How did you hear about BrainBoost?
Through EBUS! When I started there, they suggested it to my family. I come here for the learning opportunities that are offered. The different courses and the IDS courses that are offered. I’m taking Psychology 12, Criminology 12, Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature at BrainBoost.

What are the classes?like at BrainBoost?
Small groups of people that come together to discuss or learn a particular subject. I enjoy the close knittedness of it, the few students that are there. They’re mostly discourse based – I enjoy that aspect!

How did you interest in psychology start?
It came largely from that I have high functioning autism, so people don’t really make sense, in general, to me. From there, I was interested in the criminal behaviour and criminal aspect of things so criminology is a good route to take with that.

In all the courses I’m taking, we explore the different aspects of all them that I didn’t necessarily know existed. Through psychology I’ve also even started looking into sentence structure and linguistics in relation to developmental psychology. There’s been a compare and contrast among different areas of psychology.

Tell me about Psychology 12!
We’ve watched a few movies and done character studies. We’ve gone over different theories relating to dream analysis and we’ve looked at conditioning and developmental psychology. We did character profile of Patrick Bateman from Arrested Development! It was amazing! I suggested he had brief psychotic disorder.

What about Criminology?
We look at different theories about law and a merge about psychology. We’ve done a bit of criminal law aid and a few mock trials, which has been my favourite part of that course! During the mock trial, each time there is a prosecution, defence, jury, and a judge. It’s set up as a normal court proceeding.

What are sessions like here?
You show up and meet your teacher. I typically pick something that I’m interested in and we look at it the rest of the time! It’s interest based! The tutors give me resources and we discuss it.

What can you say about teachers at BrainBoost?
They’re all pretty unique! Each one of them! I enjoy working one on one because it makes it so that you can do what you want to. They can facilitate that in whatever way that you want – whether it be research based, dialogue based, project based, inquiry based, what ever works for you!

What makes BrainBoost different?
How long do you have? It’s a bit of a list to answer that!
The classes aren’t structured in the same way. Mental health is a big consideration. If you need to leave, you’re not questioned, you can just leave the class. If you need help, there are people willing to help you, despite your need or desire in that moment. If you’re having a problem, people make rooms available to you so that you can calm down. It’s very adaptive and accommodating to people. There’s also different places to work – the courtyard, student lounge, study space! There’s lots of options! And the cooking class brings out pizza bites and stuff, which isn’t bad!

Why do you think we need places like BrainBoost to exist?
For all the kids that are beyond the barriers or even just approaching them that the normal school system doesn’t work! It could be because of learning style or issues, it could also be that you’re ahead of your age group and are bored. I fit into a lot of those categories. In the regular system, I couldn’t do extra work because I was worried about the anxiety of taking on because of the social dynamic.

The dynamic of everything! If I want to talk to someone, there’s always someone to talk to but if I don’t want to talk to anyone, I put my headphones on and everyone ignores you! It’s great! I don’t think you can define the community here because of the sheer diversity.

Describe BrainBoost in three words
Completely individualistic approach.