Opening doors repetitive behaviour

Hi, my husband has a son who is in his 20s, who is Autistic and when he comes to visit we get used to the different repetitive behaviours that appear and then sometimes disappear. Recently we have begun opening all internal doors on the same floor as his bedroom, this is usually not a problem, as the rooms are not in everyday use. However now we have begun to it to our bedroom and ensuite. It does not seem to be anything related to anxiety. I am keen to address this behaviour with these specific doors as we get dressed/undressed in the bedroom and use the ensuite to shower in etc etc. At the moment have been using simple verbal communication to try and discourage this behaviour, was going to resort to visual symbols but was just wondering if anyone had any other advice.

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    It is good to understand the private vs public thing for his own protection if nothing else but he may not be able to understand that.

    Often, autistic people can be good with using rules if the rules are clear and unambiguous - we sometimes struggle with knowing when to use which rules though - positive, consistent but firm encouragement is likely to get better results than shouting at him when you have had enough!

    Perhaps you could use Private signs rather than Stop signs? It depends if he can read or recognise the words? 

  • Hi,

    Thanks for your advice,I think I will go down the symbols route and then if that doesn't work look into locks accompanied by symbols. Not sure he would understand the private/public areas going off other situations/behaviours in the past, certainly understand that he needs to have something in which he can grasp that those are no go areas.

    Again thanks for the words of wisdom.

    Merry Christmas

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    He may not understand the different boundaries that distinguish between private, family and public areas. Have you explained that there are some doors that are private that he is not allowed to go through without knocking? He ought to learn to understand the distinction between things that are private and things that are public.

    Perhaps you could put a "stop" sticker on the doors that you don't want him to go through - then he will be able to work out what to do.

    The other thing you can do is put vanity locks on to the doors that you want to stop him using. You can get mortise locks for bathrooms that have these built in or you can just use a small sliding bolt.