Autistic Spectrum Condition

Supporting individuals with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) 

 Obsessional behaviours or Special Interests

Before we go on to talk about strategies to help manage obsessional behaviours or intense preoccupations (special interests) in an individual with Autism Spectrum Condition, let’s take a moment to think about our own special interests or things that give us pleasure. I for one, love chocolate, having a bubble bath, doing crossword puzzles. Now imagine that someone told you that you couldn’t do these things any more or you couldn’t eat your favourite food, not for any medical reason but because they made the rules. You would rightly feel upset; you may be unable to think about anything else other than that bar of chocolate that you were going to eat. Now for the person with autism, it could be that they feel the same way about being prevented from carrying out their obsessional behaviour or talking about their special interest. Hold that thought!

People with autism may engage in obsessional beviours or talk about their special interest for different reasons (of course they will!). Sometimes it can be because it just feels nice (me having a bath or eating chocolate), sometimes it is because it helps the person to stay calm and unstressed or even helps to reduce their stress and anxiety and sometimes it is because they don’t have anything else that they can talk about.  It could even be more than one reason. These are not the only reasons why someone will demonstrate obsessional behaviours or talk endlessly about their special interest. Sensory aspects other than feeling nice can play a part in some of the more repetitive , stimming behaviours but I will leave that discussion to another time and focus more on the three reasons : it feel nice( pleasure), it destresses( calming) or  I don’t know what else to talk about (limited vocabulary and knowledge of the world).

So how can you help. Firstly, the fact that you are reading this suggests that the obsessional behaviour or special interest is somehow impacting negatively on you, the person with ASD or others or even possibly the environment. By impacting negatively, I mean that the person is spending large amounts of their day engaged in the behaviour and it is interfering with their interactions with others, their daily routines and learning. It may also be that the behaviour is socially unacceptable in public or making them a target for bullying or is physically harmful.                                                                                                 If however, the behaviour is not impacting negatively on the person’s day to day life, then we need to think about it differently (and think about things you like to do). Does it really need to be removed or can we somehow encourage the person to manage it to an acceptable level. (maybe I just have one bar of chocolate per day) or is it really a problem? I would never stop my husband from telling me about how his football team are doing, how they played their last match even though it is sooo boring to listen to. Remember its only a problem behaviour if it is a problem!

These strategies can be tried when the behaviour is not harmful but is taking up an extraordinary amount of the person’s time.

1. “Time to talk/ play” how you present this will be dependent on the person’s level of understanding.  (if the individual has little or no language you may want to seek advice from a speech and language therapist, on how to do this perhaps using visual or other support)

In this strategy the individual is allowed at set time in the day (usually at the same time each day) where they can talk about their interest, engage in their favourite activity for a limited period of time. The amount of time will be dependent on the behaviour or special interest but if it is talking about a favourite subject, five minutes is not an excessive minimum.  It is important that there is consistency with this strategy or it is unlikely to work, so choose a time when you know you or they will not be disturbed by others and you can give your full attention to the person if they are talking to you about their interest. Sometimes, when you first start, there can be an increase in the behaviour but you need to keep reminding the person it is not their “special time” yet.  You might need to use a visual prompt such as white board with time written on it as reminder  or if the person has not time concept, schedule after a regular routine event with now and next visual cue.

• It can also be useful to use someone’s special interest to broaden and extend their vocabulary or to incorporate it into different subjects or activities. E.g. In Math, counting dinosaurs, doing a graph or pie chart based on a survey of peers, playing a dinosaur game with peers. Celebrate the person’s knowledge, it can be good for self esteem and building confidence in interactions.

• There are times when people talk only about their special interest because they don’t know what else to talk about. One way to help the person develop subjects to talk about is to help them learn a list of topics that they can try. E,g, Weather, occupation(jobs), recreation(hobbies and interests of other people) and media (what is in the news ). The person can be helped to practice asking questions related to these topics. They can have a little list in their pocket to check on.

1. “Social rule” if a behaviour is not acceptable in certain situations you can use the first strategy but also consider writing a “social rule”. This can also be used for behaviours that are unacceptable at any time and to provide suggestions for what the person can do instead. (See also my next point). For examples of social rules see “Social Stories”. A teacher or speech and language therapist who has had training in using this strategy can help you formulate a story at the correct level for the individual.

For those behaviours which are harmful or unacceptable in any situation you can use Social rules to explain why but also look at the behaviour and try to work out what the person is gaining from it and think about other ways the person could achieve the same goals. For example, if the person is continually touching people’s faces, show them another way to attract attention, giving a high five…

Finally, communication difficulties are an inherent part of an autism spectrum condition diagnosis and may impact on the implementation of all of these strategies, so if you are struggling then seek help from a Speech and Language Therapist who has experience, skills and knowledge about supporting individual with Autism Spectrum Conditions.   

Ann Irving BSc Hons, M.A. Education and Development of Children and Young People with Autism. Senior Speech and Language Therapist