YELLOW PAGES!!
I have a friend with a 13 year old girl who rips pages and has for years. They have found that she will use the phone books to rip and will leave other things alone. Every so often she sends out a Facebook message that they need phone books. All their friends know to save them and often they find books by their door from friends and some bring them to church to give them. All the friends know that Megan needs phone books and that she is going to rip them. Occasionally, they have used catalogs, but phone books are preferred.
Doing this fills her need, but puts it in a form that is acceptable for the family.

Xavier doesn't rip books he tears the ends of pages of sales paper inserts that comes in the news paper, he has an algebra book he has been reading and hiding of and on for over 10 years...gosh I wish he could tell me what he knows for I struggle with algebra.He rolls the edges of the pages he tears and make little tiny balls out of them with his mouth nibbling on them. I got a magazine in the mail today he reached for it read it then gave it back, but he will get it again in a few days .

@A MyAutismTeam Member - what you describe is the first one that sounds a bit like my son. He rips up books that he actually really likes then runs to throw them away. but when he runs out of his own stuff then he becomes sneaky and starts looking for other stuff to rip up. when there's no paper, he'll break his sunglasses and throw them away. Or empty the toliet paper and throw it away. Orr...

I really think its more about throwing away.

I am 99% certain it is not about sensory since he developed this behavior at age 15 (he's now 17).

I think its some kind opposite-hoarding kind of activity. I think I'll post the question as a hoarding question and see if people have good suggestions on how to redirect hoarding behavior.

I never thought it was sensory. But apparently a lot of parents that see this type of behavior do and their approach is to give a replacement behavior. Which is another reason why I don't think its sensory because replacement sensory options have not worked.

Now I do think that idea that he might be under-stimulated per @A MyAutismTeam Member has some merit. I'm going to think about that.

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@Jill-Logenecker - All behavior serves a purpose. Look at sensory first... he may be UNDER-stimulated at home, and need more input. There is more novelty in all the other locations you mention. For now, you need to lock away all paper-based products you do NOT want shredded, in addition to have the "this stuff is ok to rip" basket. Then, look at what is IS doing in the other places... is he looking at stuff, feeling surfaces, listening, smelling... which senses is he using? Once you know that, you can increase access to new things to explore using those particular senses in your home.

That's funny you say that. My son, who is now 8, did that for a long time. We got to the point that we had a basket of papers that we brought home from work that he could rip up. I think he saw his daddy go through the mail and rip up the junk mail, and started to copy him. He'd go around the house ripping up every thing he got his hands on. Then he would go to school, do his work, then rip it up before the teacher could see it. That was always a great call from the teacher. I believe he did eventually get to the point that he knew that there was the basket of papers that we kept for him to tear up. He was our personal shreader. And he did grow out of it and move on to other things.