2 / 3 year old making lines - normal?

[rabbit83]

Hi all since about 2 years 8 months (so for about 3 months) my son has been making a lot of lines when playing. For example using cushions or books to make a 'barrier' across a doorway or between chairs that we're not allowed to cross. Various items between his chair and bed which are a bridge.

I know lining things up can be a marker for autism - is this kind of behaviour symptomatic of that, or normal development behaviour? Many thanks

Ps can anyone advice me how to search for old posts and answers on Mumsnet as I'm sure questions like this and others I have have been asked before but I can't see how to search?

Is there any purpose to him building these lines? i.e. there is a big difference between a child with autism lining up books or cushions for no apparent reason and another child building the same things and calling it a 'bridge' while playing. In addition, if autism is present then it is very likely there would be a multitude of markers by 2.5Y old.

My son always lined his cars up when he was around 2 or 3. I remembering worrying a bit about it but then read that it was a normal part of development. He also liked spinning things around such as the wheels on his buggy. He’s 13 now and does not have autism.

Forgot to say, there’s a search function in the top right of the page. It looks like a magnifying glass, you will be able to use this to search for other posts.

Normal! I think it's called a play schema.

My 26MO lines her toy cars/dolls etc up from time to time. She also plays some great imaginary games too though like caring for her dolls, putting dolls to sleep, tea parties with dolls and me, cooking things in play kitchen etc so I'm not worried. Anything like this has to be taken in context. Does he play imaginative games? Does he make good eye contact? Is his speech on track? If so I wouldn't be worried. I think it's an expected developmental phase in the absence of any other concerns x

Thanks all,
This is very helpful