Dumping everything in sight!! | Autism PDD

My 4.5 yr son and 2 yr old son are both like that. My 4.5 yr old lovesto rub lotion and shampoo and anything with that consistancy EVERYWHERE.  My 2 yr old is dumping everything liguide and soild.

OH YEAH!! BEN DUMPS EVERYTHING!!! He also is into throwing things up in the air constantly.

Pauline- If you figure it out LET ME KNOW!

Shrlet likes to dump things as well, like toys and washing.  She throws things all the time.

I have had some success by every time she throws something I take the object and replace it with a ball, saying we only thow balls and then playing a throw catch game with her for a few minuites.  Now I have the balls out all the time and if she feels the urge some of the time she will go for the ball instead of something she shouldn't throw. 

Good Luck

My 3.5 yo has been doing this she's also mod-severe non verbal.  She's been doing it at daycare too.  Every day at daycare she overturns her toybox and throws a fit throwing things offf the shelves.  At first, I think it started as a transition thing but I think she does it now out of habit.  She also knocks over chairs and pulls stuff off the counter. 

We have have raised our expectations for her and dumping stuff is no longer an option.  We took the same approach to biting.   We decided she's not getting a free ticket to be a tazmanian devil. We have 3 other kids and she can't behave that way. We have been redirecting her at home and the daycare and working at teaching her more play skills.   

I have removed her toys with multiple parts from her room and keep them in my computer room;  the EA has too from her toybox at DC.  Her play skills are basic.  She still needs direction to play with most multi-part toys and enjoys when I get them out one at a time.  It takes some vigilance and some strategy but they can learn that somethings aren't allowed. 

You can even just try one thing at a time like the cup and try teaching that the cup is supposed to stay "up" even with a reward system.  ASD kids are really habitual.  You're not alone I'm in the middle of this too ... GL!

 

lbuss,     now I don't feel so bad that we're not the only ones that have to turn water off under the sink.  Fortunately Zach doesn't use the sprayer yet, but he loves to push the faucet to the back of the sink, and floods the kitchen that way.

I feel a little bit better that we're not the only ones dealing with this.  Our biggest problem is that Zach goes thru regressions every 5-6mths, where he loses real skills, and his behavior deteriorates.  The behavior that's driving us nuts this month, may be gone next week, and replaced with another. 

We work hard at stopping his behaviors, and his school does too, but honestly they have less luck at it than we do at home.  He has a 1:1 aide, and she's exhausted by the end of the day.  Some days all they can get him to participate in is art and PE, the rest of the time he fights all their attempts to get him to work.  He needs a lot of sensory input, generally we find something that works, but 2 days later he will lose all interest.  For now he loves his swing in the basement, I'm worried his interest is not going to last, but so far the swing has worked better than anything else.

There are times when he's this amazingly well behaved child, and then there are days when he's our little tornado, laughing at all the chaos he's causing.

Thanks for letting me vent.  I'm sure by next week the dumping will have subsided and he'll be back to trying to play in the toilet.

Pauline

my son as well loves to dump and scatter things he just recently started doing this with drinks he will purposley spill them just to see it then put his hands and splash it all over !!!!

 

my ds is 6 1/2 and for at least 2 yrs has loved chaos, and loves dumping things even more.  The latest thing he dumps out is the cats litter box (yuck).  He loves to grab 1/2 gal milk cartons and empty the entire contents.  For a while he was throwing the cartons down the basement stairs.  If he gets hold of a can of soda, he will immediately turn it upside down.  He hates his toys kept in a toy box, he turns the box upside down, until everything is out.  He loves to open the washing machine and dump out all the clothing so the floor is covered in water.  He still uses a covered cup to drink, not because he can't manage a normal cup, but after a few sips he emptys the cup.  When he's done eating the remnants get dumped.

We have locks and an alarm on the fridge now.  His dad bolted the toy box to the floor, and he's really frustrated by that one.  We are locking the back of the basement so he can't get the cat litter.  I don't do laundry while Zach is in the house and awake.  We try to get him to pick up, but he fights that every step of the way.  I told him to pick up popcorn the other day, and he started picking it up one by one and eating it.  He did finally put 2 of the tiniest bits of popcorn in the dustpan.  I try hand over hand, but he flops down to the floor and he's difficult to get back up(low tone).

Zach is basically non-verbal and severely affected.  He does understand almost everything we say to him.   He seems to understand he should not be doing these things, but has no impulse control.  When we catch him dumping he holds on to the container tighter and rushes to keep dumping before we can stop him.

I guess I'm mostly venting because I'm exhausted, some days we're running from one disaster to another until bedtime.  Does any one else deal with this? 

Pauline

When my son was little he would dump his toys out of their boxes ALL the time.  I discovered it was because he's so VISUAL, he hates not SEEING the things in the containers. I got one of those organizers they make for kids' toys an sorted the types of toys into separate, open-topped boxes.  He dumped out only the CAR box, when he was looking for cars, the pretend food box when he was looking for than, etc.  Many visually-oriented people need stuff OUT. I'm one and I use only Clearn storage containers for my own stuff.  If your son is not yet verbal, I'd suggest that you keep only the things you don't mind him dumping out.  The rest needs to be locked up.  There are fridge locks and cabinet locks, etc.  Put PECS icons or photos of the thing you'll know he'll want on the outside of where those things are stored.  Show him how to point to those pictures or bring you the PECS icons when he wants something.  You'll be using his tendency to need things to inspire him to communicate symbolically instead of dumping and/or screaming.  You'll have to take him through this procedure for awhile before he'll get it, but that's probably a better use of your time than constantly having to clean up after him.  Of course, if he DOES make a mess, make HIM clean it up -- hand over hand if necessary.  This works, over time, with most kids.
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