Characterization of Special Interests in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Brief Review and Pilot Study Using the Special Interests Survey.
A five-minute parent survey turns special interests into numbers you can act on.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Parents of 1,992 children with autism filled out a new five-minute survey.
The survey asked them to list their child’s current special interests and rate how much each one gets in the way.
TV shows, objects, and music topped the list. Most interests started around age five and lasted a long time.
What they found
Kids averaged nine special interests at once.
The weirder the interest, the more parents said it interfered with daily life.
The tool gives you a fast count and a quick rating of trouble versus talent.
How this fits with other research
Fahmie et al. (2013) saw the same pattern with sensory interests: stranger interests linked to tougher symptoms.
Harrop (2015) warns that most parent programs ignore restricted interests. The new survey fills that gap by giving parents words and numbers to bring to the team.
Keintz et al. (2011) showed teachers offer fewer toys when kids have narrow interests. Handing parents this survey can balance the picture and keep novelty in the mix.
Why it matters
You now have a one-page parent form that turns “my kid loves weird stuff” into countable data.
Use the count and interference score to decide when to build an interest into reinforcers, when to limit it, and when to teach flexibility. Takes five minutes and travels with the family.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Hand the Special Interests Survey to the next parent you see; use the interference score to pick one high-interference interest to rotate or expand this week.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Special interests (SIs) are part of the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Though they can have both positive and negative effects on functioning and long-term outcomes, research on SIs is limited. This pilot study used a newly developed parent-report measure, the Special Interest Survey, to characterize SIs in 1992 children with ASD. The mean number of current special interests reported was 9, with television, objects, and music being most commonly endorsed interests. The mean age of onset reported across all categories was 5.24 years, with duration of past interests most often exceeding 2 years. Age of onset, interference, and relative unusualness of the SI was varied across categories. Interference was significantly correlated with the unusualness of the SIs.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2021 · doi:10.1080/00131911.2019.1566213