The Desk – 2020 Olympic Games Tokyo

Eliza from the desk has spent the last 2 weeks absolutely obsessed with the Olympics.

As a keen swimmer herself keeping a close eye on the Australian swimming team who contributed to more then 9 gold medals out of the total of 17 gold medals won by Australia.

As planet Jassi host of Australian first YouTube channel the consequence of being very good at something is often referred to as special interest for autistic children.

This special interest whatever the subject can often hijack family life and children may throw tantrums when parents try to redirect them. Often teachers and therapist would frequently discourage interests out of a belief that this often distracts from school work and make it harder to fit in with peers .

Recent researchers are studying how intense passions of autistic people shape the brain , improve well being and enhance learning.

Studies over the past 15 years is beginning to understand that many people with autism have long known that special interests are valuable to people on the spectrum.

Special interest can lead to launching of a career , building self confidence and help people cope with emotions . studies also suggest autistic children gain social skills and learn.

Today the real paradigm shift is thinking about special interests as more positive .

A 2020 study of nearly 2,000 children on the spectrum showed that they had ,on average 8 special interests at a time all interweaving with each other. Winter – Messiers and her colleagues found that talking about special interests reduced other autism traits for example children who spoke at flat affect became enthusiastic when discussing there special interests. A reduction in fidgeting , increase in eye contact, their speech shifted from vague comments such as ” Uh, no I don’t know”, to complex vocabulary – rich statements and many of the young people were able to better engage in conservation and organize their thoughts.

Joanne Brearley Director of Jigsaw Autism Services and creator of Planet Jassi would confirm that in her practice both personally and professionally the use of incorporating special interests into their work is a way to relate to autistic children by coming in from their intrinsic motivation and making connections and bringing them into a shared world. After all Planet Jassi originated as an idea to connect and relate to all her clients that were obsessed with You – Tube and it worked. Her channel not only supports her clients but is a way to build connections with her autistic daughter. Interestingly who has built her career on her special interest of acting for screen.

This is very super interesting research and more importantly what it can do for autistic individuals. This is a topic we will defiantly have to keeping talking about.