As I have said before, at home it is just my son and I which I think makes life a lot easier, but at the same time I think I have to be careful I am not 'enabling' him. I feel it is important to challenge him and his autistic behaviour, to take him out of his comfort zones from time to time. For years I have been letting him leave his bricks, neatly arranged on the sitting room floor, over night. Initially because if I attempted to move them just before bedtime he would have a serious melt down, as if moving them was threatening to life itself. If I tried to tidy them away in the night while he was sleeping, my actions were met with the same response in the morning. Making our morning routine before school a little more complicated than usual. I was also the recipient of  some harsh words and deathly stares. We share a home,  and I would much rather a clutter free sitting room floor,  but as I was the only one effected I would let it pass.

But this habit could not continue,  I wanted him to learn that life is full of compromise and what he does effects others, I wanted him to learn empathy. An emotion that comes naturally to most of us, but to a child with autism this is a different matter. His often times blinkered view of his own world, only serves to exclude others, understanding this is one thing but feeling it is quite another.

My first tactic was to feign falling over the bricks and then complaining about them being on the floor, and before he had time to do anything I would start to tidy them away. I had a about a three minute window before  the complaining started at which point I would engage my son in a conversation, trying to reason with him,  off course having been left alone with his bricks for so long,  to get him to my way of thinking I was facing a high hill to climb. Another thing I tried which worked a lot better was, I would tell him there was to be a flat inspection and the floor had to be clear. On announcing this he was very compliant, he most definitely   responds to orders from unseen authority.

In the end we compromised and after much discussion it was decided that if any of the bricks were loose, not part of a structure then they should be tidied away, and if any bricks were joined and forming some kind of object no matter how obscure they could stay. This was achieved over about two years not forgetting he is maturing all the time.