son with aspergers...playing with feces

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I have a son with aspergers. He is 10 yrs. old and is just entering 5th grade (today is the first day of school). I just discovered that for about a week or so, he has been spreading poop all over the bathroom at home. The first time it occurred - I confronted him about it, and his response was....it just got on my hands... So, I tried to explain to him that poop is gross and you have to be careful when using the bathroom. Well, it happened again yesterday....(I am devastated). He had poop all over this time...the toilet, the bathroom rug, and the shower curtain.... I again tried talking to him about it...I questioned him....asking why, etc... He just kept telling me "he didn't know why he did it??" During the whole time of me trying to talk to him, he was so anger...pulling his hair, scratching himself, poking himself in the eyes, and hitting himself.....so I also had to calm him down and stop him from hurting himself. We have dealt with many issues, but NEVER this.....I am so lost. I have called the dr., and I am just waiting for a return call.

Any advice..

Granted my daughter is HALF his age BUT she did a similar thing for a spell a couple of months ago. Exactly the same. Did it I dunno, 6 or 7 times over the course of 2 weeks (only 2x that I told my husbnad about) and she also couldnt tell me why she did it and she also got VERY agitated when I confronted her. Ultimately I started keeping uncolored home made playdough in each bathroom and told her, for the love of pete, if she had any uncontrollable urge to squish stuff or smear stuff or play with a substance like that, hit up the play dough IMMEDIATELY. She really loves the sensory input of squishy slimy things. So my guess is that she got stressed and the poo was closest so it got played with. Since keeping the playdough in the bathroom it hasn't happened. And she does play with the playdough.

You can even add a little water to brown play doh to make it mushier. I don't mean that as a joke, I know it sounds gross, but it would be a pretty close approximation of poo, without the germs.

How frustrating. Could he be anxious about school starting back?

We had a spell of this behaviour with our son at 8-9ish. We never really got to the bottom of it, but it was a phase he grew out of quite quickly.

The Playdoh idea sounds great! If you don't have Playdoh, modeling clay of any kind will also work.

I don't recall ever doing anything like this, but was told that I did occasionally play with the water in the toilet when very small, and was also told that I once had to be changed because I had gotten all wet doing it while all dressed up and waiting for us to go somewhere. Hey! Water sports are fun!

Even now, in my early 50s, I do like to handle certain textures, mostly fabrics and fur, though.

Good luck with the Playdoh!

You can also include WHY he should not play with feces, it is not because it is gross, or because it smells bad, or because you have to clean afterwards... it is because feces are dangerous for him. Research online. Use scientific facts. My Aspies are a little hypocondriac, and I have read they tend to be that way, so when he understand the dangerous it can be for his health, he would be more willing to stop doing that.

lets not look at the feces for a while...you mentioned that he just started the 5th grade. Something is going on at school.
when a new strange behavior begins, it best to look at what changed in his enviroment that is causing this decopensation.

as far as the feces go, give him soap, water and a scrub brush and tell him clean it up.
Dont press him for WHY. He doesnt know why he is doing it. You have to be the detective and find out WHAT is going on to cause a decompensation episode.

If this has just started now and he is entering into the 5th grade this may be a stress reaction to approaching change. It may also be a sensory thing, if so you will want to replace the behavior with something more acceptable.

For example: I had a med change and was having a rough time. I wanted to hit my head against the wall but instead I got my mom to teach me to crochet. Whenever I felt bad I'd work on the blanket I was making instead.

It's important to offer something else, not just taking a stim away.

Thanks for all the advice...
I did discuss the "dangers" of playing with the feces... I also spoke with his dr. and she told me that I did the right things, and she advised to "not make a big deal" about it...and just closely monitor his bathroom visits in case it happens again....then, we would begin a more in-depth investigation.

hi, Jojo's mom here,

Just a note, playing with feces ,fecal incontinence or bedwetting can happen as the result of recent sexual abuse. Not to scare you but with these kids we have to be watchful.

Since he said he "just got it on his hands" he may have been scratching back there while on the toilet. It's possible for kids to get worms from going outside barefoot or from a pet. They cause their behinds to itch like crazy. One of mine got them once when he was little. It's not that uncommon. If he got it on his hands that way he may have just been surprised and wanting to get rid of it. Have you noticed him scratching his bottom a lot lately? Also, with worms they itch more at night than in the daytime. It's simple to get rid of them if it's worms. You will also see little tiny segments of worms in their underwear. Very small, but it's not something you normally see.

From what I understand, with worms you itch a lot while you are going to the bathroom too.

That may not be it, but it just occured to me and I thought I'd pass it on.

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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
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