Clutter & Stuff Management

[sunnymom]

I have a 10-year-old boy with Aspergers and I'm interested in hearing from others with Aspergers.  We have a lot of "stuff" depending on what the current interest is.  Some examples - trains, transformers, cars, cards, etc.  They are "organized" in mini collections all over my house.  I have tried to get him to organize things on shelves but he is opposed to this idea.  He'll start playing with something and then it has to stay there as if it's a work in progress.  Any insight into this kind of thinking would be very helpful.

[Sally44]

Hi, I have a 7 year old with autism.  He doesn't have the interests/obsessions of Aspergers, but he does find it near impossible to leave something unfinished or to move something when it is not finished.  
Have you asked him how he would like to organise them?
Have you used something like Social Stories to explain to him about putting things away.  If I talk to my son about 'things getting lost or vaccumed up' he usually agrees and moves it.
Would he be able to cope with 'older collections' moving to the loft?  Or does he need to be able to see them?
Could you have a rule of no more than 3 things out at once, and if he wants something else out then one thing has to go away?
If it's any consolation, my house is also full of 'game scenarios' of toys all over the place that cannot be touched!  But I think it helps if you understand the anxiety/stress moving them causes.  But if you can involve him in organising things that may help.

[MJIthewriter]

I don't have much advice to offer, but your story hits home to me, because I tend to leave stuff out thinking I will be able to get back and finish the task I left undone.

To me depending on my involvement, to up and leave a task undone feels like leaving the house at night, all the windows open, lights on, all the faucets turned on, and then leaving the doors wide open and unlocked...It doesn't feel natural.  

Leaving the stuff out reminds me I need to get back and finish the darn thing I started... at the moment my drawing table is filled with pots and potting soil because I have a lot of plants to repot but more than I can do at the moment. It's also a reminder to do my spring planting if I can find containers and space...

[SueNYC]

WHen we feel like the obsession is over - we box it up and then eventually toss it.  But then, I live in a NYC apartment.  My children have learned from an early age - even the Asperger's one, that space is a premium in our fair city.  They know how to calculate the sq. footage/per $.

[MJIthewriter]

Oh boy... You would not like to live with me at all!  Chuck my things out (even if I haven't used them in ages) and oh boy...may God have mercy on you...

I didn't like it when toys of mine "mysteriously" disappeared... Some of them were broken (which depending on the toy didn't bother me), others toys I just used on occasion. If they were particularly messy toys like slime... those seemed to disappear rather quickly just after getting them. When I got to be about age 10, mom finally let me have a slime toy.  I had silly-putty and something called nutty putty before then.  I loved to play with the stuff but I learned the hard way not to play with it in bed! (twice...)

[SueNYC]

MJ - you do not understand NYC culture.  My son knows that he is lucky to have his own room, with a double closet.  NYC children understand the concept of useable space better than others.  When we get rid of a collection it is usually replaced by something of greater value - like a PSP or a Mac computer.  we tread carefully but wisely.

[MJIthewriter]

I probably don't. That's why I probably don't want to live in NYC... I have a hard time throwing out stuff. I do, but sometimes later in my life I start feeling bad wishing I had something I threw out previously. It's very annoying...