ABSTRACT
The author relates her Intensive Interaction journey with five-year-old Hayden, a boy who was more interested in shiny beads than in people. In the centre of the classroom, Hayden sits on the floor absorbed in twiddling a string of shiny beads. He watches them intently as they twirl back and forth apparently oblivious to his surroundings. Around him, Hayden's classmates are busy playing or moving around the classroom. At the start of the project Hayden was quite self-contained, self-absorbed and often seemed isolated. He did not spontaneously seek out adults or peers and his play tended to be repetitive, centring upon sprawling on a huge shiny metal hemisphere in the playground, and twiddling his shiny beads or exploring sensory trays in the classroom. While in the nursery, Hayden was very responsive if an adult bounced him on their knee, played a familiar game or sang his favourite songs.
