I use a lot of the toys for ABA tasks here at hom, so hold on to them! Kids on the spectrum just have to learn how to play with them sometimes.
If you have room, keep them. If not, put them in totes in a closet - the ones that are classic kinds of toys and sell some on craigslist.org or eBay to at least get SOME of your money back (try closer to Christmas because that is when they sell best). My son didn't really start playing much with toys until age 3. But when my dd started playing with the toys, he started playing WITH her! Also, now that we have moved and have these awesome twin boys down the street - the amount and kind of toys we have is a HUGE draw for them. And, ds is discovering all sorts of ways to play that he never experienced before. The twins always want to come to our house because we have such cool toys! For a while, I was worried that maybe they were just coming over for the toys and not ds - but I really watch them play and I think they really, really like my ds, in addition to his toys!
Right before we moved, I almost got rid of all of these toys since I thought it was such a waste of money and I figured I would make some money back on eBay. I am SO glad I didn't now!
We went through the same situation. Up until almost 4 years of age, my son just threw the toys, picked them up, threw them again. He never played with them, ever. After about the age of 4 he started playing appropriately with the farm set, tractors, the little people sets, action figures, train sets. It was a miracle for us. Our only problem is we have lost half of the pieces over the years. I would definitely keep them. My son plays with toys that are really too young for him, (age 2-4 years) but at least it is imaginative play. Every time we are in the basement he finds something new to play with. I would hate to have to buy them all over again and tell relatives to quit buying him toys. We did. We said we have NO MORE ROOM.We kept all toys until I knew I was done having kids. My ASD son has 2 older sisters and 1 younger sister. We did buy him the "boy" toys---trucks, castle playset instead of the fisher price dollhouse, etc.
He never played with any of them. He used them for destroying the playroom and throwing them around or would dump out containers and stand on them to get to what he wanted!!
We got rid of the toys by about 5y. At 3y we got him that train set from Costco. He played with it on Christmas day. Never again. My girls played with it, but it was taking up too much room. I finally got rid of it at 6y. He is 7.5y now and all he plays with is Legos(star wars) and xbox(star wars). In his room, he only has Legos and his Star Wars stuff. He got Knex 2 years ago to try to get him interested in something else. Nope! I did keep those--they are very expensive. That is all thats in his room. He rarely will play Barbies with his sisters(he has Luke and Han Solo barbies).
So now----relatives get him gift cards and he can get what he wants to.
Your child is very young. I would hold on to everything!!
keep them! keep everything! our 8 year old starting playing with toddler toys at age 6 and still is, it is great! even now we buy him toys geared for 18 months - 5 years as that is what he likes and understands -I would hang on to some of it. THe boys were never interested in toys either, so I would put it away and then pull it out a few months later and try again. Or it would sit in their room on a shelf. They never took to a toy right away at age 2. Some toys were a year later. I bought them a jack in the box when they were 2 thinking they would love it, they cried. It sat on a shelf for 2 years. Now at age 4 you'd think that was the greatest toy they owned. I also bought a baby tad at 18 months on every other mother's recomendations, they couldn't have cared less. They started playing with it at age 3. At age 3 they started developing an interest in those toys for 2 year olds, the mega blocks etc. And we use the toys in floortime and ABA. Now at age 4 they have finally begun playing with those little people play sets and now they almost always ask me for a toy when we go to toysrus, they never use to, certainly not at age 2, they couldn't have cared less about toys. I look at all toys with a therapy in mind, what can they get out of this toy, what can it teach them, and then the junk toys that really don't contribute to anything I would probably get rid of if your house is just overflowing with toys. Putting them in the attic might be a good idea too. The boys still play with toys way below their age, they have finally stopped playing with infant toys, but are still playing with toys in the 2-3 year old range.When my son was a year old, he was more interested in household objects than toys, but we were lucky that he quickly outgrew it. It's reasonably likely that your son will also eventually develop an interest in toys -- either on his own or through therapy, but that alone is no reason to hang onto every last toy in his collection.
I would get rid of quite a bit, particularly if you have a shortage of space. Keep classic toys that are interactive. Keep things that appeal to you and that you look forward to playing with with your next child (I love Mr. Potato Head!). Get rid of space hogs. Get rid of toys that are run on batteries and are only for looking at. Give them to an organization that helps children in need, or sell them on e-bay, and use that money towards therapy, etc.
Know that no matter how much you get rid of, upcoming birthdays and holidays will ensure that your children will still have more toys than you had when you grew up.
Good luck with everything!
Before we knew my DS may have autism we couldn't get him interested in toys that kids his age played with. So we continually bought stuff thinking "maybe he will like this"