Page "Stereotypy" Paragraph 4

There are several possible explanations for stereotypy, and different stereotyped behaviors may have different explanations.

A popular explanation is stimming, which hypothesizes that a particular stereotyped behavior has a function related to sensory input.

Other explanations include hypotheses that stereotypy discharges tension or expresses frustration, that it communicates a need for attention or reinforcement or sensory stimulation, that it is learned or neuropathological or some combination of the two, or that it is normal behavior with no particular explanation needed.