Autismo y acoso: ¿existe alguna relación?

Communication and social interactions are two areas in which people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly struggle. While there are many different ways these struggles might manifest, some could be of significant concern.

People who have autism, for instance, may not understand some of the more subtle nuances of communication. They may misinterpret something such as kindness or not understand non-verbal cues such as tone of voice, body language and facial expressions.

At times, this could lead to individuals with autism not accurately picking up on someone’s social cues, which might ultimately result in them exhibiting harassing behaviors.

While people with autism aren’t inherently more likely to engage in stalking behaviors than neurotypical individuals, there are some concerns that they’re inability to properly interpret common social cues and norms could lead to these types of behaviors.

Below, we’ll discuss how autism could contribute to stalking behaviors and how applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy) can help in this regard.

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How Does Autism Contribute to Stalking Behaviors?

Understanding social norms and social cues is at the heart of respecting other people’s boundaries. Neurotypical individuals will usually be able to understand that it’s not polite to stare, for example, or not stand too close to someone else as a way of respecting their personal space.

Individuals with autism may not possess this same understanding, and that can lead to not only awkward situations and difficulties forming meaningful relationships, but it could also result in more concerning behaviors such as stalking and harassment.

One of the common challenges that people with autism face is picking up on nonverbal signals, which can often be very subtle. If another person is giving nonverbal signals that they want to be left alone, or aren’t interested in talking and/or engaging, a person with autism might not be able to interpret those signals properly.

As a result, they may overstep considerably and violate someone else’s personal space, their boundaries and/or their privacy.

The Misunderstanding Plays in Stalking

Stalking and harassment are serious things, and they can even cross into the realm of criminal acts. Unfortunately for people with autism, misunderstanding or misinterpretation of other people’s social cues is not a valid defense if they were ever charged with these crimes.

Even if the stalking and harassing behaviors don’t get to the point of being criminal, it’s important for people with autism and those who are close to them to understand how the challenges they face could put them at risk of these situations.

As mentioned before, the difficulties in interpreting social cues and norms are a big challenge that people with autism face. For example, they may not understand that it isn’t considered normal or even appropriate at times to show up unexpectedly to someone’s house or to repeatedly call or text them on the phone.

If these forms of outreach are considered harassing and/or threatening by the person on the receiving end, it could end up in a bad situation for the person with ASD.

How Can People with Autism Be Supported with These Behaviors?

There are a few different aspects to providing support for people with autism in regard to potentially problematic behaviors.

One important aspect is advocacy and understanding. People with autism can disclose to others who they are around often that they have ASD, which can lead to better understanding and acceptance among others.

In other words, if other people know that someone has autism and, therefore, have an understanding of why they may be exhibiting certain behaviors, they may not interpret their actions as threatening.

Of course, for this to be successful, the individual with autism would not only have to have the ability to recognize their autism and be able to communicate that to others, but they would have to be comfortable and confident enough to do so. This takes a lot of encouragement, support and general acceptance from others.

Another important aspect is getting treatment that is proven to work for building communication and social interaction skills, and modifying behaviors. ABA therapy is considered the gold standard of treatments for people on the autism spectrum, and can help immensely in this regard.

Using positive reinforcement, repetition and many other strategies, ABA therapists can help people on the autism spectrum understand and interpret things like non-verbal cues better, and even develop replacement behaviors that help them improve their social interactions and communication, which can lead to better acceptance among others.

Blue Gems ABA ayuda a crecer a los niños con autismo

While people with autism don’t inherently display stalking behaviors, some of the challenges they face with communication and social interaction could put them more at risk of exhibiting harassing behaviors than neurotypical individuals.

En Blue Gems ABA, our team of experienced BCBAs work with children on the autism spectrum every day, helping them build social and communication skills so they can live happy, healthy and independent lives. All of our ABA therapy treatment plans are catered specifically to each patient’s unique strengths and challenges, which results in them being more successful with their treatment.

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