Characteristics of ASD

This guide expands on the five domains commonly used to describe autism-related differences, paired with evidence-based practices (EBPs) drawn primarily from the National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice (NCAEP) review — the most comprehensive and widely cited systematic review of autism intervention research. The NCAEP review screened more than 31,000 articles published between 1990–2017 and identified 28 practices that met rigorous criteria for evidence of effectiveness (Steinbrenner et al., 2020). Most of these EBPs also have free, practitioner-facing training modules through AFIRM (Autism Focused Intervention Resources & Modules), a project of the UNC Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute: https://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/

🧠 Cognitive & Neurological

Characteristics

  • Differences in executive functioning — difficulty with planning, organization, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control, which can affect task initiation and shifting between activities.
  • Uneven cognitive profiles (splinter skills) — pronounced strengths in specific areas (e.g., memory, math, music, visual-spatial skills) alongside marked difficulty in others.
  • Challenges with theory of mind — difficulty inferring others' thoughts, intentions, or emotional states, which can affect perspective-taking in social and academic contexts.
  • Strong rote memory or systemizing tendencies — a preference for and skill in identifying rules, patterns, and systems (categorization, sequencing, detail-orientation).
  • Atypical attention regulation — difficulty with shared/joint attention, sustained attention on non-preferred tasks, or disengaging attention from a preferred stimulus.

EBP: Cognitive Behavioral/Instructional Intervention (CBI) CBI teaches individuals to recognize the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and uses structured strategies (self-talk, relaxation, cognitive restructuring) to manage anxiety, rigid thinking, and emotional reactivity. It is one of the 28 EBPs identified in the NCAEP review and has the strongest evidence base for verbal individuals with anxiety or emotional regulation difficulties.

EBP: Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) CAI uses software, tablets, or computer-based platforms to deliver academic and cognitive content in a structured, predictable, self-paced format. It capitalizes on many autistic learners' affinity for visual and technology-based learning and has demonstrated gains in literacy, math, and on-task behavior. CAI is included among the NCAEP's 28 EBPs.

EBP: Task Analysis A complex skill (e.g., handwashing, a multi-step assignment) is broken into smaller, sequential, teachable steps, often paired with prompting and reinforcement. Task analysis is a foundational strategy within Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and is one of the most consistently supported EBPs for building independence in self-care, vocational, and academic routines.

🔄 Behavioral

Characteristics

  • Repetitive behaviors and routines (RRBs) — repeated motor movements, use of objects, or speech patterns.
  • Insistence on sameness — strong preference for predictability; distress in response to changes in routine, environment, or expectations.
  • Self-stimulatory behaviors (stimming) — repetitive movements or sounds (hand-flapping, rocking, vocalizations) that often serve a self-regulatory function and are not inherently harmful.
  • Restricted interests — intense, narrow focus on specific topics or activities, which can be a strength (motivation, expertise) as well as a source of inflexibility.
  • Challenges with transitions — difficulty shifting between activities, settings, or tasks, especially without warning or preparation.

EBP: Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) An FBA systematically identifies the antecedents and consequences that maintain a behavior (its "function" — e.g., escape, attention, access to a tangible, or sensory regulation). Results inform an individualized Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) that teaches functionally equivalent replacement behaviors. FBA is foundational to nearly all other behavioral EBPs and has its own dedicated AFIRM resource packet: https://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/selecting-evidence-based-practice

EBP: Extinction Extinction withholds the reinforcer that has been maintaining a problem behavior (e.g., no longer providing escape from a task following a tantrum). Used carefully — almost always combined with reinforcement of a replacement behavior — extinction is supported by decades of single-case research as part of a comprehensive, ethically applied BIP, not as a standalone punishment procedure.

EBP: Differential Reinforcement Differential reinforcement procedures (DRA – Alternative behavior, DRI – Incompatible behavior, DRO – Other behavior) reinforce a desired or incompatible behavior while withholding reinforcement for the problem behavior. These are among the most heavily researched behavioral EBPs in the ASD literature and are core components of most ABA-based intervention plans.

💬 Communication & Language

Characteristics

  • Delayed or absent spoken language — language may emerge later than typical, or some individuals may remain minimally speaking or non-speaking throughout life.
  • Echolalia (immediate or delayed) — repetition of previously heard words or phrases, which can serve communicative, self-regulatory, or processing functions.
  • Literal interpretation of language — difficulty with idioms, sarcasm, and figurative language.
  • Difficulty with pragmatic communication — challenges with conversational turn-taking, topic maintenance, and adjusting language to the listener or context.
  • Challenges with nonverbal cues — difficulty reading or producing facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, and body language.

EBP: Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC) AAC is an umbrella term (per the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) for any communication method other than speech — including picture symbols, sign, communication boards, and speech-generating devices/apps. In the most recent NCAEP review, AAC was elevated to its own EBP category, and the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) — previously a standalone EBP — was reclassified under the broader AAC umbrella (Steinbrenner et al., 2020). A meta-analysis of aided AAC systems found consistent gains across communication outcomes for learners with ASD (Ganz et al., 2012). There is no evidence that introducing AAC reduces motivation for spoken language; some research shows the opposite.

EBP: Naturalistic Intervention (NI) NI embeds teaching within everyday, child-led routines and play rather than isolated drill-based sessions, using the child's own motivation and natural reinforcers to prompt communication. Pivotal Response Training (PRT) is a well-known, manualized form of NI that targets "pivotal" learning variables — motivation, responsiveness to multiple cues, self-management, and self-initiation — to produce broad, generalized gains.

EBP: Script Fading Individuals are given a written, pictorial, or audio-recorded script to prompt social or communicative initiations (e.g., a card that says "Want to play?"). Scripts are then systematically and gradually removed/faded, allowing the learner to initiate spontaneously without the prompt. This has strong evidence for building peer-directed initiations in school settings.

✋ Sensory

Characteristics

  • Hyper- or hyposensitivity to stimuli — over- or under-responsiveness to sound, light, touch, taste, or smell.
  • Unusual responses to sounds, textures, lights — distress, avoidance, or fascination with specific sensory input.
  • Sensory-seeking or sensory-avoidant behaviors — actively pursuing or avoiding particular sensory experiences (e.g., spinning, covering ears).
  • Interoception differences — difficulty perceiving internal bodily signals (hunger, pain, the need to use the bathroom, emotional arousal).
  • Proprioceptive processing challenges — difficulty perceiving body position and movement in space, which can affect motor planning and coordination.

EBP: Structured Environment Modifications Modifying the physical environment — reducing fluorescent lighting or background noise, offering alternative seating, providing sensory tools such as fidgets, weighted items, or noise-reducing headphones — lowers sensory load and supports self-regulation, particularly in classroom and clinical settings.

EBP: Exercise & Movement Integration Structured physical activity (e.g., jogging, structured movement breaks, yoga) has research support for reducing stereotypy and self-injurious behavior and improving on-task engagement, attention, and academic performance immediately following exercise. This is one of the NCAEP's 28 identified EBPs.

EBP: Visual Supports Visual schedules, first-then boards, choice boards, and other graphic cues make expectations concrete and predictable, reducing reliance on verbal processing and easing transitions and sensory-related anxiety. The AFIRM project maintains a dedicated Visual Supports practice brief: https://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/visual-supports

Related/emerging practice: Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI®) The most recent NCAEP review specifically evaluated Ayres Sensory Integration® — a structured, clinician-delivered OT approach using sensory-motor activities in a specialized environment — and published a companion guide clarifying how it differs from generic "sensory integration" strategies: https://ncaep.fpg.unc.edu/research-and-resources/

🤝 Social

Characteristics

  • Difficulty with reciprocal social interaction — challenges with back-and-forth social exchanges, including joint attention and social referencing.
  • Challenges initiating or maintaining friendships — difficulty starting interactions, sustaining shared interests with peers, or repairing social conflicts.
  • Differences in eye contact and social referencing — atypical (not necessarily absent or "wrong") patterns of eye gaze and checking others' reactions for social information.
  • Trouble reading social cues — difficulty interpreting tone, facial expression, sarcasm, or unspoken social expectations.
  • Preference for structured social settings — many autistic individuals engage more comfortably in predictable, rule-based social contexts (shared-interest clubs, structured games) than unstructured ones (recess, parties).

EBP: Social Skills Training (SST) Typically delivered in small groups, SST uses direct instruction, modeling, role-play, feedback, and structured generalization activities (often with neurotypical or mixed-ability peers) to build conversational, play, and friendship skills. SST is one of the most extensively studied EBPs across the lifespan, from early childhood through adulthood.

EBP: Social Narratives (Social Stories™) Social Stories™ were developed by Carol Gray beginning in 1990–1991 and first described in print in Gray & Garand (1993). They describe a social situation, relevant cues, others' likely perspectives, and expected responses using a defined, patient, first/third-person format — guided today by "Social Stories 10.1," Gray's current set of ten defining criteria. Social Narratives reduce anxiety around novel situations and support perspective-taking.

EBP: Video Modeling (VM) VM uses recorded video of a target behavior — performed by peers, adults, or the learner (self-modeling) — that the learner watches and then imitates. It has a robust evidence base across social, play, conversational, and daily-living skills, and across a wide age range, partly because many autistic learners show particular strengths in visual learning and attending to screen-based media.

Key Organizations & Resource Hubs

 

NCAEP (National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice)Full 2020 EBP systematic review report and research summaries https://ncaep.fpg.unc.edu/

AFIRM (Autism Focused Intervention Resources & Modules)Free, practitioner-facing training modules on all 28+ EBPs https://afirm.fpg.unc.edu/

CDC – Autism Spectrum DisorderPlain-language overview of ASD treatment categories https://www.cdc.gov/autism/treatment/index.html

ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association)AAC practice portal and clinical guidance    https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/AAC/

Carol Gray Social StoriesOriginal creator's site; current Social Stories 10.1 criteria https://carolgraysocialstories.com/

 

References

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (n.d.). Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/AAC/

Ganz, J. B., Earles-Vollrath, T. L., Heath, A. K., Parker, R. I., Rispoli, M. J., & Duran, J. B. (2012). A meta-analysis of single case research studies on aided augmentative and alternative communication systems with individuals with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(1), 60–74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1212-2

Gray, C., & Garand, J. D. (1993). Social stories: Improving responses of students with autism with accurate social information. Focus on Autistic Behavior, 8(1), 1–10.

Hume, K., Steinbrenner, J. R., Odom, S. L., Morin, K. L., Nowell, S. W., Tomaszewski, B., Szendrey, S., McIntyre, N. S., Yücesoy-Özkan, S., & Savage, M. N. (2021). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism: Third generation review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04844-2

Hyman, S. L., Levy, S. E., & Myers, S. M.; Council on Children with Disabilities, Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. (2020). Identification, evaluation, and management of children with autism spectrum disorder. Pediatrics, 145(1), e20193447.

National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice. (n.d.). Research & resources. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute. https://ncaep.fpg.unc.edu/research-and-resources/

Steinbrenner, J. R., Hume, K., Odom, S. L., Morin, K. L., Nowell, S. W., Tomaszewski, B., Szendrey, S., McIntyre, N. S., Yücesoy-Özkan, S., & Savage, M. N. (2020). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, National Clearinghouse on Autism Evidence and Practice Review Team. https://ncaep.fpg.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/EBP-Report-2020.pdf

Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., Brock, M. E., Plavnick, J. B., Fleury, V. P., & Schultz, T. R. (2015). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(7), 1951–1966.

 

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