Solutions

The last several months we've been struggling with Bubba's toileting. He does a fantastic job all day long, with the exception of when he immediately gets up from nap. About three to four days a week I have gone in to wake him and he's sitting in his closet, with poop smeared all over the floor and walls. (Sorry for the graphic description, it's hard to make that sound better.) We felt like we had tried everything to stop it. I was checking his room every 10 minutes and he was being consistently disciplined. Then when we did the SIB-R the woman who administered it said it's really common for autistic kids to do this. She said it's probably a "stim" for him (shorthand for self-stimulation), or something he does to help him with his sensory input.

So, I got to thinking. If he was seeking sensory input at the same time every day, was there something I could give him to substitute for what he was doing? I thought about playdough, but surprisingly it's not his favorite thing. Then I remembered my Scentsy candles. A few months back I hosted a party and it did well enough that I got five Scentsy bricks. Bubba L.O.V.E.S. to smell them. He will go in the pantry, get them out, take them to his spot at the table, and sniff. It was worth a shot. Well, it has been one week and he has not pooped in his closet! Every day I get him up, praise him for not pottying in the closet, and bring him downstairs to the "Scentsy Spread". :) He sits and sniffs and scratches his fingernails through the candles for probably half an hour. He makes a little bit of a mess, but hey, it's SO much better than the alternative! Yay for good-smelling candles!