Dx Son hates walking on wet grounds | Autism PDD

It’s been a really rainy week here in South Florida. My son Christian does not like walking in the rain. He doesn’t like to get his shoes wet but he really draws attention to himself when he is walking onto campus. He hikes up his trousers though they are not touching the ground, bends his knees and walks on tippy-toes. He does look rather odd and when he gets to a dry spot we wipes the bottom of his shoe dry or finds a piece of tissue/paper towel to dry them if he’s going in to the car.

What if anything can I do about this? I am afraid that kids will start to laugh and tease him. I get sympathetic looks from parents as they give him way. I don’t know if it’s sensory thing or not. If the grass it wet, he won’t walk on it at all. He won’t walk through a puddle either yet he loves to take baths and the pool. So he’s not afraid of water. I have tried asking him what he doesn’t like about the rain he just says his shoes will get wet.

I hope he grows out of this. Do any of your children have this issue and did it resolve on its own?

SharonSP39352.3847800926 Have you thought about the things that fit on the shoes to keep shoes from getting wet that he can take off?

We also live in S FL...except Payne is the opposite. Puddle jumping! Mud EVERYWHERE!
Payne's Mom39352.3615740741

What if you bought him a second pair of shoes...maybe different, maybe exactly the same, depending on which he would prefer.

Tell him the one pair is only for walking in the rain, so he has to wear them and walk in them the right way, and then once inside he can change into his shoes he wants to keep dry?

Might only work if it is some type of phobia of really getting his shoes wet, but it's the first thing that popped into my head.

Good luck, and keep us posted on what you find out!

My son used to want to remove his clothes right away if they got at all wet -- in fact he almost took his pants off on the playground one time. He outgrew it, but I had to use a lot of encouragement and a little magic (I'd blow on a wet spot, for example if he spilled on his clothes, and I guess that "fixed" it enough in his mind).

Maybe your son notices the smell of wet shoes (if leather) more than most people do?

Maybe your son noticed that worms come out in the rain and that's contributing to his general skittishness?

I do think that there's probably a sensory issue behind it, but it could be a reaction to some incident like Stickboy describes in his phobia topic. Here's the link if you haven't read it yet. It's really good stuff.

http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=18152&am p;KW=phobias

Good luck with everything.

Thanks for all the info and responses. It doesn't matter what shoes he's wearing, he's still does the same thing. Sometimes I do have to pick him up and carry to and from the car.

NorwayMom, Christian is like your son. He's also hates if his clothes to get wet. G-d forbid a drop of juice gets on his clothes, they come right off. Every morning when I am washing his face and brushing his teeth I have to place a towel around his neck and shoulders so that I don't get his shirt wet. It's his night shirt that he's going to take off anyway! We fight every mornign because of this. For the life of me I don't understand the issue with water or getting his shoes or clothes wet.

I am honestly thinking of taking him to a psychiatrist. He obession with death, hates water touching his clothes/shoes, thinks trees can walk and a host of other stange fears and obsession. They inhibit him so much and I fear they will get worse if not addressed soon.

For my son, it seemed extra odd because when he was say 2-3 years old, he'd get soaking wet helping me wash dishes or playing outside, and it didn't bother him in the slightest. Then suddenly a couple drops of spilled juice is a crisis. Actually, we started teaching him that word. We'd say, "is it a shame or is it a crisis?" whenever he'd overreact, and it did seem to teach him not overreact so much to things in general.