Opening and closing doors

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I'm NT but my son (who is almost 3) is on the spectrum. His biggest fascination is doors, and my husband and I fail to see why he finds them so entertaining. Lucas can talk, but he's not yet conversational, so we can't ask him why he likes doors so much.

I'm wondering if there are others out there on the spectrum who might have done the same thing and can shed some light on why this is such a great thing to do.

Specifically, Lucas loves to open and close them. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. Sometimes he'll put his face right up to the door and observe the motion up close. He loves to put his fingers in the hinge and remove them at the last moment - right before they're pinched. He loves all manner of doors (car doors, bedroom doors, cabinet doors, etc).

I would just love to understand my son better. Did anyone else do this, and why?

I did this a little (liked light switches better) but I know a kid (not sure whether he's on the spectrum, we suspect) who likes closing and opening windows. He'd do it forever and not grow tired of it if you would let him. It's rather typical for autistic kids to do this - opening/closing windows, doors, cupboards, switching lights on/off all over and over again or waving their fingers/hand in front of their eyes/a light and so on.

I think reasons for this certainly aren't always the same. Often though, it has something to do with all of the following things: the repetitiveness of the action, sensory stimulation/motor mannerisms and that the action can be understood as a whole process by the child and is observable even to those children/adults who have visual/auditive/other sensory integration dysfunction and fixate on details while also having problems to observe and process relevant information of a huge (everyday) scene because all the stimuli cause overload or just cannot be taken in at once and as fast.

If opening and closing something makes a sound or looks interesting (to the child/autistic person) for example, it could also be related to the seeking of sensory stimulation. Some kids stare at light or watch most different things moving for example.

Opening and closing doors is also a fairly repetitive action (you can open and close a door, that is repetitive right hehe), the outcome is always the same and a child can be sure of what happens when he or she manipulates the door, window, whatever. It's the same fixation of a detail as the need for routines that structure the day and enables an autistic person to be sure of what happens next and the same as a fixation on a special interest.

Opening/closing things also falls under the criterion of routines and repetitive behaviour actually. It's the 'preoccupation with parts of objects'. It relates to routines and motor mannerisms such as spinning, hand flapping, toe-walking (and so on) in that it can also be soothing and relaxing for the above reasons (sensory stimulation, repetitive action, overseeable process even for those with sensory processing dysfunction).

That's the reasons I can think of right now.

I think something about motion is calming to an autistic person - lots of us have/ had a fascination with running water, trains, buses, etc

I used to get into loads of trouble for forgetting to close doors (my mind tended to be elsewhere), but not quite the same thing. What others say about motor fascination is probably right.

Wow. Thanks for the great explanations.

AspieCard - Lucas also does love trains and running water. I never realized they were all connected. Interesting!

I wonder, too, besides the calming effect, if your son might also be trying to figure out "universal principle" behind doors... I can certainly feel a part of my brain turning toward all the spatial details of open... close... open... close.

Being such a youngster, it's probably fairly raw intellect right now, but if there is some level of curiosity in this for him, you may find him extending this investigation to more things as he grows, trying to understand what makes the world work.

The squeezing of the fingers seem like a localized version of the weighted blankets or squeeze chutes. A pressure he can regulate that he enjoys, same as what Temple Grandin discovered for her system (Thinking in Pictures)... she not only enjoyed the pressure but was curious about it, too.

it can be the latching action or the swinging of the door panel or even the rotation of the hinge that gets them obsessed, if the door's got a closer, could be the changing angles of the arm of the closer device at top in comparison to the door itself or door frame,

me too sunshower, lol get yelled at for pushing doors open too hard, or forgetting to close them with me when I "calibrate" how much force needed, I look to see if its got a closer or strong spring holding it shut, then push hard enough until door moves then remember with that door to push hard.

if no closer, go soft and gradually push harder (in case its on opposite side of door then were im standing)

I still forget to close them, mostly the bathroom, if I don't close that one, I find a 100 LB Akita named Dancer drinking out of the toilet (eww!)

another type of door that fascinates kids who are autistic or young, the automatic doors on front of supermarkets (sliding and swinging) be lucky hes FASCINATED not fearing them!


when I was young, I had a FEAR of automatic doors (yea thats right, I used to be afraid of doors!!) all started in pre kindergarten when i got trapped by a closing automatic door on a county run special needs elementary school I attended (it had the rubber pressure mat, I was riding a tricycle during a parade and i pretty much tailgated a powerchair user and door was not detecting me but did detect the power wheelchair user. well anyway, it caught the back wheels of trike and I screamed, ever since then for about 2 years I would resist going into any supermarkets or any commercial business because of the electric door might squish me again.

I'm just glad nobody uses pressure mats anymore, all infrared or motion detectors now and now look, i more of give advice on them or fix them, not fear them!

agreed I used to watch washing maches but I find motion theraputic

As a kid one of my early fascinations was boxes. Another was electricity, especially plugs.

With my son at a similar age, it was garden gates that he was fascinated with. It would take us ages to walk anywhere, as he would stop at every garden gate, study it, then move it, open it fully then close it. Then he would step back and check how it against the one next door that he had just carried out this same procedure on.

And what dismay if he found a garden which didn't have a gate! What! No gate!?!

I'd be very edgy about the fingers in at the hinge, mind you. That could be nasty if he mistimes it.

that might be causing a scare to neighbors who own the gates hes testing, some may even latched or padlocked to prevent unautherized entry (in a way that can be good, i use a caribiner (one of them clips used in rock climbing) keeps kids and door to door religions and sales people away since they dont like to fiddle with it just to throw a sales pitch and result in wasting their time just to hear the person say NO IM NOT INTERESTED. (no its not a hazard, as i have another gate that is free to unlatch without fiddling with a carabiner clip in case theres a medical emergency, fire or need police)


Marcia: about the hinges, if he's doing this with chain link fences, theres not much of a hinge danger there since they are 2 knuckle hinges that are positioned between gate pole and fencing post (big space between were hinges are)and is pretty safe to grab the hinge side of gate to swing it without getting hurt (may be tougher to get moving if he moves them this way) its the wooden gates he would have to be careful with.

You might want to read Temple Grandin's Thinking in Pictures. She talks about how she used door imagery to help her face changes & challenges throughout her life. This might give you some ideas on how to approach things with your son.

Even as an adult with only a mild diagnosis, I sometimes find myself deliberately moving things in a repetitive way. I can feel myself go briefly into almost a hypnotized, dream-like state, completely focused on the movement until I 'snap out of it' and continue as normal.

question for the op - what fascinated you as a kid?

Maybe he wants to know how it works?

Show him the hinges and maybe the lock?

EDIT:I meant show him how they work. and if you don't know you have the internet to find out.

i have and still do this, i love the noise it makes and the cause and affect of the door opening then watching it close, love em both