Autistic adults’ experience of restricted repetitive behaviours

Collis, Emma; Gavin, Jeffrey; Russell, Ailsa; Brosnan, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101895

Cited by 28 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…RRBs have long been considered abnormal and maladaptive behaviors that need to be treated through therapies, namely, Applied Behavior Analysis, while there has been a gradual shift over the last decade or so in research on RRBs toward understanding their context and function (e.g. Bishop et al, 2006; Collis et al, 2022; Manor-Binyamini & Schreiber-Divon, 2019). Autistic adults have begun voicing against approaches to reduce or eliminate the autistic self-regulatory behaviors, which they call stims (Kim & Bottema-Beutel, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insistence on sameness for food space appropriation: An exploratory study on Brazilians with autism (self-)diagnosis in adulthood

Park-Cardoso

Silva

2022

Autism

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Insistence on Sameness has been pathologized as a subtype of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, in autism. We examined the meanings of Insistence on Sameness for autistic adults through the lens of critical autism studies and environmental psychology, exploring their foodways and experiences of food environments, in relation to eating out and grocery shopping, and their experiences of autism (self-)diagnosis. Data were collected from earlier individual email interviews with Brazilian adults on the autism spectrum ( N = 16), either formally diagnosed in adulthood ( n = 10) or self-diagnosed ( n = 6). Our thematic analysis generated the following three themes: (1) Insistence on Sameness behaviors in food space as participants’ efforts for human–environment optimization—reducing uncertainty, uncontrollability, and exposure to unwanted sensory stimuli and social interaction; (2) suppressed Insistence on Sameness behaviors for being considered weird habits; and (3) realization of Insistence on Sameness as an authentically autistic way of coping when self-knowledge deepens through autism (self-)diagnosis. Our findings suggest autistic adults’ insistence on sameness is an authentically autistic way to appropriate space and exercise their right to comfortably co-exist and live as human beings and as themselves. Lay abstract Insistence on sameness is common in autistic individuals and continues into adulthood. Research shows it may be a way to cope with environments because of their sensory sensitivity, intolerance to uncertainty, and anxiety. Understanding the reasons for insistence on sameness from the perspective of autistic adults is important. To study the meanings of insistence on sameness for autistic adults, we interviewed 16 Brazilian autistic adults. All 10 formally diagnosed participants were diagnosed in adulthood. Six participants identified as being on the autism spectrum without formal diagnosis. During the interviews by email, we first asked about participants’ experiences with autism diagnosis, either formal diagnosis or self-diagnosis. Then, we asked about their experiences in places for eating out and grocery shopping. We found they tended to always go to the same places and use protective accessories to eat or shop comfortably. But their such behaviors were considered weird habits, first by other people and later by themselves. While trying to control their weird habits because of social pressure, they often suffered anxiety and meltdowns. When they finally learned of their autism in adulthood, they began to better understand who they are and why they experience the environment differently from others. This new understanding taught them that their so-called weird habits are actually part of their authentically autistic ways to cope with the weirder world. This study suggests that autistic adults’ insistence on sameness is an authentically autistic way to exercise their right to comfortably co-exist and live as human beings and as themselves.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insistence on sameness for food space appropriation: An exploratory study on Brazilians with autism (self-)diagnosis in adulthood

Park-Cardoso

Silva

2022

Autism

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“…It should also be noted that increased anxiety may potentially contribute to autistic people displaying stress-adaptive (though atypical) behaviors during a suspect interview. For example, autistic people (automatically and voluntarily) use gaze aversion and repetitive movement to self-regulate hyperarousal ( Collis et al, 2022 ; Stuart et al, 2022 ). Concerningly, these nonverbal behaviors are also stereotypically associated with deception ( Hartwig and Bond, 2011 ; Vrij, 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony

et al. 2023

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Investigative interviews by police are socially and cognitively demanding encounters, likely presenting significant challenges to those on the autism spectrum. Behavioral and communication differences mean that autistic people may also be more likely to be perceived as deceptive in the context of an investigative interview. In the present study, 32 autistic and 33 (age and IQ-matched) non-autistic adults took part in a novel virtual burglary scenario in either an ‘innocent’ or ‘guilty’ condition. In a subsequent mock-police interview, innocent suspects were instructed to tell the truth about what they did, while guilty suspects were instructed to lie in order to convince the interviewer of their innocence. In the mock-interviews, innocent autistic mock-suspects reported fewer details that would support their innocence than non-autistic mock-suspects, although both innocent and guilty autistic and non-autistic mock-suspects reported similar levels of investigation-relevant information and had similar levels of statement-evidence consistency. In post-interview questionnaires, innocent and guilty autistic mock-suspects self-reported greater difficulty in understanding interview questions, higher anxiety and perceived the interview as less supportive than non-autistic participants. Implications for investigative interviewing with autistic suspects and cues to deception are discussed.

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“…6. For example see Collis, et al, 2022;Crompton, et al, 2020;Heasman and Gillespie, 2018;Milton, 2012. 7. For a hypothetical example of this, see Colusso, et al, 2019.…”

Section: About the Authormentioning

confidence: 99%

Encoding normative ethics: On algorithmic bias and disability

Moura¹

2023

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Computer-based algorithms have the potential to encode and exacerbate ableism and may contribute to disparate outcomes for disabled people. The threat of algorithmic bias to people with disabilities is inseparable from the longstanding role of technology as a normalizing agent, and from questions of how society defines shared values, quantifies ethics, conceptualizes and measures risk, and strives to allocate limited resources. This article situates algorithmic bias amidst the larger context of normalization, draws on social and critical theories that can be used to better understand both ableism and algorithmic bias as they operate in the United States, and proposes concrete steps to mitigate harm to the disability community as a result of algorithmic adoption. Examination of two cases — the allocation of lifesaving medical interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic and approaches to autism diagnosis and intervention — demonstrate instances of the mismatch between disabled people’s lived experiences and the goals and understandings advanced by nondisabled people. These examples highlight the ways particular ethical norms can become part of technological systems, and the harm that can ripple outward from misalignment of formal ethics and community values.

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Autistic adults’ experience of restricted repetitive behaviours

Cited by 28 publications

References 57 publications

Insistence on sameness for food space appropriation: An exploratory study on Brazilians with autism (self-)diagnosis in adulthood

Insistence on sameness for food space appropriation: An exploratory study on Brazilians with autism (self-)diagnosis in adulthood

Police suspect interviews with autistic adults: The impact of truth telling versus deception on testimony

Encoding normative ethics: On algorithmic bias and disability

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