In a succinct conclusion to Vanessa’s interview with Brett Heasman, they talk about ways in which flow can be negative, the challenges around measuring flow, stimming as an aid to focus, flow in education settings, and the importance of sharing research outside of academia.
For the second half she is joined by Jan Goh and they discuss a paper by Catherine Caldwell-Harris on autistic interests.

Show Notes

Brett Heasman

Heasman Flow Lab

Brett Heasman’s ResearchGate profile

Sensory Street

Autistic Flow

Heasman, B., Williams, G., Charura, D., Hamilton, L. G., Milton, D., & Murray, F. (2024). Towards autistic flow theory: A non-pathologising conceptual approach. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 54(4), 469–497. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12427

A podcast of the authors discussing the paper

Wain, D., G.Williams, D.Charura, et al. 2026. “Transitioning in and out of Autistic Flow: A Qualitative Study Presenting a Non-Pathologising Approach to Autistic Well-Being and Conceptualising Autistic Ways of Being in Clinical and Therapeutic Settings.” Counselling and Psychotherapy Research26, no. 1: e70073. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.70073.

Understanding Autistic Flow with Dr Brett Heasman – The Middletown Centre for Autism Podcast

Open Minds

Open Minds Exhibition

LSE Research | Brett Heasman on improving public understanding of autism

Autistic Interests

Caldwell-Harris CL (2026) Autistic interests: wide-ranging and intellectually oriented. Front. Psychiatry 17:1749552.
doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1749552

Caldwell-Harris Lab

Catherine Caldwell-Harris (ResearchGate)