Facebook has 350 million users. Photos of Tiger's latest mistress are now online. They apparently are making another Twilight movie.
The world is full of distractions. Still, somehow, when we drive down the street, we are able to stay focused on the driving rather than our thoughts, and the trees, and the signs, and the people, and the animals, etc.
The ability to selectively focus is one we often take for granted.
I watched a teacher's aide working one-on-one with an autistic boy last week and she struggled to keep his attention. They sat together at a table and she read to him, making funny faces and voices. But every minute or so, the boy got up and went to the window. He'd stand and look outside for a minute or two and then, after much cajoling, return to the table.
This happened repeatedly.
In this situation, people work hard to be more compelling than the outdoors. While that is not a bad idea, an even better one is to remove the distraction entirely. In this case, that means eliminating the view of the outdoors in some way. This can be done by blurring the window (and still allowing natural light) or covering it completely.
When you work with an autistic child, eliminate obvious distractions to cement yourself as the most compelling thing in the room. This means (in most cases) no computers or TV. The walls should be bare and a plain color. The less interesting the room is, the more interesting you are.
We are surrounded by distractions. The difference between us and someone with autism is that we can filter them out when we want to.
(image: riologic@flickr)
