Running Head: Behavior characteristics of individuals with ASD 1

Behavior Characteristics of Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Michelle de Mercado

Brandman University
Behavior characteristics of individuals with ASD 2

Behavior Characteristics

Individuals affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show many different manners

of behavior. Autism has been distinguished as a pattern of symptoms over any one specific

symptom with characteristics which present along a broad spectrum from mild to severe. It is

considered a spectrum disorder which, according to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary,

is a group of disorders, each having symptoms that occur on a continuum and certain features

that are shared along its spectrum, but that manifest in different forms and degrees. The main

characteristics of Spectrum Disorder are impairments in social interactions, communication and

a tenancy to engage in repetitive behaviors.

In a social world we are expected to interpret cues that a person demonstrates either

physically or verbally. A person affected by autism has difficulty focusing on objects, a

person’s interactions, or social cues that are being exhibited. This causes the person who has

ASD to have an inability to understand the social world. This individual may appear to be aloof

or struggle with making eye contact or prefer to be alone over sharing interests or activities

with others. Although a person with autism may be able to focus on the happenings of the

social world, ‘they have great difficulty interpreting what they see and hear. (“Autism:

Impairments in Social Interacting”, 2013.)

While some individuals with ASD are unable to communicate using speech others may

have limited verbal skills and others may have a rich vocabulary. The lack of ability to

communicate or understand the social cues of communication may cause the individual with

ASD to become frustrated causing acting out behaviors. These acting out behaviors could range

from refusal, tantrums to aggression or self harm, depending on the individual person. These
Behavior characteristics of individuals with ASD 3

challenging behaviors may be due to the lack of understanding of what is happening in their

surroundings or due to the individuals’ lack of ability to communicate his or her wants or

needs. (Raising Children Network)

The individual who has a spectrum disorder may also have acting out behaviors due to a

change in the predictable routine, over stimulation or discomfort. (Raising Children Network)

The individual may act out in frustration due to a change in the typical routine or due to the

noise level/lack of noise level in their environment. It is important to allow the individual with

spectrum disorder an appropriate level of proprioceptive input allowing him the necessary

movements that allow good quality with the individuals body map. When the body map is

confused the individual may have unexplained pain or discomfort causing acting out behaviors.

In the journal ‘Complexity’ a person who has been diagnosed with autism spectrum

disorder can be compared to an earthquake.(Tonello, et al., 2018) The behavior can be measured

in size from small to medium in size/intensity just as an earthquake can be measured by its

magnitude. This theory is modeled from the Self-Organized Criticality (SOC) model which is

used to measure the dynamics of earthquake faults and probability of the next earthquake. This

model is used to describe the magnitude of the individuals’ behavior and is able to offer a target

of possible intensity and duration of the next acting out behavior. This acting out behavior allows

the individual the ability to express his or her needs or to provide an equilibiral balance. The

frequency, intensity, duration and possible antecedents to the acting out behaviors can be charted

so that the ‘when’ of other larger episodes may be determined.

Behavior in the individual with spectrum disorder can be expressed in many ways,

individual to the person and their cognitive and developmental levels.

Behavior characteristics of individuals with ASD 4

Reference

Tonello, L., Giacobbi, L., Pettenon, A., Scuotto, A., Cocchi, M., Gabrielli, F., & Cappello, G.
(2018). Crisis Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Self-Organized Criticality
Approach. Complexity,2018, 1-7. doi:10.1155/2018/5128157

Olami, Z., Feder, H. J., & Christensen, K. (1992). Self-organized criticality in a continuous,
nonconservative cellular automaton modeling earthquakes. Physical Review
Letters,68(8), 1244-1247. doi:10.1103/physrevlett.68.1244

Social Issues. (2008, October 30). Retrieved September 22, 2018, from
https://iancommunity.org/cs/challenging_behavior/social_issues

Autism: Impairments in Social Interaction. (2013, December 05). Retrieved September 22, 2018,
from https://iancommunity.org/cs/autism/impairments_in_social_interaction

Raising Children Network. (n.d.). Challenging behaviour: Children and teenagers with autism
spectrum disorder. Retrieved September 23, 2018, from
http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/autism_spectrum_disorder_managing_behaviour.htm
l

How to Improve Proprioception. (n.d.). Retrieved September 23, 2018, from

https://www.bettermovement.org/blog/2008/proprioception-the-3-d-map-of-the-body

Davis, N. O., & Carter, A. S. (2008). Parenting Stress in Mothers and Fathers of Toddlers with
Autism Spectrum Disorders: Associations with Child Characteristics. Journal of Autism
and Developmental Disorders,38(7), 1278-1291. doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0512-z