An analysis of stimulus overselectivity in adults with autism

Stimulus Overselectivity Four Decades Later: A Review of the Literature and Its Implications for Current Research in Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Overselectivity has also been reported in typical preschoolers (Bickel et al 1984) and older children (Eimas 1969;Koegel and Wilhelm 1973), in learning disabled children (Bailey 1981), in hearing-impaired children (Fairbank et al 1986), in mentally retarded children (Brack 2001;Huguenin 1997) and mentally retarded youth without autism (Dickson et al 2006;Dube and McIlvane 1997;Huguenin 1997;Schneider and Salzberg 1982), and in adults with autism (Matthews et al 2001;Remington et al 2009). Clearly, stimulus overselectivity is not unique to autism (Dube et al 2003;McHugh and Reed 2007;Miyashita 1981), but it is a phenomenon common in autism as a slew of mostly older studies reveals (Anderson and Rincover 1982;Bickel et al 1984;Boser et al 2002;Chiang and Carter 2008;Dunlap et al 1979;Edwards et al 1976;Falcomata et al 2007;Frankel et al 1984;Gersten 1983;Glenn et al 1980;Hedbring and Newsom 1985;Katoh and Kobayashi 1985;Koegel and Wilhelm 1973;Koegel and Rincover 1976;Koegel and Schreibman 1977;Koegel et al 1979;Kolko et al 1980;Kovattana and Kraemer 1974;Matthews et al 2001;Myles et al 1989;Ploog and Kim 2007;…”

Spontaneity of Communication in Individuals with Autism

“…Subsequent research (see Gersten 1980;Matthews 1994) has generally confirmed the presence of stimulus overselectivity in autism both across and within sensory modalities. Nevertheless, overselectivity has also been demonstrated in individuals with developmental delay (Matthews et al 2001) and learning disability (Bailey 1981), and may be correlated with intellectual capacity (Gersten 1980;Matthews et al 2001;Schover and Newsom 1976). Therefore, stimulus overselectivity is neither invariably present in autism nor unique to the disorder (Gersten 1980).…”

Increasing Independence in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Three Focused Interventions

“…The response of a person with autism to a specific stimulus may depend on the presence or absence of specific features, and individuals may over-generalize if the feature he/she is attending to is present in the new stimulus, or under-generalize if the feature is not present in the new stimulus. Because of this stimulus overselctivity, if a stimulus is altered along one or more dimensions (such as the setting, materials, or person), an individual with autism may respond to it as a novel stimulus, thus requiring additional instruction for successful independent performance (Matthes et al 2001).…”