I may suggest one thing we did to start removing certain things so the lack of the target item is less critical:
Find more things your child likes to line up. We have PlusPlus [0], LEGO, Tegu [1], and wooden train track [2] available. Once you have a variety of options removing one of them is less likely to cause a meltdown if they've started using the others. This dilution of the importance of something they are attached to has been amazingly helpful.
Note that for TEGU and PlusPlus they can occasionally be found (typically after Christmas) in the discount stores (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.) for huge discounts if you are in the USA. Otherwise shop around.
[0]: https://tegu.com/
[2]: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lillabo-50-piece-track-set-1032...
Where the lack of empathy is concerned, obviously people just don't understand how difficult something can be on an extreme end of the spectrum, and that's why we often get the uninformed suggestions that some sort of discipline will help solve the problem. Which I can't be too upset about it, as I labored under similar misconceptions until I had direct experience.