Physical Deficits
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Part of the issue children with autism have with fine motor activities is that they tend to interfere with their need to engage in stereotyped repetitive movements and self-stimulatory behaviors. Children with autism with hyposensitivities to sensory stimulation constantly feel under-stimulated, and engage in a variety of self-stimulation behaviors such as hand flapping or rocking just to help themselves feel more 'normal'. Likewise, hypersensitive children may engage in self-stimulation as a means of blocking out otherwise overwhelming environmental stimulation. In either case, children with autism find it aversive to be prevented from self-stimulating by the need to concentrate on tasks and are likely to resist efforts to motivate them to complete such tasks.
Self-stimulation behaviors are often varied in nature. In addition to hand flapping and rocking, children with autism may engage in visual self-stimulatory behaviors. They may squint their eyes, or otherwise defocus their eyes to create odd visual sensations. Alternatively, they may engage in "sighting"; repetitiously focusing closely on an object, then pulling away, and then repeating the process over and over.
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