1. Activities for pure pleasure seeking - These activities are typically solitary and while enjoyable do not lead to any personal growth or discovery. Examples include playing video games alone, reading about previously learned material, or engaging in a preferred routine behavior without any changes.
2. Activities for shared enjoyment - These can be any enjoyable activity, but are done with another person. The more physical proximity there is the more positive emotion is derived. For example more positive emotion would be experienced playing video games with a friend in person than would be experienced playing with that same friend online. the same would apply for discussing a topic of shared interest.
3. Activities for personal growth - These are enjoyable activities that involve learning something new or performing a new behavior. For example learning new information about a preferred topic would qualify for this category. Teaching or discussing that information with another interested person would then result in shared enjoyment.
The best way to conceptualize the different types of activities is to think of pleasure seeking activities as a method of coping with the stress of every day life. The other two types of activities are ways of mind expansion either intellectual or social-emotional. Since mind expansion and coping are both very important activities, the key is to have a balance of both in your daily activity schedule. Two other important things to remember with regard to people with Autism Spectrum Disorder:
A. While pleasure seeking/coping activities are important, doing them for too long a time can make it extremely difficult to want to do other activities, which will inhibit development and result in increased isolation. Also, overuse of pleasurable activities can eventually make them less pleasurable and result in less coping power. While time limits for individual people may vary, a general rule of thumb daily use should fall between 20-40 minutes. If the activity can only be done weekly, then the time limit can increase to 1-2 hours depending on the person's tolerance for stimulation.
B. With mind expansion activities, people with Autism typically can only handle change or social interaction in small increments. While it would still be beneficial for these activities to occur daily, it would be best if they are done in small increments with breaks in between of quiet/solitary activity. For example, a person with Autism could be more productive if their work/school day contains several short breaks scheduled regularly at specific times during the day (typically following stimulating activity).
By striking a balance between pleasure seeking and mind expanding positive activities, you are ensuring the best chance for personal growth with the least amount of resistance. I'll addressed dealing with fear/resistance in my next post.
Steven C Altabet, Ph.D.