My 5 year autistic son smears his poo all over the house...ceiling..walls...

[Soumia]

Dear mums

My nonverbal 5 yeard autistic son....is smearing...throwing his poo everywhere...

Although he is successfully toileg trained and can go to the toilet...he sometimes throw his poo all over the house...garden...etc disguting...

This is definitely a sensory seeking behavioir?

He loves throwing things up...

Please advise me if you experiences similar things...thanks

It could be for a number of reasons. Is he potty trained? Does he poo in a nappy, pants or the loo before he throws it?

It could be just a matter of pooing in a nappy, being uncomfortable and trying to sort it out himself, in which case I would suggest watching him carefully, working out the times of day he does it and being extra careful at those times, work on him communicating that he needs a bum change and making his nappy inaccessible - M&S do vests with poppers which might help with that.

If it's something to do with the texture then I would suggest plenty of messy play with shaving foam, play dough, slime etc, maybe finger painting. Maybe also do some sensory play with strong smells like tea tree or lavender.

We've had similar with my four year old DS and it is definitely getting better using a combination of the above ideas. I strongly feel that in DS's case it was a habit caused by both being uncomfortable and sensory issues, but he just got in the habit of smearing every time he did a poo. When we managed to consistently interrupt him he got out of the habit and now is less likely to think to do it even when he has an opportunity.

Oh another thing that it might be is him feeling out of control with how toileting happens, so it could be his way of trying to exert control over it. You might try giving him a little bit of extra responsibility around pooing, for example fetching the wipes or flushing the chain himself, to make him feel a bit more in control of the process.

He is fully toilet trained since 6 months...and it is not accident....he does it whever he get a chance of me not observing him...

He seems to have fun messing up with his poo

Thanks for the advice...but whever he goes to the toilet...he is always in a rush...i must push him...remind him to flash...wipe...wash hands...

Actually he is very good at jndependently wiping himself...but he tries always to run out of the bathrooom straight away

Maybe try some sensory activities with similar textures/feelings to what poo I spoke like, like playdough, slime, kinetic sand, thick paint etc?

It’s not easy, I had the same yrs ago with dc1 (hasn’t a diagnosis) and it’s a horrid thing to deal with

I suppose you need to ask yourself why he’s doing it. If you think it’s because a sensory seeking behaviour I would try to redirect that to playing with paint or baking cookies or something.

It sounds like he’s getting anxious during times where he’s going to the toilet and the smearing is a way of self regulating his emotions. Are you using pictures or gestures to communicate?

@KissyThief

Thanks...but he does it in garden or landibg...never in the toilet...he does it only when he get a chance and i am not seeing him...

He started pecs

My little boy does this he actually seems to force himself to poo just the tiniest amount so he can smear, I was told it's mostly a sensory thing for him, we do lots of sensory play, shaving foam, slime, kinetic sand seems to help but we just have to make sure he's changed as soon as he goes (not toilet trained), we have to change him 15 times a day sometimes that's just hours he's awake he does it in the night as well but that's a whole other story