thread: repetitive behaviour

  1. #1
    Registered User

    Apr 2007
    127

    repetitive behaviour

    Hi, i have a ds , 27mntghsd, anyhow, he does a lot of compulsive/repeatetive behaviour. Like close /open doors./ loves to ahve things in same place, likes order and cleaniness.. is this normal? all other developments is normal? should i be worried. anyone elses child do weird things. can drive me crazy, comign in and out doors all the time..

  2. #2
    Registered User

    Dec 2005
    Melbourne, Vic
    4,338

    My DD is similar in some ways, she loves repetitive things if she gets something funny or noisy out of it. And definately loves order everything has to be in its right place, helps tho with packing up, we rarely have to argue with her to put things away!

  3. #3
    BellyBelly Life Member

    Jul 2004
    House of the crazy cat ladies...
    3,793

    It can be normal, as children often like structure and order to help them deal with/make sense of the world, and some kids do prefer it more than others! However it can also be a sign of something else.

    My DS was last year diagnosed with high functioning Autism. He has the same obsessions around order and structure. Particularly things like whether light switches were turned on or off, whether we walked a slightly different route on the path to kindy (it would set him off if we crossed the road 1m down from where we normally would) etc etc.

    Does your DS have huge tantrums when things interrupt his order and structure that he likes?

    TBH I would be taking notes of these quirks you have noticed, and go and speak to your GP for a referral to a developmental paediatrcician, or a child development clinic - they have very long waiting lists though - usually about 6 months.

    I put off doing my DS for some time, as I honestly didn't know whether I was making a mountain out a molehill, but when he started going to kindy his teacher approached me with similar concerns, which is when we got the ball rolling. But it would have been much easier if we had done things sooner.

    Anyway, I am not insinuating at all that theres anything going on with your DS, but just want to share that from my experience its always worth getting things checked out just for peace of mind.

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Nov 2008
    NSW Mid North Coast
    681

    I work in child care and am seeing more and more children with these type of tendancies. I agree with Ambah about taking notes. I could just be his personality but it could be something more so I would ask your gp about a referral as well. The thing is though that while you want to get onto it early you probably wouldn't get any sort of answers at that age because language and social development is so varied then and children aren't expected to have these skills properly developed at 2. If it did turn out to be a bit more then personality most peads children in my care have seen won't get a diagnosis until 4. In saying that I would still investigate further with your doctor.