I used to cry when he devoured my books and magazines. I've now learned how to manage this trait.
When he started shredding, I thought it was a phase that all young children go through. Little babies love to play with boxes and paper, often displaying a special brand of delight when opening neatly wrapped presents.
My child ignored the boxes and went directly for the paper.
Thankfully when I realized that he was shredding compulsively, I was able to intervene peacefully purchasing large numbers of the same book at a dollar store in an attempt to run a pass interference before he got to my book shelves. And trust me, he was eyeballing my book shelves with interest.
It only took one day of me being away from home longer than I expected to come home and find that he had finished shredding the books I purchased for him and moved on to our homeschool library. I was and am not having it.
Thankfully, I learned about other, free ways to intervene. For example asking the local grocery store for leftover sale papers after the weekly specials are done. Or collecting discarded phone drectories for him to shred to his heart's content.
Then we (re)discovered Paper Mache! A thing I hated doing in school has saved my life as a parent and teacher. While researching interventions for the spectrum child, I found that Paper Mache is a well known sensory activity for the autistic child.
This was my A HA moment. No more tears (pronounce that both ways). A whole world of possibility has opened for us. At least one of his interests can be redirected into something beautiful, making him now the creator instead of the destroyer.
How are you redirecting your spectrum child's difficult symptoms?
Resources:
Autism and More website
A resource created by a team of occupational therapists featuring activities for the autistic child.
Ultimate Paper Mache website
Just what it says. Paper Mache galore. Great resource for homemade recipes for various strengths of paste.
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