Aspergers and incontinence

[Paula2]

Hi. My son has just been diagnosed with Aspergers at the age of 18. Can anyone tell me if bowel incontinence is linked to Aspergers? All his life he has had bowel incontinence. At the age of 6 he was diagnosed with Dyspraxia but Dyspraxia is not connected to incontinence. My son just ignores the fact or lies when it happens. Does this ring any bells with any one.

[Cat]

This might sound like a stupid question but does your son actually know when he needs to empty his bowels? Autism and sensory issue go hand in hand and in my very unprofessional opinion that can also include internal sensory issues. I do know one autistic adult who is highly verbal but who is still wearing nappies.

 

I have two autistic sons one with a diagnosis of AS and one with a diagnosis of High Functioning Autism. Both have internal sensory issues as well as external sensory issues. Both of my sons have problems knowing if they are hungry. One would eat all day and never knows when he is full while the other always has to be reminded to eat because he seldom feels hungry. My youngest never really knows if he is hot or cold. He is 13 now and he still has to ask me if he is hot or cold. The fact that he does not know if he is hot or cold has now become an issue because he now has a diagnosis of Raynaud's syndrome. This winter was one of our coldest in a long time and my son could not feel the cold. He was wanting to play in the snow and build igloos within 10 minutes his toes were as white as the snow but he could not feel that he was cold. He had the same issue with his fingers.

 

So does your son know when he needs to empty his bowels. Is his body sending him the right signals or could he have external sensory issues which means that he enjoys the feel of the poo on his skin. If this is an external sensory seeking issue then he needs to find a suitable alternative to meet his sensory needs. Is it possible that your son can not explain to you the reason why this is happening because he does not understand it? I would want to make sure that none of the issues that I have mentioned applied if he was my son before deciding what to do next.

 

Cat

[Karen A]

Hi.

Bowel incontinence can be linked to both AS and dyspraxia.

However there are mutitiude of other reasons for faecal incontinence.

It is certainly worth your son talking to his GP who may refer to other specilists for further investigations.

Some of the other causes of faecal incontinence are treatable and so it is worth further thought.

Even if a person has faecal incontinence due to sensory issues or psychological issues there are strategies that might help.

Your PCT schould have a coninence advisor who may also be helpful.

Karen.

[lindy2017]

Hi. My son has just been diagnosed with Aspergers at the age of 18. Can anyone tell me if bowel incontinence is linked to Aspergers? All his life he has had bowel incontinence. At the age of 6 he was diagnosed with Dyspraxia but Dyspraxia is not connected to incontinence. My son just ignores the fact or lies when it happens. Does this ring any bells with any one.

Hi, I have had times when my son has had this problem was wondering about it myself......he is 11 years....when he was toilet training having a bowel movement was a scary time for him.....yes it did ring bells for me thought it was just happening to us.......thats another thing to tell them when i get CAMHS appoitment.......lindy

[Karen A]

Hi again.

I forgot to say earlier.One difficulty you may have is that if your son is 18 any support would depend on him being prepared to ask.

Incontinence is a very difficult thing for adults to admit to.If your son tends to ignore the problem because he is embarassed he may not be willing to talk to a professional about it.

He will probably very upset if you then talk to a professional on his behalf.

Karen.

[Paula2]

This might sound like a stupid question but does your son actually know when he needs to empty his bowels? Autism and sensory issue go hand in hand and in my very unprofessional opinion that can also include internal sensory issues. I do know one autistic adult who is highly verbal but who is still wearing nappies.

 

I have two autistic sons one with a diagnosis of AS and one with a diagnosis of High Functioning Autism. Both have internal sensory issues as well as external sensory issues. Both of my sons have problems knowing if they are hungry. One would eat all day and never knows when he is full while the other always has to be reminded to eat because he seldom feels hungry. My youngest never really knows if he is hot or cold. He is 13 now and he still has to ask me if he is hot or cold. The fact that he does not know if he is hot or cold has now become an issue because he now has a diagnosis of Raynaud's syndrome. This winter was one of our coldest in a long time and my son could not feel the cold. He was wanting to play in the snow and build igloos within 10 minutes his toes were as white as the snow but he could not feel that he was cold. He had the same issue with his fingers.

 

So does your son know when he needs to empty his bowels. Is his body sending him the right signals or could he have external sensory issues which means that he enjoys the feel of the poo on his skin. If this is an external sensory seeking issue then he needs to find a suitable alternative to meet his sensory needs. Is it possible that your son can not explain to you the reason why this is happening because he does not understand it? I would want to make sure that none of the issues that I have mentioned applied if he was my son before deciding what to do next.

 

Cat

 

Hi, Thank you for your advise. My son has been seeing doctors for most of his life with this problem and nothing seems to work. He sometimes says he doesn't know it happening so it could well be sensory issues. It's certainly worth going down that path. Thanks

[Paula2]

Hi again.

I forgot to say earlier.One difficulty you may have is that if your son is 18 any support would depend on him being prepared to ask.

Incontinence is a very difficult thing for adults to admit to.If your son tends to ignore the problem because he is embarassed he may not be willing to talk to a professional about it.

He will probably very upset if you then talk to a professional on his behalf.

Karen.

Hi My son has been seeing doctors about this for some time. We have been listening to the doctors and the incontinence nurse and they have never mentioned Aspergers. We took him to a specialist a couple of weeks ago and he was tested, so it may be part and parcel of Aspergers. Sensory issues could be the problem as he will not shave or let us help him.

[SimonC]

Ive also problem with this, and it is clearly a psychological reason for it. I don't know what it is yet, but Im seeing a therapist now. It manifest itself like some OCD kind of action here (have both bowel and bladder "movements") where I got thoughts who get stronger if Im not following them and which end in a movement before or later. I got only thoughts when Im really tired/stressed out, so it seems to also be a connection. I don't know what it is it, and it is extra embarassing since it is thoughts I can't control which set it in action and not a physical reason. Hopefully my therapist will find out something. Too bad it is hard to find research on both psychological reason and if it is a connection between this and asperger.

[EKC]

My 14 year old child may have Asperger Syndrome. She is often incontinent, wetting her pants immediately after school. Is this common in Asperger?

[trekster]

hypermobility syndrome and eds and IBS can be linked to autism which can all cause bowel issues. Hope you manage to resolve the problem soon.

[Melissa Cervantes]

My son who has autism was continent of bowel and bladder until he started working. He is 23 and started to work last year. He is not working anymore due to his incontinence. I think it might be a sensory issue because he says he doesn’t realize it’s going to happen until it already has? All his doctors and specialist so far don’t know what to make of it? His gastroenterologist said it may be a behavior issue which  his autism physician may need to address? We are going to go see a urologist next week. What should I try next? Any suggestions. 

[trekster]

https://autismawarenesscentre.com/what-is-interoception-and-how-does-it-impact-autism/

"INTEROCEPTION: THE EIGHTH SENSORY SYSTEM
by Kelley Mahler

 Sit back and close your eyes. What do you feel inside your body?

• Is your heart beating fast or slow?
• Are you breathing deeply or shallowly?
• Do you have to go to the bathroom?
• Are your muscles tense or loose?
• How does your stomach feel?

Most of us are able to feel all of these sensations with the help of our little-known, but very important, eighth sensory system, Interoception. "