Habits and Autism: Restricted, Repetitive Patterns of Behaviour and Thinking in Autism

Abstract

Leo Kanner, a child psychiatrist among the first to describe autism, noted in his observations of autistic children in 1973 that: 'they had in common a combination of extreme aloneness from the beginning of life and an anxiously obsessive desire for the preservation of sameness. They were described by their parents as "living in a world of their own"; they were little routine addicts, living in a world in which nobody other than themselves was allowed to make any changes so far as their daily lives were concerned'.Autism (also called Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD, or Asperger syndrome) is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting around 1-2% of the population, and is present from the early years of life and affecting an individual across the lifespan. Autism is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impairments in two domains: (1) Social communication and interaction; and (2) Restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2013). It has been included in modern classification systems for more than 40 years (since DSM-III APA, 1987) and an expanding field of research has sought to understand this enigmatic condition. Although there are two clinical domains that characterise autism, less than 10% of research has taken the restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities domain as its focus (Kasari & Lawton, 2010), despite carers and professionals describing this as the most difficult set of symptoms to manage (

Digitally-Mediated Social Stories Support Children on the Autism Spectrum Adapting to a Change in a ‘Real-World’ Context

“…Reynhout and Carter ( 2009 ) reported that 87% of the teachers they surveyed used SS to support the introduction of changes/new routines (such as transition to school, or visits to the dentist). This is pertinent as difficulties in this area may relate to features such as resistance to change/insistence on sameness, which are RRB diagnostic features that are specific to autism (APA 2013 ; see Russell and Brosnan 2018 ). Previously reported studies within this area have been largely anecdotal.…”

Lifetime and Momentary Psychotic Experiences in Adult Males and Females With an Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Since depression is known to be associated with perceived stress ( 52 ), NA ( 53 ), and PE ( 54 ) it might explain some variance in the results. Second, the item “I can’t get these thoughts out of my head” was excluded from the repeated analyses since one may argue that this item is related to persistent thinking, a known feature in ASD ( 55 ). Thus, for the sensitivity analysis, momentary PE were operationalized as the total sum of the items: “I feel suspicious”, “My thoughts are influenced by others”, and “I hear voices that others don’t”.…”