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How to Ethically Use Special Interests in Learning



This is a special excerpt from the book Autistic Thinking: How Autistic Brains Think, Learn & Remember by Alondra Rogers


Families, teachers, and therapists can ethically harness special interests to support learning and development in Autistics by recognizing and validating their significance, using them to promote connection through genuine interest, and refusing to withhold them as punishment or use them as a reward. 


Rather than viewing special interests as distractions or obstacles to learning, educators, families, and therapists can incorporate them into curriculum planning, individualized learning strategies, and activities. By leveraging the motivational power of special interests, those who love and work with Autistic people can enhance the Autistic person’s engagement, autonomy, and achievement across various domains. This can be done by engaging with the Autistic person in talk, play, joint attention, and in studying the child or adult’s interests. For example, if the Autistic person has a special interest in France, learn about France. If the individual is able, let them teach you. Then, bring France into the lesson you are teaching. Learning to tie shoes? Look at French footwear. Is there a French style of shoe tying? Use French terms. If their interest doesn’t lend itself to such practical matters, such as fans or vacuums or something else, get creative. What would happen if your loose shoelace got caught in a vacuum? By joining with the individual in their interests, you are showing them you are interested in them


Many approaches to teaching use Behaviorism, which is an approach that uses conditioning, usually through rewards and punishments. Often, Autistic and other children and adults are subjected to reward systems where they earn access to the things they love. You might be saying, “Yeah, of course, that’s canned motivation to use to get them to do what they don’t want to do!” I suggest that you resist this urge. Autistic people are highly sensitive to manipulation, and attempting to change behavior by controlling access to interests is manipulation. 


This can cause the individual to soon hate their interest because you have ruined it for them. This can cause the individual to direct those negative feelings toward you because withholding their interest to use as a reward feels like a punishment. Rewards can also feel like demands on their behaviors, which they are, and that can cause them to refuse. Finally, encouraging Autistics to do things they do not want to do to get a reward can inadvertently set them up to do other things they do not want to do through offers of rewards, punishments, or coercion. When Autistics spend too much time uncomfortable for the benefit of others, they forget the difference between therapy or learning and abuse. 


Fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment that celebrates diverse interests and talents encourages the exploration and expression of individual passions. Those passions should be a part of learning, and they should never be withheld.  Collaborating with Autistics to identify ways their special interests can be integrated into learning experiences promotes a strengths-based approach to education or therapy that honors the unique cognitive styles and strengths of Autistic people. And even if it doesn’t lead to more cooperation and acquiescence, it is the right thing to honor autonomy. You will never win a power struggle with an Autistic person and leave them unscathed.  To read more, buy the book at your favorite retailer! Amazon: https://a.co/d/8cPbb6A

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