Urge to knock things over? Anyone else?

[Bellabamboo]

My DS is 3 and a half. He has a diagnosis of Autism. He is going through a funny phase of having an urge to knock things over. Mainly the big bar stools in our kitchen he also can't help but drop the nearest thing to hand into your tea/coffee etc- mostly lego pieces. I know he is not being naughty he really can't seem to help it. What is he getting from this?, any ideas on what I can do to help him.

Hi bella If it was me I would remove the bar stools during the day, may to a cupboard or garage or somewhere where he cant reach them. That is quite dangerous I can imagine. He will probably move on to something else but hopefully it will be something less dangerous!

Have you tried using the sign for "Stop"? It can be very effective and is much less confrontational than "No". If you can teach him to "stop" when you ask him to it will benefit you in lots of ways.

Good luck

Hi, I used to have a children's blow up punch bag type thing that could be pushed or punched so it would fall over and then it would bounce back up. Maybe something like that be a good alternative to the bar stool. I often give my ds a big bowl of water to drop his toys into,could you give your ds a cup of water to drop things into instead of your tea.

For my ds it is a sensory thing. If I don't like something he is doing I try to find a better alternative, something similar that gives him the same sensory input.

Thanks for the replies, I will try using stop instead of no that's a good idea, he has a stop sign in his pecs book. Good idea about the blow up punch bag too although I don't have room for any more stuff. Will try his own cup of water to drop things into and see if that satisfies him! Hopefully he will move onto something more manageable soon!