4 yr old ASD zero interest in toys - advice please

[amunt]

Ds has nothing but a fleeting interest in any toys and no interest in TV or ipad/computer. This makes it very difficult when we visit relations as we can't spend every single minute amusing him and he consequently ends up being (not wholly intentionally) destructive and agitated.

Any advice from someone with a similar experience gratefully received.

Thanks PolterGoose. His heaven is IKEA - opening oven doors, lifts and toilets.

I'm pretty confident that we have tried every kind of toy. Fiddly, flappy, flying, remote, marbles, puzzles, sensory etc... Sometimes something will hold his interest for a couple of minutes and then that's it. Electric screwdriver lasted a bit longer than average.

My ds was the exact same at 4. I found visiting people exhausting. It is much better now he is 7. He does actually sit and play with toys , a tablet or watch tv.

With my DS (3.4 now) it was a similar situation till he started at nursery at 2.8 yrs. It was a small creche setting which I now know is slightly different from a typical nursery attached to a school. He would simply knock down any toys on the tables that he saw and all he's do was walk around the room. After what seemed like ages he started taking interest in pop up toys such as toy animal farm but with an interest span of a few seconds only. By the end of his time there, he is also playing with posting toys such as piggy bank with coins and attention span has increased to up to 15 minutes!!!!

Does your DS go to nursery? I've recently had to move him to a new nursery attached to a mainstream school and although he hasn't started there yet but I've found out that they don't have such toys as these are for younger children like 1 year olds and will need to procure on the advice of ASD Outreach.

What if you got him a load of doll house stuff so he can make a mini Ikea?

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and advice - much appreciated.
Jasonandyawegunorts:Ha, nice suggestion, but only full scale would do.
PolterGoose: we did think about play kitchen, but when he tried it at a friend's it got the usual treatment.
MarySlessor: Thanks, that's encouraging!
yakkiyakkiyogi: Unfortunately he shows the same disinterest in toys (and children)at nursery, so lots of trouble and I'm dreading school starting in September.

Would he play with a latch board? I've seen some really involved ones with doorbells and all sorts. But even just latches, bolts and locks are good, maybe he'll like them because they aren't toys?

www.pinterest.com/explore/latch-board/

zzzz: thanks for the link, I'll try it. I'd settle for him playing impolitely , like his two year old sister. I suppose it's to do with attention span - in Ikea he can flit from tap to tap from door to door, drawer to drawer etc.. Our days are based around meals, car and walks. He will fiddle with a toy for an extended period if forced, i.e. we can go out when you have done this for 10 minutes, but there's no pleasure in it.

I think it may be more a sort of stim than curiosity. He's verbal and he has some ability to copy, but because he is so incredibly oppositional, he resists copying or following any instructions that would enable him to enjoy an activity. Trampoline is a good idea, will investigate.