What Is Aloofness In Autism?

An example of this is when we are sometimes worried and we are sitting at the dining table with family and stirring a spoon on an empty plate, but if something else is going on in our mind, then we will not know what the people sitting in our surroundings are doing. If this condition occurs in a normal person by 2%, then in autistic children its ratio is almost 50%, though this can vary among individual autistic children.

Recognizing Aloofness and Repetitive Behaviors

Several repetitive actions can indicate that your child is experiencing aloofness. These behaviors are a clear sign that their mind is operating on a single, repetitive pattern, often referred to as stimming or self-stimulatory behavior:

Hand flapping: When your child repetitively flaps their hands, their mind is often "stuck" in a single pattern of thought or sensation.
Looking with a tilted neck or squinted eyes: This can be a way for them to filter out or focus on specific visual input, often to the exclusion of other environmental stimuli.
Repeatedly throwing stones in one spot.
Playing with a single toy in the same way over and over.
Stirring a plate with a spoon without any apparent reason.
Lying on the floor for extended periods.
Walking on tiptoes (toe walking).
Spinning tires or fixating on spinning objects (spinning objects fixation).
Sitting in one place, lost in thought, and unresponsive to their environment.

All these repetitive actions are indicators of aloofness and Aloofness is a part of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms.

Addressing Aloofness and Promoting Engagement

The key to helping your child with aloofness is to gently redirect their attention from repetitive actions towards more engaging or creative activities. The goal is to interrupt the repetitive pattern without causing distress, fostering social engagement and developmental progress.

Here's a simple approach:

When you notice your child engaged in a repetitive action, gently intervene without scolding or drawing negative attention to their behavior. Instead, try to engage them in a different activity or conversation to encourage interactive play.

For example, If your child is flapping hands, gently hold both their hands and start making them clap, and at the same time start reciting a real-life poem like:

"My child is clapping!"
"My child is playing!"
"My child is having fun!"

Best Tip for Redirect autistic child behavior:

Always aim to gently redirect your child's repetitive actions into creative or interactive ones. Your calm and consistent approach can make a significant difference in helping them shift their focus and engage more with their surroundings, promoting positive behavior support and communication skills.

To learn more about early intervention strategies please read my articles:

Receiving an Autism Diagnosis? Now, Where do you Begin?

Practical Ways to Reduce Aloofness in Autistic Children?

Autism Parenting

TM

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TM talks about nature, food and health. Through articles they write, their audience is encouraged to live healthy and reduce the impact on our natural resources by producing articles on subjects such as wild life, Autism and the environment.