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The last few weeks have been tough....I do not know what it is but Ali has been refusing, fighting, and crying about brushing her teeth. That was the first battle of the last few weeks. She absolutely hates brushing her teeth and almost seems scared to. She already has three cavities and we have 4 toothbrushes and 2 kinds of toothpaste....and in the last 4 days I have succeeded at getting her to brush her teeth once. Does anyone know where I can find one of those toothbrushes that is all like rubber bristles??? I know I have heard of them...I thought maybe that would help....not sure. Now, more importantly, Ali has become increasingly determined to stay home and not go anywhere. It takes so much coaxing and reassurance to get her to leave the house. She says "I want to stay home forever." The only place she will easily leave the house for is her dance class. Otherwise she is crying and saying she doesn't want to go or once we are out she says she wants to go home and demands going home. She says she will walk home herself and she doesn't want to be out. When we were playing with dolls not long after we got home from Taco Bell & McDonald's to pick up dinner yesterday, my doll said she didn't want to go out and did not know why but she didn't (I wanted to see if Ali would give me a clue as to what is wrong with her while we were playing) and my doll asked hers why does she think it is that she does not like going out. Ali said "if you are scared..." and when my doll asked why would she be scared, Ali was already zoned out and I could not get her attention back (as happens a lot lately). Could Ali's not wanting to leave the house have something to do with her OCD tendencies or phobias? What can I do to help her? Maybe I can help with the tooth brushing. My son absolutely screamed and carried on when it was time to brush. It was really difficult to do a good job. Then there was a commercial on that depicted cartoon bacteria bugs inside someone's mouth, and I immediately got him to focus on the whole bugs in the mouth idea ... right after watching that, I told him we needed to get upstairs and wash the cavity bugs out of his mouth, and he was very eager after that.
Tooth brushing here was a problem for awhile. It wasn't that my boys didn't want to brush but I could tell they didin't like the feeling of the toothbrush in their mouths as if it ticled. First I started counting as they were brushing, it sort of took their minds off the feeling. Now I sing a song while they are brushing, It really has helped alot. As for leaving the house, I would do baby steps, start taking her out in yard daily to play, then walks around the block (depending on where you live). Go visit a neighbor, playground. Just start out slow and short outings. Hope this helps. carol Sarah loaths her teeth being brushed...I have to sneak up behind her and either sing "I been working on the railroad" song or "ABC" song while I am doing it..she is so used to it now she lets me do it begrudgingly but still rarely will do it herself. I really like the idea of a social story with pics of germs/bugs on her teeth...hmmm??? When she was younger I got the fingerbrush from drugstore and would just hold her in my lap and do them as good as I could...we tried all the different brushes...rubber and electric and favorite characters~she still hates it! The going out thing sounds like a sensory phobia thing~I have it too:) The more she stays home the more this behavior will sit in. Take her out slowly with high reinforcers to motivate her~perhaps a "bye-bye" bag filled with goodies that she can only have access to only when going out. Increase outings and try to praise highly to her for good coping skills when she shows tolerance~ignore the meltdowns ass much as you can:) Repetitive places work well too~we went to library, bookstore, pet store and park every week till she was real comfortable going to them...then we would go to a high stress place like walmart or restaurants & always with goodies to bring along. She learned that is was okay & rewarding to go out and that she was going to survive in public:) Good luck! I have the tooth brushing problem here too. Before I could get him to let me brush his teeth by using his obsession and Id say i needed to chase the sharp tooth (trex) out of his mouth. He wont brush his teeth, I have to do it but lately he wont even let me do it no matter what i try. His therapist is working on brushing teeth with him right now and he actually is alot more cooperative for her but at home, NOPE! Also maybe she dosnt like the feeling/taste of the toothpaste? I know we went thru literally EVERY toothpaste because hed gag on them. The only one hed use was the orajel baby toothpaste but now he wont even use that.
Since others have suggested good strategies for dealing with the larger world outside the house, I'll add my two cents in on the teethbrushing (along with the social story/cavity germ thing!) The link below shows a "massager" that may be what you are talking about. http://www.superduperinc.com/O_Pages/om320.htm They also have a small "wacky animal" vibrator that helps to desensitize the cheeks and mouth area to make things easier, as well as "chewy tubes" that might help her get used to various textures in her mouth. I would discuss the issue of toothbrushing with an OT and a dentist who specializes in dealing with special needs children. They can both give you insights and ideas to make things easier for her. It sounds like it may be a combination of textures/tastes and sensory issues that are creating the problems. |
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