Abstract
Introduction The autistic child ‘overselects’ some information from all the information simultaneously available. This perceptive ‘overselection’ is generally accompanied by motor stereotypies. It has been shown previously that there is a relationship between oculomotor activity and dyspraxia in children who were born prematurely. Ojective To test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between visual exploration defined in terms of over-election and motor stereotypy in autistic children. Method An experimental device was designed to test whether or not a change in the visual stimulation gazed at by the children could provoke a modification of stereotypic behavior. Three groups (N = 30, ten per group) participated in the experiment: normal children between 3,2 and 3,5 years of age, autists (DSM IV and CARS) and mentally retarded children (matched by PEP-R acquired age). Results Visual stimulation provoked more stereotypic behavior in autists and mentally retarded children than in normal children ( p < 0.02 and p < 0.03). Changes in the visual gazed-at stimulation modified stereotypic motor behavior in the majority of autists. However, the variability in responsiveness of the autistic group suggests the existence of several different forms of autism, or an intermittent phenomenon in the same individual. Conclusion It is possible to focus the reeducation on visual stimulation to reduce stereotypic motor behavior.
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