Obsessive interests are often associated with Asperger's, but they're common to many cognitive disorders. This UK page has a good discussion ...
Obsessions, repetitive behaviour and routines - | autism | Asperger syndrome
... People with an ASD have many different obsessions but some of the more common ones include computers, trains, historical dates or events, science, or particular TV programmes. Many younger children with an ASD like Thomas the Tank Engine, dinosaurs or particular cartoon characters. Sometimes, people develop obsessions with things like car registration numbers, bus or train timetables, postcodes, traffic lights, numbers, shapes or body parts such as feet or elbows.
People with an ASD may also become attached to objects (or parts of objects), such as toys, figurines or model cars - or more unusual objects like milk bottle tops, stones or shoes. An interest in collecting is also quite common: it might be Star Trek DVDs, travel brochures, insects, leaves or bus tickets....
Like most writing about Asperger's and ASD the focus is on childhood behavior. That suggests this problem improves during the teen years.
Maybe it does - for some. Or maybe it merges into the common obsessions of most teenage boys. For some reason we don't read many articles about the merger of adolescent hormones with obsessive dispositions. Still, some of these child-oriented management techniques may still be applicable in teens ...
... You could set limits in a number of ways depending which behaviour concerns you:
ration objects (eg can only carry five pebbles in pocket)
ration times (eg can watch Thomas the Tank Engine DVD for 20 minutes twice a day)
ration places (eg spinning only allowed at home).... example of how to set limits.
Identify the repetitive behaviour, obsession or routine of concern. Jane likes to talk about train engines. Jane currently starts talking about train engines after about ten seconds of conversation for up to 15 minutes.
Think about reasonable limits you can put in place that your child can manage. Behavioural change is most likely to be successful and your child less likely to be distressed if you start small and go slowly. Jane is allowed to talk about train engines after 20 seconds of conversation for five minutes only. She is also getting social skills training.
Gradually increase time restrictions and introduce other limits. Jane is first allowed to talk about train engines three times a day. Then, Jane is only allowed to talk about train engines with her family three times a day. The eventual goal is for Jane to speak about train engines to her family only for one minute, twice a day.
If you place limits around obsessions or repetitive behaviour, you might need to think about things your child can do instead: perhaps joining a club or group; taking up a sport or leisure activity; or entering further education, job preparation training or employment if possible...
The last item is perhaps the most interesting. There seems to be a need for the autistic mind to focus on an anchor and return to it repeatedly. If one obsession is problematic, try to find another to take its place ...
1 comment:
"Gradually increase time restrictions and introduce other limits. Jane is first allowed to talk about train engines three times a day. Then, Jane is only allowed to talk about train engines with her family three times a day. The eventual goal is for Jane to speak about train engines to her family only for one minute, twice a day."
This would teach Jane the very important lesson that her family are evil, hateful people who hate her. She would eventually remember this. If she managed a successful career as (for instance) a unionized locomotive engineer, she would carefully cut off all contact with her abusive family. If they needed comfort in their old age, she would quite rationally provide none.
This is just really, really bad advice from really nasty people. It set me off just reading it.
In contrast, it's fairly easy to direct an obsession with trains into extremely productive directions, from reading and writing ("Did you know train drivers have to write down every order they receive, clearly and legibly?") to math and engineering to social skills ("How do you think they convince people who don't like railroads to let them run a railroad across their property?")
The suppression-of-interests protocol these conformist idiots recommend would only be appropriate for an inherently unhealthy obsession (such as, perhaps, self-flagellation or torture).
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