sbgrace Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 This is weird but I'm going to post because maybe someone will have an idea or experience to help. My spectrum son has a habit of wiping his mouth constantly. He also has an immune system disorder (IgA deficiency) that results in him catching some spectacularly horrible GI bugs and not fighting them well. So this habit is not good in terms of him getting sick so much. He used to use his hand and after a ton of stomach bugs we worked on breaking that habit. He switched it to wiping his face on his shirt sleeve and when we talked about that being gross so it went to his shirt shoulder. That went on for a solid year. Recently after yet another round of sick we decided to work on it. He was so proud of himself and now he's back to the back of his hand! It's making me nuts. There is no "clean" alternative to suggest is there? Assuming not what's the least germy thing for him to wipe his mouth on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specialmama Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 Just some thoughts... Is he drooling? Does he have seizures or have you done MRI's or Evoked Potentials to rule out blind seizures? Have you seen an OT? I know my OT would immediately jump on oral stimulating toys. She brought my boy some a while ago, some rubber-type animals that are made to vibrate in your mouth, and other common ones. I'd start a program of that first, in intervals closer together than what he is currently doing. In other words, if he's wiping his mouth every 5 minutes, I'd use oral stimulation every 4 minutes, etc. Just to catch it first. Then I'd try an interruption procedure. If you need some good research on this, pm me your email addy and I'll send you all the info our OT sent us on this topic. Let me just say, I hear you. I need reality checks sometimes. We need to pick our battles and if you decide this is in the top 3 (or so) things you'd like to tackle right now, then do it. But you know, there are worse things in the world than obsessing about wiping your mouth. If your boy is happy and there's no real reason to modify the behaviour, then you need to decide if it's worth the battle or not. If it were my boy and I knew he simply must wipe, and I've decided it's not a battle worth fighting, then I'd ask myself: what is socially appropriate here? Then I'd buy a several packs of men's hankies and let him keep one in his pocket, a new one every day. Soon you can train him to look at it when he's in the bathroom. "Is it dirty?" If so, show him how to get a fresh one from under the sink. Hope that helps a bit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heathermomster Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 My first thought is, are you giving him probiotics? I have no idea how to get your child to break the habit. Whatever it involves, he will need to take ownership and see the need to stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kht2006 Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I know a kiddo who wears stretchy terry cloth althletic wrist bands for this purpose. He changes them regularly throughout the day. It's less of a hassle than changing his shirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ravinlunachick Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 I like the hanky idea. If cotton ones start to irritate his skin, you can switch to silk. They're good for sore noses, too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 My suggestion was going to be athletic terry cloth wrist bands. They are absorbent and work well with drool and there are some good style options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 This is weird but I'm going to post because maybe someone will have an idea or experience to help. My spectrum son has a habit of wiping his mouth constantly. He also has an immune system disorder (IgA deficiency) that results in him catching some spectacularly horrible GI bugs and not fighting them well. So this habit is not good in terms of him getting sick so much. He used to use his hand and after a ton of stomach bugs we worked on breaking that habit. He switched it to wiping his face on his shirt sleeve and when we talked about that being gross so it went to his shirt shoulder. That went on for a solid year. Recently after yet another round of sick we decided to work on it. He was so proud of himself and now he's back to the back of his hand! It's making me nuts. There is no "clean" alternative to suggest is there? Assuming not what's the least germy thing for him to wipe his mouth on? I can't help with the wiping, but I'm similar to your son, I think. I don't know if I have an IgA deficiency, but I'm terrible with stomach bugs. Everyone gets them but they don't leave me. I'm now going almost two weeks with GI issues from a virus that everyone else recovered from long ago. I do have to say that probiotics help. It doesn't get as bad and I recover more quickly--not as quickly as everyone else, but more quickly than I used to. I know you've used probioitics in the past with your son, right? He had that lovely cdiff, too, didn't he? Have you kept them up? And if so, what are you using now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 20, 2012 Share Posted June 20, 2012 We had to go through the getting sick (very bad sick) every week from bugs because he was mouthing thing with my ds, and I put him on Primadophilus Optima. There's actually a formula from them that's even stronger, but this one works really well. If the dc can't swallow a capsule, open the capsules onto a spoon and give it with juice. I also bought a container of antibacterial wipes to wipe him after we went places. Wasn't perfect, but it helped, that and frequent washing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Thank you all for replying. I love this board! NJKelli, Yes he had (has I assume as we never were able to completely kill it but probiotics seem to control it) c. diff. He has had so many nasty things. He is on heavy probiotics. He takes culturelle and florastor twice a day and another probiotic once a day in addition to daily probiotic foods. I'll check the primadophilus optima ohElizabeth. He takes some things to boost immune function too like bovine colostrum. I definitely believe that stuff helps. I'm just so frustrated with this. I try to keep stuff out of the house so at least around home he can wipe away without getting sick but going places it just seems impossible. He's had yet another stomach bug this week. He keeps things that most people would fight off. I get discouraged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiramisu Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 (edited) Thank you all for replying. I love this board! NJKelli, Yes he had (has I assume as we never were able to completely kill it but probiotics seem to control it) c. diff. He has had so many nasty things. He is on heavy probiotics. He takes culturelle and florastor twice a day and another probiotic once a day in addition to daily probiotic foods. I'll check the primadophilus optima ohElizabeth. He takes some things to boost immune function too like bovine colostrum. I definitely believe that stuff helps. I'm just so frustrated with this. I try to keep stuff out of the house so at least around home he can wipe away without getting sick but going places it just seems impossible. He's had yet another stomach bug this week. He keeps things that most people would fight off. I get discouraged. I relapsed with Culturelle and Florastor after having been on Flagyl (twice, one really long course). I knocked it out with Vancomycin and kept it away with Florastor and Align. Align is so expensive so I eventually switched to Primadophilus Reuteri, also clinically shown to be strong against Cdiff. Then I switched to Natren Healthy Trinity because it's supposed to be great for yeast. It's pricey but a local natural doctor says once you take it daily for two months, you can maintain colonization by only taking it twice per week. In less than a week of NOT taking it everyday, I got hit with the latest bug...after being good since October!!! The long and short of it is Reuteri kept me very balanced and virus free for several months, but I still wasn't gaining the wait I lost with the Cdiff. Healthy Trinity must have really improved my absorbtion because I started gaining wait without eating more. I just picked up Align yesterday to see if it will help normalize me again, and I'm adding in soluble fiber. Well....back to the wiping....In Japan, they have the cutest hankies and tiny towels, smaller than typical washcloths. Everyone always kept them in their pockets or purses, because traditionally they didn't have paper towels, etc., in public bathrooms. I think that's changing, though. Well, what if you make your son some little cloths to wipe with that he can keep in his pocket? You can go to the fabric store and find some pattern or character fabric that's appealing to him. Just a thought... With girls, you could used Hello Kitty or something like that. I wonder what they have out there that's good for boys... Edited June 22, 2012 by NJKelli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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