On interests, or obsessions
Apr. 22nd, 2013 01:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithOne of the things that came up when Wendy Lawson came to the adult support group was about working with interests. One of them things that seem obvious or maybe it isn't.
It was a social gathering--sitting around the table with afternoon tea and people talking about themselves. Wendy refers to neural-typical people as generic, and those on the spectrum are name brands. She talked a little bit about very recent research with brain scans. And she talk about teaching people and encouraging people to work within their interest areas. Or obsessions if you want.
OK that seems obvious, because we all know people learn better when they're engaged with the material, but it's more than that.
Imagine you're in a world where everything is uncertain, every person you talk to might say something you don't understand or do something you don't know how to react to, or expect you to do something you don't understand or see need for, or tell you're wrong when you're not; and every situation could turn wrong; and every place has uncertainties hiding in the corner or the ground the might disappear from under your feet. Even at home, someone might knock on the door or ring up. Stressful. Tiring. Anxiety-causing.
Now imagine a place in that world were you can feel, maybe not safe, but on solid ground. You know how to negotiate this place, and you have the tools or weapons or armour to deal with (most) things that come into the world. That is the area of obsession. The life raft on the ocean of life :)
(Userpic: playing quoits on board a ship is harder than on land, because you have to account for the ship's movement, but you're moving with it. Even from a close distance, it's easy to misjudge.)
It was a social gathering--sitting around the table with afternoon tea and people talking about themselves. Wendy refers to neural-typical people as generic, and those on the spectrum are name brands. She talked a little bit about very recent research with brain scans. And she talk about teaching people and encouraging people to work within their interest areas. Or obsessions if you want.
OK that seems obvious, because we all know people learn better when they're engaged with the material, but it's more than that.
Imagine you're in a world where everything is uncertain, every person you talk to might say something you don't understand or do something you don't know how to react to, or expect you to do something you don't understand or see need for, or tell you're wrong when you're not; and every situation could turn wrong; and every place has uncertainties hiding in the corner or the ground the might disappear from under your feet. Even at home, someone might knock on the door or ring up. Stressful. Tiring. Anxiety-causing.
Now imagine a place in that world were you can feel, maybe not safe, but on solid ground. You know how to negotiate this place, and you have the tools or weapons or armour to deal with (most) things that come into the world. That is the area of obsession. The life raft on the ocean of life :)
(Userpic: playing quoits on board a ship is harder than on land, because you have to account for the ship's movement, but you're moving with it. Even from a close distance, it's easy to misjudge.)
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Date: 2013-04-22 07:15 am (UTC)I have a couple of poems saved, that were written by teens with autism trying to describe the effects to NT kids, would you like to see them?
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