Restrictive Interests in Autistic Children?

Question

I work with Autistic children and have a question concerning restrictive interests and behaviors. So far I have received very different opinions to my questions from colleagues and coworkers, including seasoned professionals.

When an autistic child has a restrictive interest should that interest be encouraged or discouraged?

This of course is not a "bad" interest, which I would nip in the butt immediately. But for those who are interested in Thomas the Train and dinosaurs is it necessary to defer interest to other topics?

Should repetitive behaviors such as only ever using one door or walking in only one direction around the classroom be discouraged?

I have tended to ignore the interests altogether until now, not really taking an action regarding interests. As far as repetitive behaviors I tend to try and stop them simply because I find more often than not they are non-functional, and in the real world we cannot always go through the same door, as it may someday be locked.

Answer 1

You should not discourage the interests, but when they get to the point that you are tired of hearing about the interest, then gently steer the conversation towards another topic or ask the child to try to read your body language. Ask them if they think you are as interested as they are in the topic, and show them how to tell that you are not (e.g. the expression on your face or rolling your eyes). You have to try and let them talk about what they like but also teach them how to tell when others are not as interested.

Answer 2

It depends on what he does with that interest-does he play appropriately or stim-if he stims-then it needs to be controlled-if he plays appropriately-use the Greenspan philosophy of building on his interests-I had a child obsessed with Thomas the tank-used to just spew the videos line for line-while acting tehm out-I slowly taught him to make up his own stories and include other people-you can include the object of interest--I had a girl obssessed with a rubvber frog-but disliked books-we put the frog in the stories-sitting of the chair-eating teh food in the picture...

Answer 3

I think that you can use the restrictive interests to your advantage. It's been my experience that the intensity of the interesting, ie being to the point of an obsession or being just another thing they like, can vary from day to day and certainly from month to month. When it's higher on the interest scale, you can definitely use it to your advantage. If they're really into Thomas the Train, find Thomas worksheets or put Thomas stickers on their papers when they're done. If the interest is more broad, like painting, you can try to encourage them to paint other things if they consistently paint the same pictures. You can do other things with paint like mix colors and see what new colors they make. There are so many things and ideas that interest them that you can take and run with to catch their attention or get them interested or excited about other things.

Answer 4

i have restrictive interests (i have to get tested for AS) and unless the interest is bad i dont think that its good to try and discourge them as it would upset them and they would not understand you are trying to do it.

though it does depend on how old the person is, if when i was younger my mum tried to discourge me from my interest then i would be very unset and wouldnt understand why they are doing it.

however now that im 20 can understand why she was trying to discourge me from interest

repetiive behaviours, i think that as long as it is not endangering any one then its fine and doesnt really need to discourged

i think that it can be a bad idea to ignore some ones interest as it could upset them or make them angry

Answer 5

The general thinking from professionals is that restrictive interests have a special place in the education of a child with autism.  Because they are able to focus on those interests, it's really helpful to take those, and expand in academics.

if they love Thomas, then talk about trains, but then expand into math, social studies, what have you. You can add and subtract trains as they come in and out of the station, you can talk about where trains stop and what kind of products they pick up. You can talk about what kind of people are getting on and off the train. Each one of those topics you can expand even further. Trains pick up oranges, radios, cows. So, how do oranges grow? Where are radios made? What are radios made out of? How do trains move cows? What do cows make. It's really endless, if you take the time to think outside of the box, and prepare ahead manipulatives.

I used to be so against stim behaviors, but as I've gotten older (and my kids) I understand how very important these are to the way they think and to who they are.

Answer 6

There is no "real world" for them!! If he wants to walk thru that one door  all the timer and its not a safety issue, let them go.

My son walks around the kitchen block the same way all the time. I will never stop him, because first of all, he's safe.

Second, he's in his own world and is thinking right now.

If I talk to him the right way and at the right time, I can be part of his world and ask questions and get some answers.

So please, leave those kids, there safe, that's all it matters

Answer 7

When I think of something I am very interested in, like bicycling, I am not going to change that interest no matter what else I do. The same should go for children with autism. A lot of ordinary people have restricted interests, so I think that is not so far outside the norm for our society.

Now we need to think about what we intend to teach children with autism. These tend to be communication, academics and socialization. If the child is proceeding to learn in these areas, they should be allowed to enjoy themselves in their free time by doing what they like.

Again, thinking about what we need to teach these children, let's look at the classroom as a "home base." As long as the child is comfortable in the classroom, there is no need to restrict his or her movements simply because it is the same every time. I don't know about you, but I come in the front door of my house every time.

However, when moving around the campus and the world, we need to teach autistic children the best way to do things the first time, so that they have a conditioned response to doing things appropriately. We teach the best way to get into the cafeteria, the correct door to go into the gym dressing room, the proper bathroom etc. It is really OK for them to go in the same door to the cafeteria because all of the kids at the school do it.

If teaching becomes a problem, as another writer has suggested, use his or her interests to motivate him or her to learn other things. If I were you I would make up some First/Then cards for him with pictures of his task and then Thomas the train or whatever. These work very well in getting kids to do there work.