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The original was posted on /r/autism by /u/Alarming_Opinion8697 on 2023-12-30 00:07:45.

My autistic son (10) continues to throw away his books. He has several special interests. Books have always been his favorite. He has a running amazon list of books he wants.

For Christmas he picked his favorites for me purchase. I made sure I got the entire series and that he had plenty of space on his bookshelves. Keeping them organized and having the entire collection is very important. Christmas morning he opened the books and was so happy. He read them over and over for the couple days after.

Today I went to take out the garbage and I found his books in the large dumpster outside our complex. The past few days he has been sneaking books out to throw them away. I was able to dive for some of them but 9 were lost.

My question is WHY?!?! I got the exact series and edition he wanted. He had been talking about owning these books all year. This sort of thing happened a few months ago as well. Again it was with his most preferred books.

My son is able to verbally communicate. His receptive language is age appropriate. But explaining his thought process is almost impossible at this age. I’ve suggested putting them in the garage so they’re out of sight. He is hyper empathetic. I’ve explained books are expensive and we don’t have money to throw away. I’ve explained once something is in the dumpster it’s gone forever. I explained how throwing away a gift hurts people’s feelings. Doesn’t make a difference.

Have any of you done this as a child? Can you imagine why an autistic kid would do this? I’ve scoured the internet and can’t find anyone with a similar experience. Sorry this is so long. I want to help him and save my money. Something has to be going on to make a child go behind their parent’s back and throw away loved items.