Obsessions and ASD how do you cope?

[cansu]

Ds has lots of obsessions. They change and are very difficult to deal with as he is non verbal and very severely autistic so it isn't possible to explain or redirect. He is very single minded over them and attempts to stop him will usually result in screaming and aggressive behaviour. At the moment the obsession is the kitchen bin and putting rubbish in the outside bins. I have had to take my kitchen bins out of the house and hide them because he was emptying them every five minutes. I am now reduced to hiding a carrier bag where I am putting the rubbish. If he sees any packaging he immediately wants to put it in the in bin outside which is now overflowing as he has put so much in it. He deliberately breaks or rips up toys and then bins them. It sounds ridiculous but I am at my wits end. I don't really expect any advice but I just wanted to vent. Does this get better? How do others deal with this? It probably feels worse as we have had two weeks of this but it just feels relentless with this and all his other obsessions such as emptying out cartons of juice, removing labels from videos and trying to empty out full packets of cereal so he can rip up the box!

[jogalong]

Im sorry i can't help but just empathise with you. My ds has obsessional behaviour as well and Im worn out trying to hide stuff from him.
I didn't realise i was doing this until my mum came to stay and i had to tell her the sugar was in the laundry basket, washing powder in the bin etc... You don't realise how much you do of this until someone else points it out.
So Im sorry i can't help but just to let you know your not the only one.

[cansu]

Thank you jogalong. It does help to know I am not the only one. I also hide things. I used to hide my Special K in the car and I have also used the laundry basket until he worked out it was my favourite hiding place.

[eggandcress]

My ds is also obsessive like this. His main obsession is water/liquids. He is like an desperate crack addict/alcoholic when it comes to this. He has always had this obsession. He sometimes gets other obsessions but always stays true to his one love! He notices even one tiny drop of water on a window pane from across a room. He would fill up vessels with water all day long(if he was allowed)including ornaments, bottles, wellies and crisp bags and never gets tired of it. He is like a water connoisseur tasting it, swishing it round his mouth etc.

We have locks on the bathrooms, he is only allowed access to the kitchen tap and he is heavily monitored. Our house would be flooded if left unchecked.

I do find it is difficult to explain to outsiders the intensity of these obsessions. People say things like, oh I love Eastenders or some-such-thing - I am obsessed, but they do not know what this really could mean!

[cansu]

Yes it is very much like an addiction for ds too. He had a stage of wanting to empty liquids out so juice cartons would be poured down the sink and also bottles of mineral water. It got really difficult because he started to eye up and try and grab people's juice cartons and water outlets when out. He would also do literally anything to get hold of them.

[eggandcress]

We have to take lots of precautions when out and about too. No ones drink is safe! Walking along beside rivers, lakes or any body of water is very scary as he would jump in if allowed. I try to avoid this if possible but obviously going out is important too(we have a river running through our town) so I have to hold him really securely, I usually end up with aching arms the next day. I never take him to shops as he grabs cartons etc like your ds did. He is big (bigger than me) so I am worried that I won't be able to keep him safe in the future.