism.org/history/ Fergus Murray's site
  4. c4Murray F. Me and Monotropism: A unified theory of autism. The Psychologist, 2018 (2025 update on the same page). https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/me-and-monotropism-unified-theory-autism Fergus Murray's site