my dd recently started closing certain doors in the house. She's never really been into this before, except having to have the sliders on the closet doors closed. Now she has to close her door and the bathroom doors, etc. She doesn't open and close them repeatedly, just has to have them closed. Is this an ASD or OCD thing (she has a touch of OCD according to her neuro) or just a kid thing? Just wondering because I'm pretty sure I've seen "opening and closing doors" as a sign or symptom. It's a fairly harmless endeavor so I'm not worried but it is new and I'd like to understand it if it is indeed related to her ASD. Thanks!
Our son has been doing this for over a year. It has eased with time but he admit that doors must be closed in certain rooms. Our biggie right now is the dishwasher. I can't load it or unload it when he is in the room because he wants to shut the door. I have talked to a lot of parents who have ASD children and it seems to be a common thing. His new thing is grabbing the door knob on both sides of the door and swinging. It's just a kid thing but it's driving me crazy!!! LOL.
~Brooke~
Jessi has to have the doors shut also. The one she is the worst about is the refrigerator. She shuts me in it all the time.
Sarah
2 ASD kids that my son plays with have that door thing. It isn't that they open and close--it just has to closed. And they do freak if interefered with. I should say did since their respective parents have worked with them and they are both quite improved.
I think of it as an OCD component under ASD. My son isn't so compulsive as he is obsessive so I haven't had much personal experience with intervention. Although, for the obsessions Paul was put on Zoloft a few yrs ago (an anti-depressant/anti-anxiety drug that works well for OCD). He responded very well and the obsessions virtually disappeared within days. It was weird.
pat
Does she have to close the doors everywhere you go? Or is it just certain doors in your house? I would say it is probably a asd thing but it could develop into an ocd type behaviour.
Tammy
My 2 yr old son is a "must close it" if its opened kid. He is very very insistant about it. But he won't do it over and over....though he has a thing for opening all the small drawers in the kitchen. IF I didn't know it was him I would think my house was possesed (:It could be either. My friend's NT child does it all the time but if we stop her she won't freak. If you stop dd does she get upset? I think if you end up with a tantrum because she can't close the door then you need to intervene. If she can take it or leave it (the door closing) then it is something you can ignore.Ds does this too. I am SURE he would open, close, open, close everything if he could. But he hasn't figured out opening doors yet and our cupboards are all child proofed. We still use baby gates too. When dd was 2 we didn't have to keep childproofing as much as we do w/ ds. I've mentioned before on here that I often feel that I don't have a 27mth old, more like a 16 mth old or something. Although all I have to compare to is dd who was much ahead of her age. I have been watching other kids ds's age and comparing and most seem much ahead of him. Ds loves to close things though. Like I said if he could open he'd do it over and over I'm sure. But if we open a door he closes it right away. He bangs the cupboard doors in the kitchen (since they have the locks he can open them just a crack so he opens as far as he can and then closes and does this over and over). It drives me INSANE! I can relate to the closing you in the fridge thing too lol. My dd has a few sort of obsessions too and she also can't stand doors open though.
Amber
Jeffrey's neuro told me that with normal kids they have alot of success in treating OCD type behaviours. But with kids on the spectrum, they don't have that much success in treating them. I know Jeffrey has been on zoloft for over four years now and it is not very successful in treating his obsessions. The zoloft dose was recently increased, with no effect.
Tammy
since i have had keith...4 years, we have had to replace the refrigerator, stove, and dishwaqsher, bc/ he slams the doors. also, he would use the oven to climb to the stove to get to the fridge to get to the top! since he has been on meds, he has gotten much better, but he wil still close open and close a door. and slam the toilet seat.
my dh just thought he was destructive, and i was not watching him........the saga continues
ps had to replace kitchen floor b/c he got daddy's spray paint and painted the linoleum!
kate
Veroniqua is Big into closing doors! But Mainly because we keep them closed! Like our Bath room and My Bedroom, If she sees them open she will close them because she knows we keep them closed! I do think it is a comfot thing with her! It seems to bother her that they are open! But then again Everything has its own way of being and it has to be that way! It is annoying to me in some ways if i open the front door waiting on the pizza man and she is closing it everytime i open it! Put i guess we are all picky about things!