The undervalued role of over-regulation in autism: chaos theory as a metaphor and beyond

TOPIC: A triad of impairment that consists of impaired communication, impaired social skills and over-regulated behavior characterizes autism. Causality of autism is yet to be identified. Therapy has been devised to apply to the work with children and adolescents with a diagnosis of autism in the domains of impaired communication and impaired social skills. Little attention has been paid to the importance of the over-regulated behavior that forms part of the triad of impairment. PURPOSE: This paper considers this point of over-regulation in the triad of impairment in autism through the lens of Chaos theory. SOURCES: Contemporary literature on autism and Chaos theory. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for nursing practice and research are raised.