Repetitive or Unusual Behaviors

The third circle in the three circles describing autism involves behavior. Children with autism display specific types of odd or unusual behaviors. They may engage in self-stimulatory or repetitive behaviors; may be preoccupied with all-absorbing interests; or they react to or process sensory experiences differently than other children.

Self-Stimulatory or Repetitive Behaviors

Examples of these self-stimulatory or repetitive behaviors might include:

• flapping arms or hands
• flipping fingers in front of eyes
• making repetitive sounds such as "eeeee" or "dika dika dika"
• jumping up and down
• clenching muscles or turning in circles

Some self-stimulatory behaviors are very obvious?others are more subtle and hard to detect such as blinking or eye rolling, tapping fingers and mild hair twisting.

Some children engage in these behaviors only when excited or agitated, while others engage in them at a level that interferes with their ability to participate in other activities.

Self-stimulatory behaviors typically develop around two or three years of age. At three to four years of age, self-stimulatory behaviors may reach their peak. For many children, self-stimulatory behaviors will be less obvious and are less likely to interfere as they get older. As the child with autism becomes more socially aware, he may learn to replace his self-stimulatory behaviors with more appropriate behaviors. Some children learn to monitor their self-stimulatory behaviors so they can engage in those behaviors in "safe" environments (at home rather than at school or out in the community).

Obsessive/All-Absorbing Interests

Some children with autism tend to get "stuck" on a topic of interest, having it become an obsessive or all-absorbing interest. Many typically-developing children will be actively interested in a single topic.
For example, some children become absorbed in other things, such as Pokemon®, dinosaurs or construction vehicles. However, the extent of the "obsession" is different for a child with autism. For children with autism, obsessive interests become all consuming and they may talk about little else. They may sit and think about their topic of interest when they are supposed to be engaged in other activities, such as playing on the playground or doing homework or they may only engage in play activities that are related to their area of interest.

Some children with autism move from one obsessive interest to another. As one interest fades out, another takes its place.

Interests for children with autism may be similar to those seen in typically-developing children (dinosaurs, trains, Digimon®) or they may be unusual. Examples of some unusual interests include:

• air conditioners
• vacuums
• PVC pipe
• public toilets
• Jeopardy® or Wheel of Fortune®
• doorknobs
• feet
• windshield wipers
• the Civil War
• The Weather Channel
• electric appliances
• car models
• calendars

Some adults with autism even create careers related to their special interest.

Sensory Processing Differences

Many children with autism experience the world differently than typically-developing people in terms of how their bodies interpret sensory information. Some children with autism do not respond to pain. Because of this, ear infections, illness or serious injuries can go undetected because they don't complain.

Some children are hypersensitive to certain sensory information. They seem to be bothered more than would be expected by:

• sounds, such as the humming of florescent lights or a computer screen, a fire alarm, the scoreboard at a high school basketball game or crowd noises at an indoor swimming pool. These children tend to cover their ears, acting like sounds hurt their ears.
• smells, such as certain foods or cigarettes. Some children have such a difficult time with the smell of certain foods, that they will vomit when exposed to them.
• sight, such as bright light or sunlight. Many children with autism shade their eyes with baseball caps or sunglasses because they have difficulty tolerating bright light.
• touch, such as a light touch on arms, legs or due to clothing textures. Many children with autism pull away from physical contact with other people. Occupational therapists have found that light touch is more intolerable than deep pressure?children can handle being touched firmly and may even enjoy rough play. Some children find some clothing textures intolerable. They are unable to wear new clothing, shirts with tags, socks with seams or stiff clothing.
• taste. Children with autism are often picky eaters and may be extremely resistant to trying new foods. Some children limit themselves to certain types of foods. This may also be related to touch (above). Children may eat only certain textures, such as soft or crunchy foods or may not be tolerant of foods with mixed textures, such as ice cream with something crunchy in it.

Behavior characteristics may change, depending on the child's age, developmental levels and level of stress. It is important to be aware of and address these behaviors in any intervention program for children with autism.

References

References show the author(s) and year of publication of a study that supports or further explains the ideas expressed.

Prizant, B.M., & Duchan, J. (1981). The functions of immediate echolalia in autistic children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 46, 241-249.

Prizant, B.M., & Rydell, P.J. (1984). Analysis of functions of delayed echolalia in autistic children. Journal of Speech and Hearing Research, 27, 183-192.

Klin, A., Volkmar, F.R., & Sparrow, S.S. (Eds.) (2000). Asperger's Syndrome. New York: Guilford Press.

What we are learning about Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Evolving dialogues and approaches to promoting development and adaptation. Produced by Contract Consultants, Inc. through funds from Temple University Institute on Disabilities/University Affiliated Program in cooperation with the Tri-State Consortium on Positive Behavior Support.

Back to What is Autism?