Self-injury is practised by autistic children when they are unable to communicate properly their needs or thoughts on a subject; often, they feel frustration and anxiety at not having their feelings understood and they translate these emotions in a painful manner to release the tension within them.

Other commonly used tactics by autistic children include head-banging, biting themselves or scratching at body parts till blood flows; at times, when an austistic child feels he or she is not getting adequate attention, they may also practise self-injury for getting some of the focus on themselves. This kind of behavior should be curtailed immediately and proper efforts made to understand what the autistic child wants to communicate in order to avoid a similar, dangerous situation occuring in the future.

Thus, the 2 main theories revolving around self-injury are frustration and attention-problem, but another recent belief is that self-injury may have a certain biochemical component which relieves some of the hurtful feelings one feels as the practise releases endorphins, (also known as the happy hormones) into one's system, thus enabling the autistic child to forget about the negative feelings albeit, temporarily. Some believe that if one practises self-injury enough, endorphins start to mask any pain linked with such behavior, which can make self injury addictive.

Some medical experts feel that ignoring this kind of self-injurious behavior displayed by an autistic child is an acceptable method of treating them while others are of the opinion that this can be difficult for parents and other means such as better communication with the child and possibly relaxant drugs be used for treating self-injurious tendencies. The kind of drugs recommended for treating self-injurious behavior are those that release endorphins into the system that are effective in stopping such behavior. Another new-age cure for self-injurious behavior lies in nutritional supplements being included in the diet of the autistic child, mainly vitamin B6 and calcium.

Involving and educating the family circle around the autistic child and teaching everyone concerned about improved ways of communicating with the affected child helps prevent and control self-injurious and reckless behavior; learning the body language of an autistic child requires some time and dedication to learn in order to judge when the child is deviating towards harmful behavior but it can be done and is necessary deal with the situation.