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Teenage son - toilets and OCD

paulponty

At the moment, if he goes to the toilet he takes approx 45mins-1hour in there plus a 30 min shower afterwards.

Hes working on this with CAMHS therapy but not so much progress yet.

At home, we have 3 toilets and 2 showers so not such an issues (apart from him using all the hot water and being late for things). Recently, we went away for the weekend and there were only two toilets - he basically camped out in one for ages. We're off to Disneyland Paris soon - staying in a flat and its got just one toilet and one shower (fortunately in separate rooms which is something).

Problem is come hell or high water, he will not get out before hes ready. If the house was on fire he wouldn't get out honestly. CAMHS seem to think that some of his behaviour is his OCD/possible Aspergers but some is likely to be just teenager bad behaviour (i.e. why should I?). Either way he has no thought of anyone else.

I can just picture it. One toilet and hes in there for an hour. If someone else is busting (and hes got a 4 year old sister) he would definitely NOT make any attempt to hurry up. He would let someone soil themselves first (his attitude would be "not my problem").

Any hints on how to handle this the right way? We've tried to explain to him but he just seems uninterested.

What I don't want to do is for things to come to a head with something happening whilst we're there.

Parents

  • Hi NAS35349,

    I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with your son's behaviour around going to the toilet.  Individuals on the spectrum can often display behaviour that may be challenging. There will generally be a reason for this and it is important to try and understand the trigger for the behaviour when developing strategies.

    You may like to have a look at the following link for more information on behaviour and strategies: http://www.autism.org.uk/About/Behaviour. In particular, you may find the pages on obsession, repetition and routine and on challenging behaviour useful.

    You may also like to contact The Autism Helpline who can provide information and advice on behaviour and strategies. You can call them on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm). Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor.

    And finally, another service that you may like to consider contacting is our Parent to Parent service who offer emotional support to parents and carers of children or adults with autism. This service is confidential and run by trained parent volunteers who are all parents themselves of a child or adult with autism. You can contact the team on 0808 800 4106. Please leave a message and the team will call you back as soon as possible at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends. Alternatively you can use contact the team via web form: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/community/family-support/parent-to-parent/enquiry.aspx.

    I hope that helps.

    Regars,

    Kerri-Mod

Reply

  • Hi NAS35349,

    I'm sorry to hear that you are having problems with your son's behaviour around going to the toilet.  Individuals on the spectrum can often display behaviour that may be challenging. There will generally be a reason for this and it is important to try and understand the trigger for the behaviour when developing strategies.

    You may like to have a look at the following link for more information on behaviour and strategies: http://www.autism.org.uk/About/Behaviour. In particular, you may find the pages on obsession, repetition and routine and on challenging behaviour useful.

    You may also like to contact The Autism Helpline who can provide information and advice on behaviour and strategies. You can call them on 0808 800 4104 (Monday to Thursday 10am to 4pm, Friday 9am to 3pm). Please note that the Helpline is experiencing a high volume of calls and it may take a couple of attempts before you get through to speak to an advisor.

    And finally, another service that you may like to consider contacting is our Parent to Parent service who offer emotional support to parents and carers of children or adults with autism. This service is confidential and run by trained parent volunteers who are all parents themselves of a child or adult with autism. You can contact the team on 0808 800 4106. Please leave a message and the team will call you back as soon as possible at a time that suits you, including evenings and weekends. Alternatively you can use contact the team via web form: http://www.autism.org.uk/services/community/family-support/parent-to-parent/enquiry.aspx.

    I hope that helps.

    Regars,

    Kerri-Mod

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