Just got wondering today - have any of you had hyperfocus kick in when it was something you were doing, not something you're watching/reading/studying?
I used to play pool, at an average amateur level, and two games have always stuck in my memory. I was the game. I made shots I never could before. Everything was the pool table, and the cue in my hands. Both times it just happened, and I tried to to it on purpose, but that never worked. Just those two games. Autism? Or not?
@ScottSoCal@actuallyautistic
That may have been the flow state, rather than autistic hyper-focus. You needn't be autistic to achieve the flow state: you need time, some pre-existing skill, and a task that's at the limit of your ability without being so difficult that it defeats you. It sounds as if you met all three criteria in those two games. If you experienced flow then there'll have been a certain euphoria and an almost mystical feel to it. That's why people hate being torn from flow by trivial interruptions.
I've also known allists who flat-out denied that the flow state exists. If you can achieve it, whether you're autistic or not, then you're privileged.
For discussions on focus and emotions, read H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. At times in the book she feels she is the hawk she is training, she feels such complete identification.
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