D & K's Mom

My oldest is a "liner-upper". He as done it sence he became a mobile infant.And still does it today and he's 8 1/2 ( he gets mad if I forget that half!!) But when he was younger, and he didn't use the toys like you would expect, ever, just line them up. I did teach him to play with them. For example, I taught him to roll his matchbox cars, and make silly engine noises. I never discouraged him from lining things up. just showed him that there is more than one way to "Play" with this toy. Now, he chooses to "display" certian things. Sort of a putting it to use, i guess you could say. He has several shelves in his bedroom, and he likes to line up his seashell collection, and his beanie baby collection on the shelf. It's a way to make this obsession of his useful, it keeps his room neater, and gives him a spot to line things up. Seems normal to me, doesn't everyone sort of line up nick nacks on a shelf for display? I guess what I am trying to say is , Devin was never hurting anyone by doing this, it didn't really bother me that he does it, so I sort of embraced that this is what he likes to do, and gave him his own special area to do so. And, in giving him this space to do so, has given his quirk a sense of normalcy. Do you know what I mean? I would never try to stop a behavior that wasn't distructive, and was soothing to him. He likes the shelves because he can see all of his lined up treasures from anywhere in the room. I think the sense of order gives him peace, in a time when he is feeling stressed. It's something tangable that he can manipulate into order, which in turn, creates inner peace for him. Now, try to move any of these treasures that he has lined up, and oh boy, look out, because you'll be in for it.! His bedroom can be a totally trashed out mess, but his shelves always look like a dime store display. As he has gotten older, he has started making little vignettes. This also works to my advantage. Who better to dust the living room? He likes to remove all the objects from the tables, shelves, etc. dust the surface, and reset all of the items. It looks different every time he does it, and it adds a little change to the living room every week! I know this sounds absolutely mad on my part, but I tend to give him the dusting job when I sense he's about to have a meltdown. i know, trust this volitle child with my breakables? But he very gingerly handles each piece, and had never broken a one. I also "allow" him to unpack groceries, he loves to line up cans and boxes in the panrty, I can see all of the labels, and the cereal is well, next to the cereal! LOL! Use it to your advantage, by embracing it, and it will not seem at all strange or " autistic- like" to you. By the way, totally NOT offended by that, I understand, really. I hope this helped.