Poop and Sleeping in His Own Bed Problems...

Our son is somewhere on the spectrum. His diagnosis is PDD as he doesn't have all the symptoms of autism, but enough that we look to those therapies for help. He also is challenged with pooping in the potty. We have come to discover that it's a proprioceptive issue -- he's truly out of touch with his body. And when we help him focus on it, he gets very upset. We recently did auditory integration therapy (AIT) for him, and it has helped this proprioceptive issue tremendously. He makes comments like "mommy, I can feel my heart beating" or he'll say "my tummy feels sick because I'm upset". Before he never commented on his body. He went from getting to the potty about 30% of the time, to now getting there about 85% of the time, which is a huge improvement. They don't know why the AIT helps this, but it is consistent with many children. The woman who brought it to American has a daughter who was diagnosed autistic, and she benefited tremendously from AIT.

Hope you find something that helps. I know it requires lots of patience, but I agree that these kids teach us so much!

Take care,
B.

Hi C.,

There are so many reasons why as autism affects the gut SO MUCH. My best advice to you is go to www.tacanow.org and look around on the site AND also use the "Chat" feature, located on the right. There are meetings once a month throughout the country but here in the So Cal all over the place.

Costa Mesa has the biggest meeting where you will meet so many parents who have been through it and know many suggestions. There is also one in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and the valley for our area.

Diet is a big help for most families, probiotics, supplements and then different therapies can work on this as well. Sorry, no easy answer but TACA is the way to go AND it is free.

Hang in there and know that there is hope to help you son and you to get him to the best that he can be:o)

Hi C.,

I have a soon to be 6-year old son who is also on the spectrum. A year ago, we started pursuing a biomedical approach to his recovery and have seen some amazing results during the last 12 months. Two of the issues that we were dealing with when he started with pooping on the potty and sleeping through the night. What we didn't realize was that our son had some digestive issues that needed to be dealt with and fully potty training him just wasn't going to happen until we healed his digestive track so that he no longer had soft loose stools (diarrhea). As for sleeping through the night, I believe that with his stomach healed and the supplements that we have been giving him -- nothing too radical, just vitamins and minerals really -- he's gone from waking up each and every night (and sometimes not going back to sleep) to sleeping through the night almost all the time with a few exceptions here and there.

To learn more about this, I would suggest checking out the following books and resources:

The Autism & ADHD Diet by Barrie Silberberg (not yet out in the book stores but is available through amazon.com)

Healing the New Childhood Epidemics by Dr. Kenneth Bock

www.talkaboutcuringautism.org
www.autism.com

The following Yahoo groups provide wonderful information and support for parents of children who autism:

GFCF Kids
TACA

I know that this approach is not without some controversy but it is really all about good nutrition and healing our kids physically so that they can feel more comfortable in their own skins. It's really helping my son and I know of other parents that have seen a huge improvement with their children as well.

Feel free to e-mail me off-line if you have any other questions or concerns. Wishing you and your son the best of luck.

Check out www.handle.org. Not only can they help with bowel movements but with all neurological disorders. No one understands autism in the way they do. Even Harvard has implemented HANDLE techniques. The HANDLE method cured my son's lifetime of bed wetting at 17 years-old in five weeks.
Their methods can help with all symptoms of autism.
D. Merlin
Mother/author
www.victoryoveradhd.com

Hi I have a special needs son also who's 5 and have been potty training him off/on for 3 years and he finally just started about 3 weeks ago, thank God! My son does not have a diagnosis and he doesn't speak that much so we didn't know how much he understands. Definately keep at it and get a "treasure" chest filled with little toys or snacks your son might like so that he gets a treasure when he does go. Also when he has a poopy accident have you tried making HIM take the poop and put it in the toilet? This worked for my son and he loved waving bye bye to the poop when he flushed. Good Luck!

Does your son go to Occupational Therapy? Perhaps an OT can help you out. If you don't have one, have your pediatrician refer you to one and your insurance should cover it.

I just want to see what other people said :)

Hi C.,
My nephew is 8-1/2 and autistic. He still doesn't poop in the potty and often wakes during the night. This is normal. Just keep at it. Remember that, depending on the degree of autism, your sons chronological age may be six, but his cognitive, or developmental age may be closer to two. If we think of development for a two year old, most of them are just learning to pee in the potty and the pooping in the potty comes later; sometimes not until they are three or four. So, just continue to give him the love, patience, and time you already are. I know it's frustrating, but with a great mom such as yourself, he's bound to flourish. =0)
You are not alone. =0)
L.

Hello C.,
As a special ed. teacher, I have encountered this issue with many children with autism. Although mostly this problem exists at home, as teachers we are also asked to reinforce proper behavior at school. One technique that has proven to work well is to use social stories that focus on positive outcomes. Each problem behavior has a book with pictures illustrating the proper behavior. These books are homemade and the pictures are of your child doing the proper behavior. For example, when he sits on the potty, take a picture of him. Take a picture of poop in the toilet... The book is read to the child in order for them to associate the visual with their own behavior. Carol Gray discovered this effective technique, you may want to check out her website.
You have had wonderful answers by other supportive moms. I also agree, support groups and networking are a saving grace. Research continues to come up with wonderful ways to work with those on the spectrum, keep searching and be patient, often there are 2 steps back before there is 1 forward.

www.thegraycenter.org/

Good luck
Wendy

my nonautistic 5 yr old son still comes into our bed every single night. If I am beat, he can stay. otherwise I walk him back to his room. My sleep is more important that what bed he sleeps in.

read "impossilbe cure" by amy lansky. she has PhD in physics and her book is eye-opening for families with autistic children. i'm in a hurry and can't do spell check but hope you can find the book anyway
Good Luck
V.