We have had this issue since I came into the picture in 06. It was going on way before me, but his "mother" didn't do anything about it. Never did even way after, even after in 08 when we got custody of him and asked for her help in trying to correct the behavior. Eye roll. Anyway, with T it was always his dad's lunch food. He works 3rd shift so he has the snack type food for his lunches. It has taken us YEARS to find something that works. I have an alarm on his door, and we tried putting it way up in the cabinet even. Nothing worked. He would gorge this food. A whole bag of Dorito's and a whole box of Nutty Bars would just be a snack to him. This also brought on the lying. Which drives me absolutely INSANE. So, finally this last summer, his psychologist suggested we take ALL sweets away. Anything he perceives as a "snack". He is on a no sugar diet now. The stuff we buy for my husbands lunch is hidden in our closet. I do the grocery shopping while he is at school so he doesn't even know it's in the house. We pack his lunch, he gets meat or all natural PBJ, string cheese, fruit, carrots and all natural granola bar from Hy Vee or Walmart organic section. I don't buy sweets or crap food anymore at all other than what goes in my husbands lunch. We even have to keep apples from him, because he would eat 5 0r 6 in a night if we didn't watch him. It has helped ten fold for the most part. We are also dealing with not only Autism we have RAD as well. But his focus is better and he has been a bit easier to get along with food wise. just something that worked for us. I hope you are able to find something that will help your family.

On the positive side, this is neuro-typical behavior, especially "sneaking" it. If he knows he has to hide it, it means he has some awareness of your thinking instead of just his own. This is a huge leap with many kids.

My 12 yr old does this also. He is on Meds and I tend to think is has something to do that, I never though of the thrill seeking aspect of it tho (something for me to think about). I am always finding tons of wrappers in the corner of his room. I have 4 other kids in my house so I have found myself locking most of the snacks in my room and only leaving 1 or 2 in the cabinet at a time and the kids always have to ask, even so, he always seems to get at them. Its a constant battle. I found that on days he seems extra hungry, when he wants a snack, I try and make him drink a glass of water with it to help fill him up. He doesn't always like to, but if he wants the snack he will drink it.

We had this too with our son. we had to bungie cord our fridge shut when he was younger. He is 7 now. We discussed this with his Dr. and we were told that part of its control and the other part is boundary testing. Taking things he knows he shouldn't, fits in with Aspie thrill seeking behaviors. This isn't necessarily conscious of course but still testing what he can get away with. When our son did things like this we learned quickly that an ignored behavior will go away. Not completely ignoring, but not giving him the reaction he was looking for by doing things he shouldn't. The other thing suggested was to associate something he doesn't like with the repeated unwanted behavior. For ex: When our son was taking his sisters laundry. We would dump out 2 loads and make him fold it and put it away. It stopped quickly when the reaction he was looking for was not the one he got. Getting the teachers for your son may be tough though. Hope that helps and good luck.

I can only speak on our child's behalf, and our experience, he doesn't have the capability to curb his impulse. A lot of these kids don't. It was just way more simpler to remove it from the house or keep it locked without his knowledge of it even being in the home. It took a lot of the anxiety out of our home with it being just gone. Like I said, we have treated as though he as an addiction, addicts don't care about consequences, they only want what they want and crave. We also do "listening therapy" as well.