Destructive | Autism PDD

I think that it is just them being kids.. My kids do the same thing.. Yes my three year old  (PDD) son does this on a daily basis.. He throws things and dumps things out all day long at least your child cleans up mine won't and i feel crazy when i ask him tohelp and he looks at me like i am crazy.. and also my seven year old  (NT) does this too. But he cleans it up he just likes to make a big mess..  My daughters never dumped thing for seemingly the sake of dumping them.  If they dumped the container of lego it was to play with them.  My son with autism will dump the lego just for the sake of dumping them or maybe just to hear the sound or just to stare at it for a while, but he won't play with them.

Hello,

We taught Sarah to dump appropriate things like playing in a "beans & rice" bin with dump trucks/cement mixer,spoon&cup or knocking down blocks,sand box  with lots of shovels, cups ect.. The toy box dumping ended  really quick when we had her clean it up "hand over hand" each time she did it:) Alot of things she did that was not appropritate we would try and find things that was appropriate and help her transfer the behavior to it. EX: She toe walked so we got tap shoes(extremely hard to walk on toes in tap shoes) when she liked to tap spoons on surfaces all over the house we got her a drum, xylophone, tamborine..she hated the texture of soft, wet, sticky stuff so we did shaving cream on a mat for her to draw on, playdough, water bin with straws to blow bubbles, ect... OT has many things they try if he is hypotonic seeking pressure or heavy sensory feedback. We never did OT but we would bounce her on a GIANT ball or roll her up in a blanket really tight..sometimes swinging her in it..she loved it.  Sometimes they just crave the cause and effect of it:)  Sarah loves doing "A" and then  "B" happens:) Jack in boxes would have screaming laughing:)

Shelley

My 3.5yo ds (PDD-NOS) is quite destructive and rough.  He'll take his big Lightning McQueen car and ram it through a bunch of toys or into the cabinets.  Also, when we go to other people's houses, he's quite destructive.  We went over to a neighbor's house before Christmas and they have a playroom in their basement.  He went through and was overturning EVERYTHING he could get his hands on - a table and chairs set, bins of toys, a little makeup center, etc.  WHY does he do stuff like that?  And how do we deal with it?  He wasn't angry - it was like he was enjoying it. 

Do NT children do this also?  Or is this something attributed to his autism? 

PS - he also loves to empty toy bins here at home.  I always make him pick up the toys when he does it.

[QUOTE=Brandy327]

Thanks Shelley!  I've been telling my dh he really needs a trampoline or something similar to burn the energy...and he LOVES to bounce.  I'll be looking at TRU for the bouncer!

[/QUOTE]

I recently got a Galt nursery trampoline and it is wonderful!  My little one just loves to bounce, and it does help burn off energy.

Brandy, Jair is a dumping destroyer, too. He likes to dump anything out
and crawl through it, or swing his arms to make it scatter - if we don't
stop him in time. It's a huge sensory pleasure for him. In a different way,
he likes to quietly take things apart, like a scientist studying it. He goes
for loose screws, wheels on toy cars, any parts of anything that might be
weedled off. He will even say now," I want some new cars. I want to take
the wheels off." @@ I think what helps him most is doing a lot of sensory
stuff, even if it doesn't seem related. In nice weather, he just loves to dig
in the hard dirt, or pull clumps of weeds, or crawl through leaves. Inside,
we do the big bowl of dry beans with cups, Play Doh, build with Legos
and pull them apart, those baby Pop Beads are great "pressure therapy"...
I think what stalled/overwhelmed me in the beginning was trying to think
up alternate activities that were exactly like the problem behavior.


Shelley, I love all of the ideas you shared. Welcome to the board!
I have a cousin named Shelley, who lives in Dallas! Thanks so much for all the ideas.  He doesn't seem to do it on the days that he has school so maybe it's because he's partially bored once he gets home?  Lord knows that with the 2 girls, I don't have many solid hours to sit with him and do stuff with him. :(

Additional note:)) When Sarah's muscle tone was low to me but not enough to get services I got her (with grandma's help$$) a small bounce house.  Toysrus (little tykes) has one that is 8X8 and the pump blows it up in 25 seconds(we like to count:) it can go in the middle of any room and set up is soo easy...just lay it out and plug it in..the noise of machine was a little much for Sarah at first but we read about putting the machine in a"larger"  cardboard box with a cut out hole for electric cord and it made a huge difference.  This was only @ and it is cheaper & safer than a trampoline:)  Great for birthday parties, playdates, yucky weather days:P  Since it stays inside it stays clean.  We sometimes throw pit balls or soft stuffed animals in it with her too.. it holds up to 250pounds so mama can get in too. Blessings, Shelley

 

Thanks Shelley!  I've been telling my dh he really needs a trampoline or something similar to burn the energy...and he LOVES to bounce.  I'll be looking at TRU for the bouncer!

My son went thru this phase as well, everything that was neat and tidy before he entered the room was in chaos when he left, we called him the little tornado, and the more we straightened the more he would dump. I almost think its a window into their brain, I have to laugh at some of the mentions of children lining up toys and wanting order. My son is quite the opposite, if its lined up he will mess up the line, if its in order, it won't be for long. He is better now, but he still goes thru that phase. I think its a control thing, he doesn't mess up anything else in the house just his toys. My older son who is ADHD, is the same way although not messing up his toys but he has piles, and if you clean up the "piles" then he gets really mad. Its an organized mess, but he knows where everything is. I would just chalk it up to a phase, but if he throws or breaks things then discipline him. And repeatedly make him put his toys away at the END of the day. I got over making my son put toys away all the time, it got too tiring. Now we opt for the end of the day. Funny thing is I'm very much OCD AND TYPE A, when it comes to everything having its place, needless to say since my boys, I have learned(not easy) to be more relaxed.
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