Ethan has always had a thing for doors. From a very young age he would be fascinated with cupboard doors. If there was a cupboard Ethan would be there opening and closing the door. I suppose it was an obsession but it wasn’t one that was harmful in any way.
As Ethan is getting older his autism is changing, we are discovering anxiety and how it can stop you in your tracks. This is also bringing on more meltdowns which can be interesting!
Over the past month or so Ethan’s obsession with doors has changed and has got more intense. It started with the downstairs toilet, Ethan needed this door closed. As soon as we opened it he was right behind us closing it. He didn’t even need to see us open it, it’s as if he can feel that it is open!
Apart from this getting on our nerves slightly this wasn’t really something that caused us a problem, but this week there has been another change resulting in full-blown meltdowns.
When Darren puts Ethan to bed he leaves Ethan’s door ajar so that he can leave the room without waking him. Ethan freaked out that the door wasn’t closed, screaming his word for door whilst uncontrollably crying. Closing the door was the only thing that stopped his meltdown.
This also happened when Darren had the backdoor open whilst he was in the back garden. Summer is going to be fun if he won’t let us have this door open.
I really hope we can stop this new anxiety in its tracks as this isn’t something I want Ethan to have control over. Doors sometimes need to be open!
