Inventory of Restricted Interests and Repetitive Behaviours in Young Autistic Children: a Questionnaire for Professionals

Background: Stereotyped behaviors and restricted interests in young autistic children are largely documented by parental reports. (Adrien et al. 1993; Dahlgren & Gillberg, 1989; Dawson & Watling, 2000; Gillberg et al. 1990; Lord et al., 1993; Lord, 1995; Moore & Goodson, 2003; Rogers et al., 2003).  However, little is known about the psychophysical properties of the objects triggering these behaviors (Ozonoff et al., 2008), although there is a consensus that they are associated with sensory stimulation (Lovaas, Newson & Hickman, 1987; Mottron et al., 2007; Reisman, 1993; Rogers et al., 2003).

Objectives: To document stereotyped behaviors and restricted interests in young autistic children and to identify classes of objects associated with these behaviors.

Methods: Using a literature survey in addition to a qualitative inquiry among one series of professionals, we designed a questionnaire composed of questions about the frequency of restricted interests and repetitive behaviours (RIRB: 36 items), sensory stimulation components (7 items), and other miscellaneous repetitive behaviors (8 items). This resulted in the following RIRB items: hand flapping and finger flicking close to the body or in front of eyes, hand or finger posturing, spinning of entire body, rocking, toe-walking, jumping, closing or squinting of eyes, putting hands on eyes, putting hands on ears, putting fingers in ears, placing objects on ears, placing objects on cheeks, putting fingers or hands in ears or mouth, putting others parts of the body in mouth, putting objects in mouth, putting finger in nose, touching a part of the body repetitively, rubbing hands or fingers on body parts, touching objects, pressing  fingers or hands against objects, tapping objects, spinning objects, lining up objects, shaking objects,  holding objects in hand, searching to match objects in surroundings, talking about the same subject, making noises with mouth, repeating a sequence of actions, looking at objects with lateral gaze, staring at objects, putting object in front of eyes, smelling objects or people, and throwing or dropping objects. An open series of psychophysical dimensions classified by modality was also proposed, in order to characterize the properties of objects associated to RIRB. In a second part of the study, this questionnaire was sent to a second series of 100 professionals with a mandate for intervention and/or assessment working with autistic children aged up to and including 5 years.

Results: Preliminary analyses (N=25 professionals) of RIRB relative frequency scores indicate that hand flapping, jumping, spinning objects, lining up objects, lateral gaze, and staring at objects are the most frequent RIRB. Specific visual (rotary and linear movements, reflective components) and auditory (melodies) properties are the most frequent psychophysical properties associated with repetitive movements.

Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that a specific series of psychophysical properties is implicated in the generation of autistic repetitive behaviours. Further analyses will investigate the possible relation between these properties and current models of autistic atypical information processing.