We all have hobbies, interests and collections. These interests are often encouraged by our parents and our own choices.  For many of us, our interests led us to join groups, take classes or influenced our career path.  However, for individuals with autism, their interests, hobbies and collections are to frequently referred to as "obsessions."   Even in professional articles and video clips, they sometimes refer to an individual's interests as obsessions.

At Youth Advocate Program we want staff to embrace an individual's interests. We want to incorporate them into all aspects of their life to help facilitate engagement and learning.

Honoring preferred interests, sometimes referred to as "passions," is a central theme of Youth Advocate Programs' work and is used as an indicator of program quality. Children and adults on the autism spectrum have strong natural interests, just as we all do.   Research shows that acknowledging, sharing, and working with these interests brings great dividends: the person becomes more self-motivated and socially connected, and less dependent on prompts and artificial rewards.

Because of the communication challenges of autism, preferred interests (PI) may be overlooked. Due to the sensorimotor differences of autism, those interests may even be judged "odd" and actively discouraged. YAP expects that all staff will identify (in the client's plan) and actively support (through multiple settings and objectives, on an ongoing basis) the intense natural interests of people on the autism spectrum as an evidence-based approach to fostering their self-actualization and self-determination.