My DS is 4 and has always been what we (affectionately) refer to as 'a bulldozer' in the way he approaches life. He is into everything, touching, taking apart, examining, picking up every single thing in his path.
I was expecting that from a younger child and although I thought he did it more than most as a toddler, he's never grown out of it. He's now nearly 5, starting school in August and cannot stop himself compulsively touching and picking things up and sometimes this means taking other people's things so he can hold them and look at them, which obviously upsets them. I now have a 2nd child who is completely different, she's an observer, and the stark difference has got me wondering.
It has led to a few injuries over the years although we have tried our best to make our home safe. Just last night he inexplicably put his hand inside a lamp shade and touched the filament and got a burn. It was awful.
He's a very articulate, compliant and well behaved little boy who actually loves to know the rules and follow them (and check others are following them) so I think this has served him well. I'd just like to know more about this aspect of him so we can try to work out how to help him learn to control his urge to touch and use it to learn.
Does it sound familiar to anyone? I've tried to Google but I'm not sure of the results really.