Sensory disorder?

Hello, 

My 6 year old daughter is having daily meltdowns from not feeling clean after going to the toilet and will wipe excessively. She will no longer leave the house for fear of needing the toilet elsewhere. She won't wear any clothes, not pants either. We have tried all practical support e.g.wet wipes, shower/bath after, works for a while then stopped and made it worse. The meltdowns are aggressive and losing control, screaming, shouting, kicking and hitting me, banging doors throwing objects and hitting herself,just in complete despair and asking me to kill her as she can't take it any more. Getting support from CAMHS for anxiety but still awaiting reply for referrals from neuro diversity and sensory. She also has food aversion which hospitalised her 2 months ago. 

Anyone had similar experience? Does this sound like sensory disorder? Anyone know how to calm/reduce this intense sensation she has on her skin? 

  1. Thank you so much for reading this.
  • I'm somewhere between paleo and FODMAP. However, I have learned if you don't properly sprout grains, nuts, seeds and legumes, they can rob the bodies mineral source and one can quickly become anaemic. Fair warning!

  • Possibly the lack of clothes is anxiety of soiling them? I don't like going to toilets outside home too, and try to use the same one at work...

    I find a natural diet works best, is it called paleo? Eating food in its original, unprocessed form. So having an apple but not apple juice. Veg, unprocessed meat and fish, fruit, nuts, seeds, a little natural yoghurt/cream.

    On the days when I eat foods I don't usually eat, I make sure to chew excessively to add saliva to the food to aid digestion, it seems to be less painful later on with high carb foods. Sometimes I would have to stop what I was doing when the pains were liked barbed wire in certain points.

  • She will no longer leave the house for fear of needing the toilet elsewhere

    To add, another friend of mine who's autistic went through this as a child. She'd have too many movements in a day. One never knows how their digestion will operate. It's a constant surprise. Sometimes a banana is all one can trust to get through the first half of the day. 

  • It does sound like bowel issues though.

    I agree. A 'food aversion' sounds alarms of potentially painful digestive disorders. 

    There is a lot of research happening now on gut health, linking to immune health and the gut-brain axis. Findings show Long Covid changes the gut microbiota to affect the brain in ways similar to Autistic and ADHD'rs. Refined sugar can also cause blockage and gut health issues. But hormone balance plays a role as do amino acids. I take nootropics daily for gut-health and have been taking supplements since young, including a hormone balancing herbal supplement, which many ADHD friends take. 

    I spent nearly 2 decades barely eating. Food created painful gas/bloating/breathing problems. Eventually I stuck to: fruit, meat only cooked in just butter or with salt, Live yogurt, carrots, daisy family lettuce, potatoes and nuts/seeds, especially almonds. Occasionally oats. These were deemed 'safe'.

    At 27 It was suggested gluten was a problem. By 37 I realised through several near-death experiences I couldn't properly digest  what used to be animal fodder: No Brassicas (Cruciferous Veg including spinach) nor could I digest most legumes (No beans, alfalfa including the peanut, No cereal grains except maize and oats and rice). If I had an accidental amount, I would juice a whole lemon with water: Ginger helped as well, but a few frightening times... 

    I have to stay vigilant daily. I take papaya enzymes, cider vinegar infused bitters, chlorella/sea moss, and supplements.  But not fully emptying ones movements due to these gut problems is part of the frustration - this is off and on most of my life. Antibiotics will set me back a year's worth of diligence. Luckily, I became more regular with meat based supplements and mushroom blend extracts daily. I do have milk now, but only full fat or live bacteria cheeses and yogurt. But never with meat.

    I have to say, I would rather die any other way than from accidentally eating something toxic to my system. Thankfully, the coffee bean is a cherry, not a "bean", the vanilla bean is also a seed, as is chocolate. 

  • We have tried all practical support e.g.wet wipes, shower/bath after, works for a while then stopped and made it worse.

    I've used a few euphamisms below to avoid the auto censor function here.

    Have you considered installing a bidet? In its various versions it is widely used outside of the UK as an effective way to not use toilet paper and achieve a much cleaner downstairs crowd.

    They have hot and cold taps so you can make it a pleasant temperature and it works effectively for both sexes.

    If you calculate the saving in toilet paper over a few years then it will more than pay for itself.

    However even is the chocolate starfish is cleaner than mother Theresas mind then the issue is likely to not be one of the fact of there being dirt/germs but a psychological fear dominating the situation.

    In this case a child therapist with phobia and autism skills will be your best approach to help your daugher deal with the issue and get her thinking about it in a helpful way. You are probably too close to be able to get her to change her thinking at this stage so an trusted outsider is more likely to get her to pause and listen.

  • It doesn’t sound like sensory issues to me. It does sound like bowel issues though. It sounds like she is not fully emptying the bowels. Because of the excessive wiping. This could mean constipation which would make sense as this is very common in autistic people. The constipation if it is that could also be causing the anxiety. If it is the constipation causing these issues it would be best to consult with a GP about any bowel issues your daughter may be having. They can recommend laxatives that may help. I hope this helps. There are also a number of books that go into detail about common issues autistic people face on a day to day basis particularly food related issues and how to resolve them.