Screaming 3yr old-is this normal

[victoriascrumptious]

My brothers little boy is three. When we go round there he screams -really really screams for say 30mins off and on. It's really high pitched and he doesnt respond to requests to stop from his mother. His mother says it's exitement

He also starts throwing things and knocking things over and we can't let him near our 14m old as he tries to attack her when he's in this state.

I have no experience with 3yr old boys. Is this normal?

Not with my ds1 who is just 4 or any of his friends of the same age.

not come across screaming like that specifically, but a whole myriad of other responses. Have found my dd quite over the top when people come round, it's tricky for them because yes they're excited and also they're inevitably going to have to face sharing. Have you tried engaging him in play yourself when you go round? Mum might be embarassed or clueless and therefore unable to get him to calm down and he might also just want to be centre of attention. My dd finds coffee and chat with me and my friends tricky because a) she has another child to share with and b) my attention is split three ways - her, my friend and sorting out things for the other child. It's not perfect, but better when I actively try to play with her - even at the risk of missing out on five minutes of juicy gossip.
Really hard when you feel your little one at the wrong end of rough play and re reading my post sounds like a "just try this and it'll all be roses" answer!

I've tried engaging him in play but it doesnt seem to make much of a difference. Even when he stops the screaming I have to keep my eye on him as I can see him waiting for an opportunity to thump my child. Aparently he doesnt do this at nursery (the thumping)-just when other adults visit the house.

He's weird in other ways:-a bit obsessive IYSWIM. Likes things to be very particular i.e will only drink from red cups,collects pictures of dinosaurs and then places them in a special box (he has about 10,000 cut out pictures).

I can't tell whether this is normal 3yr old behaviour

Sounds like he may be on the autistic spectrum, unable to cope with changes like new people in the house, obsessive behaviour, collecting, not interacting like other children. I know more about older children with ASD but I should imagine some may show similar kids of behaviour when aged 3. Hope this helps, talk to the parents about getting some professional assessment, it must be really distressing for all concerned.