My ASD Child

“My daughter is totally obsessed with the weather. Reads books on it, watches the weather channel constantly, listens to thunder and lightning sounds on the computer, and so on. Is this typical autistic behavior? Why an obsession about weather?”   Nearly all children with High-Functioning Autism have an area of special, sometimes obsessive interest. Often times, these kids develop this interest as a way to overcome fear (however, this is not always the case).    Weather, especially tornadoes and hurricanes, can be fearful and even terrifying. A youngster on the autism spectrum may develop a preoccupation with weather to cope with this fear.  She might watch the Weather Channel continuously, read the weather report in the paper numerous times across the day, or read about different weather phenomena – and be able to share details of past storms when the weather worsens.  In addition, trains are often a focus of interest for many kids on the spectrum, perhaps due to the trai