Annoying 'bits'

Hi

My grandson (8 years old) has always had a tendancy to play with his genitals.  He now understands that this is something he should not do in public, but keep it to his own room.

However, he still fiddles with his penis and this is because he finds it annoying.  It tends to move to one side, as they do, but he doesn't like this, he wants it to stay in the middle, so he is constantly adjusting it.  He is quite well endowed and this doesn't help because he also cant stand it when it touches his inner thigh, as it does when he doesn't have pants on. If he is sitting in his dressing gown, he will put something e.g. a cushion, under it to hold it up away from his legs.

I know this sounds a wierd one but its really starting to become a problem.  Has anyone else's boy had this problem and did you find a solution.  We have thought about getting him something like a truss to hold it firmly in place but he would probably find that very irritating as well as he really doesn't like to wear clothes and he has only recently started to be able to deal with things like his collars, cuffs etc without trying to chew them to bits.

Hope someone out there can give us some advice.

Thanks. X

  • This must be stressful for him.  I realise he dislikes clothes - but the only thing I have heard tried for this sort of thing is tight fitting (lycra type) underpants.

    COuld you try a referral to a specialist Occupational Therapist - they might be able to look into so de-sensitization techniques.

    Photos of other male genitals to let him see his are the same and hang in 'the middle' might also help him visualise - probably some photos on young people's sex education sites.

    GOod Luck

    Rosalyn

  • Hi

    Thanks Colin.  We have tried that, plus various other things.  We have tried to just ignore it but others are noticing it now and other kids have commented.  I think its just one of those things that he is going to have to get used to and control his urges to 'readjust' every few seconds.  Poor boy, its bad enough being sensitive to clothing, but at least he can take them off...unlike his 'bits'.

    I will try to helpline to see if they can suggest anything.

  • Hello Griffbag

    Thank you for posting.  I am not sure whether there is anything on the NAS website that could help you but may be a call to the helpline would help.  They may be able to provide you with some advice.

    http://www.autism.org.uk/Our-services/Advice-and-information-services/Autism-Helpline.aspx

    I hope that they can provide you with some help and assistance.  I have no personal experience that could be of any help although I do wonder whether some kind of distraction method may help i.e. giving your grandson something else to do with his hands and therefore taking his mind off his "bits".

    ColinCat