Sensory and repetitive behaviors among children with autism spectrum disorder at home.
Atypical sensory and repetitive behaviors are defining features of autism spectrum disorder and are thought to be influenced by environmental factors; however, there is a lack of naturalistic research exploring contexts surrounding these behaviors. This study involved video recording observations of 32 children with autism spectrum disorder (2-12 years of age) engaging in sensory and repetitive behaviors during home activities. Behavioral coding was used to determine what activity contexts, sensory modalities, and stimulus characteristics were associated with specific behavior types: hyperresponsive, hyporesponsive, sensory seeking, and repetitive/stereotypic. Results indicated that hyperresponsive behaviors were most associated with activities of daily living and family-initiated stimuli, whereas sensory seeking behaviors were associated with free play activities and child-initiated stimuli. Behaviors associated with multiple sensory modalities simultaneously were common, emphasizing the multi-sensory nature of children's behaviors in natural contexts. Implications for future research more explicitly considering context are discussed.
1 University of Utah, USA.
Anne V
AV
Kirby
2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Brian A
BA
Boyd
2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Kathryn L
KL
Williams
2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Richard A
RA
Faldowski
2 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA.
Grace T
GT
Baranek
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior
autism spectrum disorders; environmental factors; repetitive behaviors and interests; sensory impairments