So is there a correlation between stereotyped behaviors and self-injurious ones? (Barnard-Brak et al., 2015) intended to find a link between stereotypy constructs and SIB constructs and if stereotypy behaviors can predict the latter. Factors like age showed a relationship with SIB, as children grew older their self-injurious behaviors tended to decrease. Barnard-Brak et al. (2015) used a large, international database and found that their study and results indicated that stereotypy behaviors is a noteworthy predictor of SIB for some individuals with intellectual disabilities, but not all. Specifically …show more content…
“Challenging behavior is not only physically damaging to the person or others, but also adversely influences the ability of the person to engage in normal activities” (Poppes, Van der Putten & Vlaskamp, 2014). If these negative behaviors are taking up most of the individual’s day it is nearly impossible to engage in social activities, educational based programs or build personal relationships. Personal relationships are extremely important in this population due to the widespread dependency individuals with ASD have upon others during their entire lives (Poppes et al., 2014). Despite the high frequency of individuals with ASD displaying severe SIB behaviors it has received less attention in terms of research solely looking at simply SIB and ASD together (Matson & LoVullo, …show more content…
Devine (2013) explored the neurobiological and behavioral features of individuals with autism in hopes to find relevance and understanding to self-injurious behavior which they appear to be so defenseless to. Reiterating the fact that SIB can have extremely hazardous effects an example of this was given through a study of an 8 year old girl who engaged in head hitting. The study measured the kinetics of the hit and it was estimated that the force of impact was comparable to the low range of a professional boxer’s jab (Devine, 2013). If the force alone isn’t enough to question the cause of these behaviors the fact that this same girl engaged in head hitting up to 80 times per minute. In a post-mortem examination of a 24 year old women with severe SIB results showed multiple “neurofibrillary tangles in the orbitofrontal cortex, temporal cortex and amygdala” (Devine, 2013), these findings were comparable to brain diseases found in boxers. Bartak and Rutter (1976) found that SIB in autistic boys with IQs less than 70 showed a prevalence of 71% where only 32% engaged in SIB with IQs higher than 70. Perhaps the severity of deficits in cognition and language play a role in the presence and severity of self-injurious behavior. Other features that co-vary with SIB are over-activity, impulsivity, stereotypy and ritualistic behaviors (Devine, 2013). Some studies have found that children with stereotypy may transfer that behavior to SIB, where self-stimulation meets