Lining up objects - is this really a sign of ASD???

[sleepyhorse]

Bit confused - I noticed ds (who is 3.5 yrs old and got speech delay etc) has recently started lining up the bowels in the kitchen and also some cups, this made me feel very uneasy and nervous because of some of the stuff I have read on here. I mentioned it to a couple of my friends who have got nt boys and they assured me that their boys also do this and that it's completely typical toddler behaviour. We still don't know what's wrong with ds as no diagnosis yet. He doesn't seem to line toys up though, just the stuff in the kitchen. What are your thoughts on this??

My thoughts would be that it is worth taking notice of this behaviour.

As usual with ASD, it is easy to find any of the individual behavioiurs 'normal', but for a child with speech delay and a mother with 'niggles' I wouldn't discount it.

And actually I don't really think that lining up kitchen bowls is very 'normal'. Sorry.

How would your ds react if you moved any of the bowls or tried to divert his attention to anything else?

Hi Evie, not really sure to be honest as he's only done this twice and I just stood there watching in complete shock and fascination. Should I disrupt him then next time this happens to see how he reacts? What sort if reaction should I be looking at?

Ok but even if he doesn't get angry I should still keep an eye on this right?

Yes it can be a sign of ASD, especially if has limited play in other areas. That said my NT eldest liked to line up horses (and make them jump over things again and again) and soldiers and would refuse to let his NT brother in the room when playing in this way in case he knocked them over. He is clearly not ASD but much more studious, analytical and disciplined than DS2 who is my creative dreamy one and has never lined up anything.
DS3 did not start lining up until some time after other ASD traits emerged eg speech delay etc, but it has become a big thing recently and he doesn't like having them moved at all. eg if i took the bowls away he would go and line up something else.
If you intervened turned it into a game eg lets have a tea party and got teddies etc would he join in and be excited to play with the bowls or is he solely interested in the line.

How does he play? Does he drive cars around making brumbrum noises or hold the car up and spin the wheels?

My DS LOVES lining stuff up, even now at 7, the clue is in his reaction when you move his arrangements he is not impressed - at all.

Thanks ladies...He plays ok, not amazing though as he has short attention span so tends to flip from one activity to the next. he likes walking round clutching a train or another toy and always takes one in the car with him. He doesn't seem bothered by routine but then neither did that little boy who was on that tv prog my child's not perfect, who was diagnosed with ASD - think his name was Adam. His eye contact used to be very poor but is getting a lot better now. His is still communicating just with single words and his speech us very bad, he seems to be missing a lot of sounds. So just can't work out if it's ASD or a speech disorder like APD. I guess time will tell. Regarding his new thing of lining up bowels/cups I will try that test out of introducing teddy coming for tea party and see how he reacts.

Boredandrest - yes sorry he does make car noises when pushing cars them around. But I wouldn't say he plays as well as he should be. He seems very delayed to me. My main concern right now is his speech and whether he will ever be able to talk like you and me. That's what scares me the most.

Sorry lots of typos... It's been a long day! X

sleepy, DD (3.10, asd) started only lining up things recently (mainly pens and satsumas ). DD won't like it if I remove a pen or a satsuma from the line and will kick off. with you DS's s&l delay among other things I would take notice.

where are you up to re dx. still only wait and see or are things finally moving towards a dx?

Hi chocjunkie, still at the wait and see stage I'm afraid...hope you are well.
Why do they line things up?

this must be difficult, i really feel for you. I found the wait and see part really tough. getting a dx was a relief in a way.
we are fine by the way :)

My son is now 11. He's in mainstream school. Good communication/vocabulary now and was diagnosed at 4.

From as long as I can remember, he would like up things. There was order to it too. Usually, in order of size. Also, building bricks.....just lined them up, never build a structure but when he did (much later on) the structure was perfectly symmetrical, no matter how elaborate. Fascinating really.

My son's Thomas the Tank obsession rarely involved more than lining all the trains up end to end. No train noises.

My DS lined up a series of cars during an assessment! Talk about performing for the occasion!

He doesn't do it obsessively though.

my ds has no diagnosis but has speech delay, social delay and imaginative play (all by 12months) he lines things up and puts them in order, hes not as bad as he was for lining things up as he use to be and he prefered to line things in a carpark (side by side) in a long line... but today for example he had 4 big cars and he had to have them parked in a particular order, they all have their place in the car park, he lines crayons up, he lines books up, he also groups things by colour.

.....and my son now, at age 11 doesn't do so much lining up but he likes ORDER and groups things together. He collects things and woe betide anyone who thinks they can sneek a "something" that doesn't belong in "that collection" into the box!!

As a little boy, and just occasionally even today, he would pass objects past his eyeline, if you know what I mean? Orr and over again..... A small car or something, just glancing the end of his nose but looking at the object very very closely.