Short-term trajectories of restricted and repetitive behaviors in minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder.
Clare Harrop, Kyle Sterrett, Wendy Shih and 3 others
PMID 33960125WHAT IT FOUND
Minimally verbal school-aged children displayed frequent restricted and repetitive behaviors, mostly verbal rather than object-focused.
Rates remained stable during active social communication treatment but significantly decreased three months after the intervention ended.
Key findings
01The most common restricted and repetitive behavior was verbal (atypical vocalizations, scripting, echolalia), contrasting with object-focused behaviors seen in younger children.
02Total behavior counts did not change during the active treatment phase but significantly decreased from baseline to three months post-intervention.
03Self-injurious behaviors and insistence on sameness were rarely observed during play sessions, despite being common in autism reports.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only measured the frequency of behaviors, not how long they lasted or how disruptive they were. Observations were limited to a ten-minute play session with a caregiver, which may miss behaviors triggered by demands or unfamiliar settings. The coding scheme was originally designed for younger, verbal children, so its fit for older minimally verbal children is uncertain. Some children had access to speech-generating devices during play and others did not, which may have influenced the opportunity for repetitive device use.
Declared interests
The study was supported by NIH grants. The authors declared no competing financial interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the reduction in behaviors three months after treatment as a direct effect of the social communication intervention. The study did not control for a comparison group or test treatment effects on RRBs, so the decrease may reflect natural development or other factors.