A personal perspective: How special interests can help autistic students thrive
Published on 14 October 2022
Author: Pete Wharmby
Pete Wharmby is an autistic author, advocate and ex-English teacher. Here he discusses autistic special interests and how they should be embraced in schools.
Schools are not great environments for many autistic students. There is something about the combination of strange smells, loud noises and strict rules that can form something of a perfect storm for autistic students (and teachers), and make it very difficult for them to thrive.
Some autistic students find themselves in trouble with teachers, or bullied by peers, sometimes alone and unhappy. Others are unable to attend school due to its multiple challenges. Experiencing the world in such a fundamentally different (and often misunderstood) way, is not always conducive to a happy school life.
It is, however, very possible for autistic students to be fulfilled and happy at school with:
- the correct support
- an inclusive set of policies
- and understanding teaching staff.
If autistic children can enjoy the experience of school and the chance to succeed - the positive impact on their adult life will be significant too.
There are a thousand different aspects to achieving this goal - far too many to fit into an article like this - so let us focus on one: harnessing the power of autistic special interests.
As I explained in my book, What I Want to Talk About, the vast majority of autistic people will have ‘special interests’ - topics they are capable of exploring in huge detail for long periods of time. Often misunderstood as ‘hobbies’ or ‘pastimes’, they are in fact much more than that. The complete absorption into a topic or activity (or “hyperfixations”) can be both life-affirming and life-allowing: they give depth and meaning to our lives but also enable us to enjoy our lives, by acting as a kind of mood regulator, keeping our stress levels down and helping us get through the events of the day.
When I was a teacher, my special interest in trains (a topic I left out of my book for fear of it perpetuating unfortunate stereotypes!) reared its head very regularly, providing me safety and comfort. I would doodle little locomotives during difficult and stressful meetings, I would look up photographs of cool trains between lessons as a kind of ‘down time’ - the same way other people might play a few rounds of Candy Crush or get a coffee from the staff room. I would read about early British railways when I needed to recover from some stressful moment, like a challenging discussion with a student over their behaviour.
Without those interests, I don’t know where I would be - I certainly would not have managed to be a teacher for so long.
They can help autistic students in just the same way. The trouble is that interests that students ‘bring from home’ are often squashed by well-meaning teachers who are trying to ensure that all students are on task and focused on their work.
Imagine a student who finds solace in reading about one of their interests. They might be struggling with a failed interaction at breaktime, or the smell of perfume in the room, or fear of a test later in the day. They take out a book and begin reading as a means of helping them relax and cope with the stresses that exist in the classroom.
Tragically, that child then gets told off or penalised. This could be enough to wreck their day (or week) and make them worry about seeking solace like that again.
If quiet reading is on the cards (at primary school, or in an English lesson), then can the student read their book instead of something from school? What we need is a school system that celebrates the special interests that autistic children cherish, and finds ways to use them in the classroom. There are many other ways to utilise special interests such as:
- Allow the student to work on a medium-term project on one of their interests, perhaps in lieu of an assessment piece set in the curriculum. After all, when you’re after evidence of what a student can really do, why not give them a project they are likely to pour their energy and passion into?
- Set aside a section of classroom display for the student to populate with their interest if they’d like to - even if it’s tiny. This helps to celebrate the interest and make it something the student should feel rightly proud of.
- Find time to talk to the student about their interest. Nothing makes many autistic people happier than a person who is genuinely interested in our special interests. When I was a classroom teacher I always took time to chat with my autistic students about their current interests and it helped build great working relationships.
- Allow the student to doodle, if it helps them regulate.
- Autistic students are frequently very expert in their interests so, wherever possible, make use of this expertise. This is often very possible in primary school where changing topics can often overlap with interests.
We need to shift the narrative away from ‘unhealthy’ obsessions that need to be curbed, and from viewing autistic passion for such interests as ‘annoying’ or ‘peculiar’. If we manage this in school settings, then there is a much better chance that autistic students will thrive.
Further information
Pete Wharmby, What I Want to Talk About, Jessica Kingsley Publishers