Autism can be hard to spot in young children. People typically recognize the social deficits or sensory sensitivities before they notice repetitive behaviors. Many times repetitive behaviors are seen as “quirks” or even talents. A young child who can spot number patterns in road signs, is highly knowledgeable about the weather, or can recite an entire movie word for word may be praised. Lining up cheerios before eating them or holding a favorite rock may be overlooked.
While repetitive behaviors are not typically a problem, it is helpful to identify and understand the purpose of this behavior for the neurodivergent person.
Repetitive Behaviors
Repetitive behaviors can look different for each person and often change as the child gets older. Common repetitive behaviors include:
- carrying random objects
- putting toys or objects into piles
- lining up toys or objects
- stacking toys or objects
- spinning tires on toys
- opening and closing doors
- lining up food by color, shape or type
- repeating words or phrases
- hand flapping
- spinning around in circles
- pretend play that seems “scripted” or repeats instead of new and spontaneous each time
- extreme interest in a topic
- collecting odd items i.e. erasers, pom-poms, acorns, etc.
- memorizing movie or television lines
- completing a task in a particular way
Purpose
Repetitive behaviors serve multiple purposes. At times they are self-stimulatory also known as “stimming”. Stimming is when a neurodivergent person uses a favored sense to either calm or activate themselves. This could be any of the seven senses. Other repetitive behaviors are more emotionally based. They provide a sense of comfort, security and stability. If the neurodivergent person can talk about trains every time they meet someone new they are able to manage their anxiety for those new situations. Regardless of the purpose, repetitive behaviors are often described as necessary and it becomes upsetting when someone tries to interrupt that behavior.
There are times that repetitive behaviors become self-injurious. Families are encouraged to speak with their providers in these situations. Sometimes the goal is to reduce the injury by providing a helmet for head banging and other times the goal is to replace the behavior with a safer one.