You need to control the chaos. We have the PBK train table as our coffee table in our family room. That's the primary place space, and it has two large drawers. Additionally, we have several large bins to hold toys. When things get too messy, it's time to put some toys back in the bins.

I believe you said your kid throws toys? That's not acceptable in our house. You need to nip that in the bud.

If your kid wants to throw things, then get a basketball hoop.

I have four boys, fwiw.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont think the not playing with toys thing is not that unusual. My kid might occupy himself with a toy dump truck for a minute but he VASTLY prefers playing with things that arent toys like brooms, kitchen cooking utensils (like spatulas etc), measuring tapes etc. He likes to move around the kitchen chairs and big boxes of diapers also. When he was 1 year old he entertained himself for 30 min pushing his stroller around. It's just a matter of what interests him.

.

This is different. That's copying adults, which is normal - pushing a stroller, using a spatula - these are all things he sees done by his parents. And he got occupied by doing these things - like spending 30 min interacting with the same object of interest. Dumping stuff but not interacting with any of the dumped objects, or simply throwing them is quite different. I don't think your example is applicable here.

Do you play with your child?

Do you engage him about toys? Asking questions, suggesting imaginary scenarios?

If it's like you insist - no sign of any disability then it sounds like a neglected child who doesn't know what to do and goes for the simplest and easiest thing - mess and destruction.

Plenty of outdoor play, playdates with peers, and an engaged care taker who can help develop play skills would probably help. If all of that applied for a few months doesn't result in any change - then revisit the idea of evaluation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont think the not playing with toys thing is not that unusual. My kid might occupy himself with a toy dump truck for a minute but he VASTLY prefers playing with things that arent toys like brooms, kitchen cooking utensils (like spatulas etc), measuring tapes etc. He likes to move around the kitchen chairs and big boxes of diapers also. When he was 1 year old he entertained himself for 30 min pushing his stroller around. It's just a matter of what interests him.

He has been evaluated by EI b/c he had a speech delay but I've been repeatedly told there's no other developmental concerns AT ALL (nor do I believe there are).

It is a red flag. You can say it is not concerning, but that simply does not make it so.

A red flag for what? Except for his speech delay (which he's almost now fully caught up with), my son is considered 100% developmentally appropriate by all the professionals we've encountered via EI, so I'm going to go by their opinion rather than your armchair analysis.

Not playing appropriately with toys is a red flag for ASD and cognitive issues. Also, nobody is diagnosing your child with anything - nor can EI, btw - so I have no idea what you are prattling on about. But as you know, kids with a delay in one area sufficient enough to get speech through EI - which requires a major delay - are more likely than other children to have LDs, etc. down the road. I don't care to debate this in regards to your child; we are talking in generalities, obviously.

So basically it could mean something, or it could mean nothing. Got it.

Well, if there is a speech delay, 1 + 1 does not usually equal 0, so I would stop being so defensive and just watch it. Also, specifically ask about it.

I'm not being defensive. As I stated originally there's absolutely no concern for asd for my son. I'm just sick of people posting to get evaluated for asd for every little quirky behavior. Some kids are weird, that doesn't mean they have asd.

Add is by no means the only disability out there. My son who had a mild speech delay - never qualified for EI - and did not play appropriately with toys is significantly disabled and doesn’t have asd. It is something To watch for and to monitor. That’s not a personal attack on you.

Anonymous wrote:My just turned two year old knows to help me put away her duplos after she's done playing with them. But then just. can't. help. but dump the bucket back out. You can try giving/making specific dumping activity toys, but it's just so much fun for them (same with knocking towers over, it's a developmental thing) that I don't even try to stop her.

HA. True statement

I will say, my DD is a couple months older and the dumping all the blocks (and pulling all the books off the shelves) has actually started to decrease a little. She's actually using toys for their intended purpose sometimes!

I did just go through all her toys though and got rid of anything that she has obviously outgrown or just doesn't use that much. That was weeks ago and she hasn't noticed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont think the not playing with toys thing is not that unusual. My kid might occupy himself with a toy dump truck for a minute but he VASTLY prefers playing with things that arent toys like brooms, kitchen cooking utensils (like spatulas etc), measuring tapes etc. He likes to move around the kitchen chairs and big boxes of diapers also. When he was 1 year old he entertained himself for 30 min pushing his stroller around. It's just a matter of what interests him.

He has been evaluated by EI b/c he had a speech delay but I've been repeatedly told there's no other developmental concerns AT ALL (nor do I believe there are).

It is a red flag. You can say it is not concerning, but that simply does not make it so.

A red flag for what? Except for his speech delay (which he's almost now fully caught up with), my son is considered 100% developmentally appropriate by all the professionals we've encountered via EI, so I'm going to go by their opinion rather than your armchair analysis.

Not playing appropriately with toys is a red flag for ASD and cognitive issues. Also, nobody is diagnosing your child with anything - nor can EI, btw - so I have no idea what you are prattling on about. But as you know, kids with a delay in one area sufficient enough to get speech through EI - which requires a major delay - are more likely than other children to have LDs, etc. down the road. I don't care to debate this in regards to your child; we are talking in generalities, obviously.

So basically it could mean something, or it could mean nothing. Got it.

Well, if there is a speech delay, 1 + 1 does not usually equal 0, so I would stop being so defensive and just watch it. Also, specifically ask about it.

I'm not being defensive. As I stated originally there's absolutely no concern for asd for my son. I'm just sick of people posting to get evaluated for asd for every little quirky behavior. Some kids are weird, that doesn't mean they have asd.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont think the not playing with toys thing is not that unusual. My kid might occupy himself with a toy dump truck for a minute but he VASTLY prefers playing with things that arent toys like brooms, kitchen cooking utensils (like spatulas etc), measuring tapes etc. He likes to move around the kitchen chairs and big boxes of diapers also. When he was 1 year old he entertained himself for 30 min pushing his stroller around. It's just a matter of what interests him.

He has been evaluated by EI b/c he had a speech delay but I've been repeatedly told there's no other developmental concerns AT ALL (nor do I believe there are).

It is a red flag. You can say it is not concerning, but that simply does not make it so.

A red flag for what? Except for his speech delay (which he's almost now fully caught up with), my son is considered 100% developmentally appropriate by all the professionals we've encountered via EI, so I'm going to go by their opinion rather than your armchair analysis.

Not playing appropriately with toys is a red flag for ASD and cognitive issues. Also, nobody is diagnosing your child with anything - nor can EI, btw - so I have no idea what you are prattling on about. But as you know, kids with a delay in one area sufficient enough to get speech through EI - which requires a major delay - are more likely than other children to have LDs, etc. down the road. I don't care to debate this in regards to your child; we are talking in generalities, obviously.

So basically it could mean something, or it could mean nothing. Got it.

Well, if there is a speech delay, 1 + 1 does not usually equal 0, so I would stop being so defensive and just watch it. Also, specifically ask about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I dont think the not playing with toys thing is not that unusual. My kid might occupy himself with a toy dump truck for a minute but he VASTLY prefers playing with things that arent toys like brooms, kitchen cooking utensils (like spatulas etc), measuring tapes etc. He likes to move around the kitchen chairs and big boxes of diapers also. When he was 1 year old he entertained himself for 30 min pushing his stroller around. It's just a matter of what interests him.

He has been evaluated by EI b/c he had a speech delay but I've been repeatedly told there's no other developmental concerns AT ALL (nor do I believe there are).

It is a red flag. You can say it is not concerning, but that simply does not make it so.

A red flag for what? Except for his speech delay (which he's almost now fully caught up with), my son is considered 100% developmentally appropriate by all the professionals we've encountered via EI, so I'm going to go by their opinion rather than your armchair analysis.

Not playing appropriately with toys is a red flag for ASD and cognitive issues. Also, nobody is diagnosing your child with anything - nor can EI, btw - so I have no idea what you are prattling on about. But as you know, kids with a delay in one area sufficient enough to get speech through EI - which requires a major delay - are more likely than other children to have LDs, etc. down the road. I don't care to debate this in regards to your child; we are talking in generalities, obviously.

So basically it could mean something, or it could mean nothing. Got it.