Stereotype Behaviors and Adaptive Social Skills in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Parental and Professional Perspective

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show restricted and repetitive behaviors persistently, including sterotype behaviors. Stereotypic behaviors include irregular pattern movements (repetitive jumping, body spinning, hand flapping, and vigorous finger movement) and uncontrolled talking (vocal steaming/hamming). These problems create great hurdles for children in developing adaptive social skills and learning engagement, thus making them isolated. By using the qualitative method, the study aimed to explore the viewpoints of Pakistani parents and professionals regarding stereotypic behavior and its effects on adaptive social skills among children with ASD. Six participants (three parents and three teachers of children with ASD) were selected by using purposive sampling to explore their experiences about stereotype behaviors closely associated with ASD children. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and recorded through online meetings (by using Zoom Meet and Google Meet) and face-to-face meetings.The meeting duration was 35-60 minutes depending on the availability of the participants. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes and sub-theme trends in order to explore the parents' and teachers' perspectives. The findings of this study indicated that the stereotypic behaviors among ASD children displayed negative effects causing problems in social contexts. Moreover, these children were found to have deficits in learning participation, and difficulties in social etiquette, leaving them isolated. The findings also indicated that stereotypical behaviors required target intervention and community awareness about the rights of ASD children. The results showed that stereotypical behaviors stem from sensory needs which should be fulfilled accordingly using sensory-based interventions that may be helpful in engaging and developing attentive behavior of such children in various social contexts. Further research should be conducted with mixed-method approach to provide targeted intervention that may help decrease stereotypical behaviors. Additionally, a larger sample size in qualitative studies is advised to reach saturation effectively.