High-Functioning Autism & Restricted/Repetitive Interests

“We are new to the world of autism spectrum disorders. Is it common for a child with high functioning autism to spend all (or certainly most) of his time doing only one thing? Our 5-year-old son would spend 24-hours-a-day telling you about dinosaurs if he didn’t have to sleep. Should we just go along with the program, or attempt to curb this appetite for dinosaur trivia?”

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Comments

Unknown said…
I use same method with the kids that I work with , it definitely helps to control their chatter. Great idea !
March 22, 2013 at 3:51 AM
Anonymous said…
my 15 yrs old high functioning daughter is fixated about people. At the moment she is totally absorbed by a girl friend and the idea that the girl might have other friends other than her is so overwhelming that she might get into a bad spiral of thoughts: like that she cannot live without her girlfriend or that the girlfriend might refuse her. The fixation has brought my daughter to bad episodes that she attemped suicide. Any advise on how to move her out of "people obsession" would be greatly appreciated.
Another subject is my daughter interest in dark novels: she is an avid reader of dystopian novels, but she might venture in murder or serial killers stories. Do you think this interest should not be allowed? Trouble is if we parent get into open confrontation, she gets into an anger meltdown. Thank you
July 27, 2017 at 11:48 PM
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