Bath-time is a common challenge for kids with autism -- at our house hair-washing has been a problem for years now. I thought it was about time I gather up the resources I've found on this subject. Let me know if any links are broken:
Written by professionals:
http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/bath-time-fun.htm l - focusing on the sensory aspects of bathing
http://www.peatni.org/aba/case_studies/article.asp?ArticleID =a bath phobia_case_study - Case study of an autistic child.
http://www.sensorysmarts.com/tips.html - a few tips from an OT perspective.
http://www.bbbautism.com/news_arch_pdf/vol_4_iss_4_everyday_ tips_part_2.pdf - see page 11 for an excerpt on washing and bathing from "Building bridges through sensory integration" by Shirley Sutton, OT.
Written by moms:
http://parents.berkeley.edu/advice/toddler/bathing.html - one example was a kid who was scared because of a *hair* in the bathtub. That was one thing that had never occured to me.
http://www.schwablearning.org/message_boards/view_messages.a spx?thread=15947&message=140617 - autistic child's bath phobia was helped by L-Carnosine supplement Carn Aware.
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=651051 - ideas about new bath toy, dry-washing hair with cornstarch or baking soda.
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5692& ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;KW=bath+phobia - a topic on our forum in 2006 that got a lot of replies.
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17995&am p;am p;am p;am p;am p;am p;KW=bath+phobia&PN=0&TPN=2 - another active topic on our forum.
http://www.theautismlife.com/the-daily-grind/ - a couple paragraphs by a mom who's been there, done that.
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/specialsituation1/qt/hai rwashing.htm - "Five Ways to Handle Hair-washing Hassles"
Sample social stories:
http://www.geocities.com/denisev2/social_bath.html - no visuals
http://www.attainmentcompany.com/pdfs/bookSamples/HGD_Sample .pdf - written for the older children, with PECS.
http://www.adders.org/socialstories5.htm - with clip-art
http://www.speechmark.net/pages/news/content.asp?PageID=43 - it's okay when someone runs a bath.
Other:
http://www.storyplace.org/preschool/activities/bathonstory.a sp - a funny online bath story for kids.
On a separate post I'm providing the lyrics to a song related to fear of the drain plus.
Products:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_hpc/103-2420299-9794229?ur l=search-alias%3Dhpc&field-keywords=%22bed+shampooer%22 - examples of various inexpensive inflatable bed shampooers, so you can wash hair lying down in another room, if necessary.
Any other resources to add?
This song is by "Mr. Rogers" from American public tv. You can make up your own tune if you don't know how it goes (I don't).
You Can Never Go Down The Drain
© 1969 Fred M. Rogers You can never go down You're bigger than the water. So you see... The rain may go down
Can never go down
Can never go down the drain.
You can never go down
Can never go down
Can never go down the drain.
You're bigger than the soap.
You're much bigger than all the bubbles.
And bigger than your telescope
You can never go down
Can never go down
Can never go down the drain.
You can never go down
Can never go down
Can never go down the drain.
But you can't go down.
You're bigger than any bathroom drain.
You can never go down
Can never go down
You can never go down the drain.
Thanks!thanks for the post. i still deal with bath time issues. ,y son can never and has never sat on a tub. makes him feel scared. i have kept trying but he rather stand,so since its his preference ... i leave him do his thing. at least now is ee him scrubing himself and taking off teh water himself. he is more independable.
L
[QUOTE=doonkin]It's so weird this autism thing- our 2.5 y.o. Loves the bath. It's a stim
for him , or at least sensory. The pressure of the water or the warmth,
I don't know. The problem is getting him out. He kicks and pushes me
away and even ducks under the water to avoid it. We bought goofy
plastic garden planters from home depot (you know-so he's like in a
little cock-pit bath- like a cowboy movie. Try that- it really seemed to
help being in a little confined plastic body of water rather than the
whole tub. I'm sorry I don't have answers for you. We have some real
challenges ahead. It just wracks my head that an autistic child can
love or hate the bath and it still be the same diagnosis.
As always, good luck.[/QUOTE]
Yeah my daughter is the same... doesn't want to get out most of the time but she still HATES having her teeth cleaned but she is getting better with having her hair washed and combed. She wants to clean her own teeth but can't do it by herself.
This shower set is portable, so the child can follow the same system when visiting, in the locker room, etc.
The bottles are arranged in a basket that attaches with a suction cup, and the child can use them in order 1) face, 2) hair, 3) body.
You fill the bottles with the product of your choice. The bottles are supposed to be easy for people with poor hand coordination.
You can also just plain copy the idea if you don't want to pay the price...
http://www.bloom-and-grow.com/products/1/Shower_Assistant/
My son loves baths and doesnt want to get out.Now on teeth cleaning he is also obsessed with.Im so scared about his permant teeth when they come out what they will look like cause he eats tooth paste every time he can get his hands on it.I try to hide the tooth brushes and toothpast but with three other young kids they forget and leave them out on cabinet.He also loves mint gum so i think its a sensory thing of the cool mint feeling in his mouth.