ABSTRACT
Kris, a young adult with autism, is roaming around the classroom, repeating sounds to himself. Lindsey, his teacher approaches, face on, and places her hands on his shoulders, squeezing playfully and saying in a playful, rhythmic, almost daring tone, ‘Are you going to play with me? Are you? Go on, go on!’ Kris turns his head to the side and continues with his vocalising. The sounds indicate that his mind is elsewhere, the impact is blocking. Lindsey places her hand over his mouth, on and off, on and off, immediately changing the nature of the sound. This initiates a known game in their repertoire. Kris narrows his eyes in a frown of concentration, dips his head forward slightly and becomes interested. There is a visible switch of mood as a half-smile appears. After a few seconds Kris becomes silent.
