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<h1>About this site</h1>
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  <h2 id="toc-heading">On this page</h2>
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    <li><a href="#who-made-the-map">Who made the map</a></li>
    <li><a href="#what-monotropism-is">What monotropism is</a></li>
    <li><a href="#the-map-is-a-map-of-other-people-s-words">The map is a map of other people's words</a></li>
    <li><a href="#the-licence">The licence</a></li>
    <li><a href="#what-this-site-does-not-do">What this site does not do</a></li>
    <li><a href="#elsewhere-on-the-map">Elsewhere on the map</a></li>
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<h2 id="who-made-the-map">Who made the map</h2>
<p><strong>The Map of Monotropic Experiences was created by Helen Edgar</strong> of <a href="https://autisticrealms.com" rel="noopener">Autistic Realms</a> in 2024, as a reflection of her own monotropic bodymind experiences.</p>
<p>It was developed further as a collaboration between Helen Edgar and the <strong>Stimpunks Foundation</strong> — Ryan Boren, Norah Hobbs and Chelsea Adams. Created by and for Autistic people.</p>
<p>This site is a joint Stimpunks and Autistic Realms project, like <a href="https://starstuff.earth/" rel="noopener">Star Stuff</a> and <a href="https://queering.earth/" rel="noopener">Queering Earth</a>.</p>
<h2 id="what-monotropism-is">What monotropism is</h2>
<p>Monotropism is a neurodiversity-affirming theory of autism, developed by Autistic people — initially by Dinah Murray and Wenn Lawson, with Mike Lesser.</p>
<p>Monotropic people pull attention more strongly toward a smaller number of interests at any given time, leaving fewer resources for everything else. Things outside the attention tunnel get missed, and moving between tunnels is expensive.</p>
<p>Autistic, ADHD and AuDHD people are more likely to be monotropic.</p>
<blockquote>
  <p>Monotropism is one of the key ideas required for making sense of autism, along with the double empathy problem and neurodiversity.</p>
  <cite><a href="https://monotropism.org/" rel="noopener">monotropism.org</a></cite>
</blockquote>
<p>The canonical home of the theory is <strong><a href="https://monotropism.org/" rel="noopener">monotropism.org</a></strong>, maintained by Fergus Murray. This site maps one set of experiences; that site is the theory.</p>
<h2 id="the-map-is-a-map-of-other-people-s-words">The map is a map of other people's words</h2>
<p>Almost every area on this map was named by somebody, and the naming is the content. Erin Human on tendril theory. Fergus Murray on attention tunnels and flow. Damian Milton on the double empathy problem. Tanya Adkin on meerkat mode. Dora Raymaker on Autistic burnout. Wenn Lawson on object permanence. Helen Edgar on penguin pebbling, monotropic time, and the Autistic rhizome. Ryan Boren on Cavendish Space.</p>
<p>Every area page credits its originator and links to their own words. Where an area is a shared community coinage with no single author, the page says that rather than leaving a blank.</p>
<h2 id="the-licence">The licence</h2>
<p>The map is <strong><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" rel="noopener">CC BY-SA 4.0</a></strong>: <em>Map of Monotropic Experiences</em> by Helen Edgar.</p>
<p>Everything on this site derived from the map carries the same licence. You can share it and adapt it, including commercially. You must keep the credit, and you must license what you build under CC BY-SA 4.0 too.</p>
<p><strong>We cannot add a non-commercial restriction to it and neither can anyone else</strong> — ShareAlike does not allow an adaptation to be more restrictive than the original. If you have seen our other work under a non-commercial licence, this one is deliberately different.</p>
<h2 id="what-this-site-does-not-do">What this site does not do</h2>
<ul>
  <li><strong>No Monotropism Questionnaire here.</strong> The MQ is a validated self-report measure developed by Garau et al. in 2023, with 47 items written by Autistic adults from lived experience and academic expertise. You can <a href="https://pa11erns.com/psychometrics/mq/" rel="noopener">take it online</a>, hosted elsewhere with its authors cited. We link it. Copying somebody else's validated instrument would invite people to read our numbers as theirs.</li>
  <li><strong>No score, no type, no result.</strong> This is a map, not an assessment.</li>
  <li><strong>No accounts, no analytics, no tracking.</strong> See <a href="privacy.html">privacy</a>.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="elsewhere-on-the-map">Elsewhere on the map</h2>
<p>Some areas of the map have grown their own sites.</p>
<ul>
  <li><a href="https://penguinpebbling.app/" rel="noopener">Penguin Pebbling</a> — area 2, the Cove of Friendship. A neuro-affirming card game by Helen Edgar and Ryan Boren.</li>
  <li><a href="https://cavendish.space/deck.html" rel="noopener">Cavendish Cards</a> — area 10, the Campsite. An open deck for naming sensory and interaction needs.</li>
  <li><a href="https://starstuff.earth/" rel="noopener">Star Stuff</a> — areas 8 and 17, the Rhizomatic Communities and the Forest of Joy, Awe and Wonder.</li>
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    <p><strong>Map of Monotropic Experiences</strong> is by Helen Edgar (Autistic Realms) and the Stimpunks Foundation — Ryan Boren, Norah Hobbs and Chelsea Adams. The original map was created by Helen Edgar in 2024.</p>
    <p>The map and everything on this site derived from it are licensed <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" rel="noopener">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>. Share it, adapt it, keep the credit, keep the licence.</p>
    <p><a href="privacy.html">Privacy</a> · <a href="https://autisticrealms.com" rel="noopener">Autistic Realms</a> · <a href="https://stimpunks.org" rel="noopener">Stimpunks</a> · <a href="https://monotropism.org" rel="noopener">monotropism.org</a></p>
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