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December 2013 Moms
Londonsmybabyboy
member
Autism Blues (VENT)- Feces Smearing
Londonsmybabyboy
member
Yep! You read that right. My son gets constipated and digs out his poop. He then proceeds to smear it everywhere (if I don't catch him first). Yesterday he was using his poop as a writing utensil on my walls. Thank you so much son! Lets just say I had to do heavy duty scrubbing these past 2 days and my son has had several baths! ugh! I love my son to pieces but Autism, I despise you! He does it as a sensory thing and it is fairly common for kids with Autism to do this but I wish it was something he did not feel the need to do. Good thing I'm in the nursing profession. I've seen worse at the hospital.
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Re: Autism Blues (VENT)- Feces Smearing
He is diagnosed as Moderate Autism Spectrum Disorder. He doesn't have severe behavior problems and can speak when given choices on what to say. He is going to be 7 in a month and still wears diapers.
This problem is wide spread throughout the autistic community. I would bet that 80 to 90 % of all ASD children have done it at least one time, some more times than the parent can count. This can be the most frustration thing you can be exposed to as a parent of an ASD child.
Although there are many reasons professionals say they do this but there is one thing for sure they do it and you are reading this because you want it to stop. Well the only person that can stop this is you the parent or guardian of this autistic child.
I am a father of an extreme ASD child so when you read my letters you will know that its coming not from a Dr. with a stamp on a piece of paper but from someone that has lived and is living through this very problem. I have tried several things to keep out child from spear his poop and I have found that the only time that our child smears poop is when he needs a very large amount of sensory input.
For the parents that have autistic children that are non-verbal, this problem is way more common place within the homes of these children. The reason is they are unable to tell you they have to go to the bathroom and most of them really don?t even care. Some of these children will be in diapers for several years.
If you want to stop this from happening you will need to change your entire lifestyle and for some this is not a very good answer, in fact for most this is one of the most frustrating answers to hear. Because, you have no life of your own anymore. Because it?s all about the ASD child. You must dedicate all your time to this child there is no time to clean there is no time to sit and relax there is no time for that movie you want to watch or even that weekly TV show there just is no time.
1. You need help
2. You need to come to terms with your new life with your autistic child,
unless you are one of the lucky ones that has deep pockets and can afford all the best care for him or her. Most people don?t, and I am one of them. So I have come up with many ways to keep this from happening when I need some time alone. I say this because my wife is Bipolar on top of it all so my stress levels are off the charts some days. Especially when she is having one of those I don?t give about anything days.
How to keep it from happening again:
No this is the key to clean walls, beds and your child
1. Look in on them frequently; do not leave them alone for any more than a couple minutes at a time.
2. Pay close attention to their bowl movements and the times because this will save you in the long run from having yet another poop mess to clean. And we all know at least the ones that go through this; it?s not a very fun task to have to repeat over and over again. In fact it gets so frustrating you just want to scream.
3. Pay attention to their attitude each day and learn to read there emotions this will save you more times than you will ever know. What I mean by this statement is, know when you child needs sensory input this is something you can learn to read after a period of time. in most cases they are have an uncontrollable energy about them flapping running screaming grunting spitting all these things can tell you there sensory input needs, need to be met ASAP. If you put them in their room when these things are happening you might as well get the bleach and water ready because you are going to have a poop mess to clean in a few short minutes. You cannot run from there needs of sensory input plain and simple you have to buck up and deal with it.
? Physical things you can do when you absolutely need some time alone:
1. First and foremost you need to modify their bedroom to be almost indestructible or you will be paying a whole hell of a lot more money having repairs done to the drywall, light fixtures windows and wall sockets then if you do the modifications.
2. You have to find a way to board up the windows so in case of an emergency the rescue crews can get in but he can?t get out or possible break the window and hurt or even kill him or herself on the broken glass.
3. There is Plexiglas fiberglass and smooth coated wood you can use to cover the walls with. You will need to find a light fixture cover to keep the child from throwing toys at it and breaking it. You will need to cover the closet so they can?t climb up into it and possible hurt themselves.
4. Last but on least, you will need to get one of those reinforced half doors with the top part having a strong Plexiglas window installed in it, so you can look in on them. Or have a video system installed so you can monitor them as well. Be careful though, these things can be destroyed by your child with one direct hit from a flying toy.
? The task of keeping their clothing on when they don?t want to wear clothes:
This is one of the hardest things to deal with. Most ASD children don?t like the feeling of cloths on them and this happens again when they are in need of massive sensory input.
1. Duct tape works for the first couple years but they figure it out. there is one thing you can be sure of and that is that there is no person on this plaen that has more determination than an ASD child. Your ASD child will continue to work on a project ontil its completely done and that means removing there clothing no matter what you do. So you really need to lear the steps on keeping there clothing on.
2. Jumpsuits or the onesie that has a zipper. You must learn to put the zipper in the back but remember if it is to loose they will take it off by stretching out the neck of the jumpsuit. They sometimes rub there back on the wall until they get the zipper down far enough to take the clothing off.
3. You must duct tape the diaper you then must put on some shorts and duct tape that then you put on the onesie and duct tape the waistline not the stomach this can cause intestinal problems so make sure it?s on their waist. Then duct tape the zipper on the top of the outfit. This will keep the child from unzipping the suit. But remember the outfit has to me snug. Last but not least before you do all this make sure to cut the feet off the onesie or the child will have leverage to pull it down.
This may seem a bit extreme but believe me, I know from experience how to do these things. It?s a real task taking all the tape off but I would rather do that then to have to clean crap off my child the walls bed and everywhere else they can smear it.
Just remember this one thing all they want is to fill their sensory needs, you must help them with this. By bear hugs and other ways of pressure using a bristle brush on their arms and legs works as well. a light scratching on their back works too. If you have a boy give them a buz hair cut so you have rub there head opposite of the hair growth giving them there sensory needs. Monitor them while there playing with clay silly putty slime or even finger paints. Shoot make a mud pit outside and let them play in the mud it?s a lot easier to spray them off with the hose when they have mud on them, than it is to clean crap off of everything in your house.
I hope this article helps you in your times of stress. Dealing with an ASD child is not something we ask for but try and understand, you are not going through it alone. One more very important thing you need to understand. Your ASD child is living the hell that you have to deal with. You have it bad but these poor kids have it a thousand times worse because they are living it day in and day out. The most important thing you can do is have patients and most of all love your child love, love, love your child.
Rich Ornelas 05/25/2013