DS has had and still has perseverative behaviors. To a certain extent, we accept them as part of our daily life. (And we usually refer to them as obsessions or fascinations.)
When he was very little (around 2ish), it was certain shapes - mostly pentagons - letters/numbers, and certain motor activities like spinning and opening/closing cabinet doors. His letter obsession developed into hyperlexia, which has been one of his great gifts.
Over the years, perseverative behavior has centered around: trains, trucks, auto insurance commercials, perscription drug commercials, singing the alphabet backwards, counting to 9000, constantly humming the "Thomas the Tank Engine" theme song, Roman numerals, writing lists and/or mind map diagrams, calendars and dates, echolalia - to name a few. They crop up, last a while and then fade as he develops new fascinations. Some of them crop up again and again.
His current fixations include constant humming, list making, calendar/date fascination, obsessions with certain types of commercials, and compulsive reading.
It's important to understand that these behaviors serve a purpose. They might be stress relief, entertainment, an attempt to process information/expereince or an attmept to engage us socially. You can't just take away everything that triggers perseverative behavior. The child will either protest strenuously or just find something else to fixate on. IF you want to stop the perseverating behavior (and that is a big IF), you need to figure out what need it meets and then determine a different way for that need to be satisfied.
We do not try to eliminate perseverating behavior. However, we also do not allow it to run rampant. We put limits on it - certain times of day, certain areas of the house. We will tell DS, "We are not talking about (Thomas/car insurance/calendars) right now. Right now we are (eating dinner/working on math/listening to music). First we do (desired task), then we can do (perseverating behavior) later. "
Also. some of DS's perseverative behavior such as the calendar fascination and list making are actually useful skills. So we and his teachers openly encourage these and teach him how to use these interests in ways that increase his ability to function in his environment. For example, DS now manages his own schedule on his iPad and we are able to use this to help him prepare for upcoming changes to his routine.
Last edited by Gena; 03-28-2011 at 01:14 PM.
Gena
DS, age 11 and always amazing
“Autistics are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It's that you're destroying the peg." - Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong