1. 'I Live in Extremes': A Qualitative Investigation of Autistic Adults' Experiences of Inertial Rest and Motion
- Author
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Hannah Rapaport, Hayley Clapham, Jon Adams, Wenn Lawson, Kaska Porayska-Pomsta, and Elizabeth Pellicano
- Abstract
'Autistic inertia' is part of the Autistic community's everyday lexicon, yet the condition has received scant attention in the academic literature. The little attention it has received has focused on the disabling impact of 'inertial rest' (difficulty initiating tasks), with minimal exploration of the potential benefits of inertial motion (difficulty stopping tasks). Here, we sought to investigate Autistic people's phenomenological experiences of inertial rest and motion and to identify factors that might moderate Autistic inertia. Autistic and non-Autistic researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 Autistic adults. We analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis, adopting an inductive approach within an essentialist framework. Interviewees spoke in-depth of their inertial 'difficulties moving from one state to another' and described how these challenges pervade 'every single day'. While inertia was described as 'the single most disabling part of being Autistic', interviewees also described ways to respond to inertia, including taking pleasure in states of flow, whereby they could become completely absorbed in a task. While inertial difficulties are pervasive, our findings reveal the extreme nature of these task-switching difficulties for Autistic people. Our findings also contribute to a more holistic characterisation of inertia as both a disabling and enabling condition.
- Published
- 2024
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