Soiling and dyspraxia

[kerryd83]

Does anyone have any experience of links between long term soiling and dyspraxia??

[SallyandPaul]

I don't but would be interested to hear of any.Our daughter is 12, had toiletting issues since she was three{now uses peristeen} and is severely dyspraxic. She has an E.H.C.P at school for that ,plus Dyslexia and Discalculia. She has also now got a referral for an Autism assessment.As an adopted child she has a lot of issues but is wonderful,we'll get through all this!!

[kerryd83 in reply to SallyandPaul]

Hi thanks for replying my daughter is 10 now and has also had toileting issues since the age of 3, recent diagnosis of dyslexia and showing dyspraxia tendencies so OT referral advised by Ed Pyshc to explore motor planning and toileting issues hence the question really. We are awaiting a peadiactric appointment re the toileting can I ask what peristeen is?? We are also awaiting an autism assessment. As you say we wil get through this it just feels like such a battle all of the time when all we want is the best for our children!!

[SallyandPaul in reply to kerryd83]

Isn't that amazing they are almost identical situations. Our daughter was assessed by an OT and educational Psycologist two years ago. We have three grownup birth sons and the youngest ones girlfriend is a speech and language therapist with a special interest in assessing autism and feels that our daughter needs an assessment and that the toiletting could be part of the sensory issue.She had a referral to the hospital consultant about three years ago and has been doing peristeen for a year. Its a colonic irrigation system which a trained nurse comes out to show you what to do. Basically a catheter is inserted into the rectum and a pump pumps water up. She sits on the loo for 20 minutes and the water plus poo comes out. She can do it herself now and its not too bad. She sometimes goes normally without using this. I think she should be completely back to normal by now but that hasn't happened yet!! However she's had no accidents at secondary school which is a huge plus.

[kerryd83 in reply to SallyandPaul]

Hi so sorry for the late reply, I think this is something we may have to consider as Secondary is a real worry for me for her if this isn't resolved which seems unlikely, have you ever had to use suppositories these reallg helped but GP recommended we stopped them as long term use wouldn't be beneficial so it will be interesting to see what the hospital say/recommend. How long is the wait for an autism assessment ours is about a year at the moment!!

[SallyandPaul in reply to kerryd83]

Hi there,yes we have used suppositories when things have been very bad but I think peristeen is much better.I dont know how long it will be before an autism assessment,ages I expect, but we are not desperate for that as long as it happens at some point. Nothing will actually change ,apart from more understanding by us all. We are actually going to get some support around her feelings about her adoption , which for us personally will be more helpful . Good luck and let me know how things go for you.

[Sammy4421]

My son (8) was diagnosed with Dyspraxia at 6 and has been soiling since about that time. He has also now been diagnosed with ASD (Asperger’s). While I think his conditions have certainly added to the problem, I wouldn’t say they were a direct cause as he had been fine until he started school - I think it’s more of an issue of withholding because he had too many other things he wanted to do and didn’t want to go at school. However, I do think the coordination issues added to the withholding as he really struggled with wiping himself - we’ve had to spend a lot of time teaching him how to do this properly. He’s gotten much better at wiping himself, but he still soils his pants regularly as he’s lost that sensation of needing to go.

[profyaffle]

My 11 year old is dyspraxic and dyslexic (and waiting an assessment for ADHD, Autism and dyscalculia). He soiled himself daily until Year 5 and while that's much improved now he is still wet in the day and on meds.

One of the first official questions our continence nurse asked at his original consultation in Year 4 was if he was dyspraxic or dyslexic. She said there's a documented strong link between them - makes sense really, it's another group of muscles/function that doesn't coordinate properly.

[kerryd83 in reply to profyaffle]

It does make sense but feels like no one is listening to us I feel like I just have to keep mentioning it until someone listens, I'm hopeful we will get somewhere within the next 12mths. I didknfrelaie how common these issues are until I have strated using this group!

[SallyandPaul]

makes so much sense