Beginning With Brandon's Interest

This book provides a critical account and analysis of one child on the autism spectrum who throughout his life has demonstrated that interest-based education offers children with autism problem-solving skills to deal with the myriad of problems that prevent educators as well as learners from developing an effective communication. Traditionally, behaviors of children with autism have been studied by researchers from diverse disciplines. On the other hand, many of these studies have grossly misrepresented autism related behaviors. The problem has been the role given to the applied behaviour analysis (ABA) by behavior experts as a colander for understanding differences in autism. The book reveals another flaw in autism studies and that is how researchers have harnessed their findings into an institutional effort permitting them to mandate and discriminate between differences in behaviours in autism. This dilemma has prevented many parents from employing their best practices to advance their children's interest and skills beyond the institutional frontier. This book invites readers to experience how one child with autism communicated his interest and skills beyond the conformist maxim to advance his language, social and academic skills.