Many autistic people have intense and highly-focused interests, often from a fairly young age. These can change over time or be lifelong. It can be art, music, gardening, animals, postcodes or numbers. For many younger children it's Thomas the Tank Engine, dinosaurs or particular cartoon characters.
Many autistic children and teenagers have routines, rituals, obsessions and special interests. This behaviour helps autistic children and teenagers feel less stressed and better able to cope with their surroundings. If the behaviour affects your child or other people in a negative way, you can work on the behaviour.
Many autistic children have intense interests towards their favourite toys and topics. These obsessive interests include collecting and being attached to objects or toys; having a narrow preoccupation with a subject such as trains.
These obsessions, which included hygiene, health, exercise, safety, animals, computers, people, cars, DVDs and, in one case, Kate Winslet, could dominate people's lives. The intensity and type of obsession varied over time but remained, for most people, a consistent feature of their lives.
Additionally, some research has suggested that repetitive thinking may be related to sensory processing difficulties in neurodivergent individuals. For example, an individual with autism may experience sensory overload, which can trigger repetitive thoughts or behaviors as coping mechanisms.
Provide alternative activities: If your child is fixated on a particular topic, try to find other activities that relate to that topic. For example, if they love trains, take them to a train museum or build a model train set together. This can help broaden their interests and reduce the intensity of their obsession.
Fixation, or hyper-focusing on a specific interest, is a recognized feature of autism. Fixations, along with other features or symptoms of autism like repetitive behaviors and cognitive inflexibility, may appear from the outside to be symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Signs and Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder
People with ASD often have problems with social communication and interaction, and restricted or repetitive behaviors or interests. People with ASD may also have different ways of learning, moving, or paying attention.
Autistic brains are often really good at focusing deeply on one thing at a time; they may struggle to split attention between topics. 'Hyperfixation' is being completely immersed in something to the exclusion of everything else. It's more common in autistic people and can be a great asset.
Autistic people also tend to experience repetitive and persistent thought patterns,A case-controlled study of repetitive thoughts and behavior in adults with autistic disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (McDougle, 1995)Restricted, Repetitive Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder ...
They may be very sensitive to other people's thoughts. They may also find it hard to understand the stages of friendships, which can lead to confused emotions. They may struggle to cope with anxiety that could be linked to them not knowing what to say in conversations.
Yes! Although not necessarily all autistic people, many autistic people are more than capable of dating, being physically intimate, and empathizing with their partners.
Signs of High-Functioning Autism in Children
May appear more mature for their age and have above-average intelligence. A tendency to avoid eye contact. Trouble deviating from a routine or adapting to changes. Trouble making friends and maintaining social relationships or not “fitting in” with peers.
So-called 'lower-order' repetitive behaviors are movements such as hand-flapping, fidgeting with objects or body rocking, and vocalizations such as grunting or repeating certain phrases. 'Higher-order' repetitive behaviors include autism traits such as routines and rituals, insistence on sameness and intense interests.
Obsessions and compulsions are both common in adults with high-functioning ASD and are associated with significant levels of distress.
Obsessive-Compulsive Behaviors (OCBs) are typically associated with Asperger's syndrome (AS) and are often a major obstacle to making improvements.
As is the case with ADHD, hyperfixation and autism can be connected. For example, Disner has worked with some autistic people who've become attached to other people because they feel there's something missing in their lives.
These interests are extremely common among people with autism: 75 to 95 percent have them. An interest may involve collecting items such as postcards or dolls, listening to or playing music in a repetitive way, or focusing intensely on a narrow topic, such as insects fighting.
Some people will hyperfixate on one thing for months at a time, while other hyperfixation episodes may last just a few days. You might also pick up an interest really quickly and then drop it just as suddenly after some time.
Special interests can seem to arrive from nowhere and last for weeks, months or even years.
Although the exact cause of autism is still unknown, there is evidence to suggest that genetics play a significant role. Since autism is less prevalent in females, autism was always thought to be passed down from the mother. However, research suggests that autism genes are usually inherited from the father.
Many autistic people have intense and highly-focused interests, often from a fairly young age. These can change over time or be lifelong. It can be art, music, gardening, animals, postcodes or numbers.
Autism hyperfixation examples may include watching television, making crafts, or playing video games. A person may also take an interest in a singular subject, like outer-space or trains, and read books solely about that subject.
Oral stimming is a series of repetitive chewing behaviors . It's an automatic and uncontrollable reaction for many that experience it. Stimming is described as calming and comfortable as it creates a feedback loop to regulate emotion.