[FEAT BC Admin]

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[Deleted User]

So what does my son start doing this weekend?? Flushing things down the toilet!! I may go with the poker/lock door system, but he is newly potty trained and goes on his own initiative. Maybe I will put bells on the doors so that we can hear whenever he goes into the bathrooms. Thanks for the good ideas.

By the way, on our garage we have an old door knob with a turn lock on it (need thumb and finger to lock it) and we put one of those plastic (supposedly child proof) knob covers on it. We can stick one finger in to lock and unlock the door and he hasn't figured out how to do this yet.

The story about the autistic child killed in a group home in Ontario is also in the weekend Globe and Mail (full page story).

Nancy (Casey's mom)

[David Chan]

Saw the creepiest thing on W5 tonite. A child
with the diagnosis of PDD with autistic traits
was placed in residential care in Ontario and
wound up dead. No on seems to know what
happened. It was a W5 episode; it was the
first story on this Sunday's episode. Just
about made me ill to see stuff like that on the
tube about untreated autism. The only
"therapy protocol" that they came up with was
to restrain her when she became violent.

You wonder what would have happened if this
child had gotten treatment. They showed
video of her,showing that she had receptive
and expressive language at any rate. Hey, I'm
no expert but knowing that Autism treatment
(i.e.Lovaas) would have made a difference
really made me very sad.

Check out the story on the CTV website.

[Maureen St. Cyr]

If you're using a Braun electric, or another of the cup-shaped alternating-spin toothbrushes, you need very little toothpaste in any case, because the brush motion spins up a lather out of anything. There is very little difference in any case between one brand of toothpaste and another. So bottom line is get whatever brand your daughter likes the flavor of best. Both of mine prefer Bubble Gum flavor Crest, but YMMV. And don't worry about her swallowing it — there's nothing poisonous in toothpaste and the fluoride will do her good. Between now and the time her last permanent teeth come in (which is when you don't need fluoride anymore), you can put in a Spit program. :-)

[Diana Sabbagh]

Hi list,
We are cleaning my daughter's teeth with an electric toothbrush ( without toothpaste ) I would like to start using toothpaste with her, but we know that she will swallow it because she does not know how to spit. So, my question is: What kind of toothpaste would be best to use for my autistic child?
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Diana ( Jenny's mom )

[Peggy Boon]

Response to Michelle: I found your post very ironic as there was a time when we were on a first name basis with one of the local plumbers…after the third time we stopped having to give him our address. We too tried to lock the door from the inside but our then 4 year old daughter couldn't pick the lock. We got those white child proof door knob covers that prevent children from opening the door because you need to squeeze and turn simultaneously. Our daughter could open it(with both hands)…and so could our company. I found them at London Drugs. Good luck!

[Sandy & Mike]

Hi Michelle,

In response to your "toilet jamming" incident (bg), I have seen toilet seat locking mechanisms in Save-On, Super store, Walmart, Zellers, Toys R US etc… all in the baby section. They all have some sort of lock on them that "most" children are not supposed to be able to open (of course you will buy it and find your child is the one exception :> ) or you could do what we do – we have a one way passage lock on most of our doors and just lock it from the inside – we keep a chicken skewer (it is just the right size) in a closet near the door and use it to "pick the lock" open when we need to enter that room – works great for us. Good luck to you !
Sandy (Jared's mom)

[David Bridges]

In response to Karen:

Yes, my 7 year-old has a toilet-stuffing fetish, that waxes and wanes with time.

I do have locks on the bathroom doors, and have found that this is the most effective prevention for that behaviour.

Other than this, just make sure he's not getting a kick out of the reactions his behaviour causes (eg., keep a cool head). And if there's some mildly aversive thing you can do, such as washing his hands with cold water when you catch him playing in the loo, I'd try it.

The little sneak!! My guy is a sneaky-puss, too. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh at the little (and big) disasters he's planned and executed. I think dude would make a good Special Ops commando.

Dave

[Deleted User]

Okay, this message may seem a bit bizarre but I am looking for some wisdom from those of you who may have experienced this before.

My son who is three has come to greatly enjoy stuffing and then flushing rather large objects down the toilet. He has been sneaking into our downstairs washroom and has sent all sorts of wonderful objects down the pipes. We only discovered this new passion because the toilet stopped working and no matter how much we plunged, we couldn't get it going again. My dear husband had to take the thing out of the floor and use a snake thingy. He discovered all sorts of gems…

Anyway, despite my vigilant eagle eye on the boy since then, he has done it AGAIN. Tonight the toilet is not working so my conclusion is that some prized object is stuck.

My question is has anyone faced this before and do you have any wonderful preventative ideas? I do not mean program wise, that I will call my consultant for.

Short of locking the bathroom with a deadbolt so he can't get in, I'm at a loss.

Michelle
(mother of Breanna and Griffen the terrible)

[Deleted User]

Hi!!Avery!!My name is Corry,and I'm a mother of twins,and my son Tanner has autism,I was reading your letter what you wrote acouple weeks ago about tretments,and diets.It was very interesting to read it!Since my son Tanner,is 4yrs old,and he isn't on one of those diets.I just got told last month he should be on one of those diets.Well it really make's me wonder sometimes because,my son has had some of these foods since he was 8months old,and has never be on one of those diets.So it was very uplifting to know not all kids with Autism is on one of those diets.It's alright if your kid is not on one of those!Corry{Tanner's mom}My e-mail is brookes100@hotmail.com

[Mike & Jean]

To all FEAT members –

Subject: February FEAT Meeting Cancelled

Hello Everyone,

Just a note to let you know that the Feb. FEAT meeting is cancelled. Our meetings will resume on March 20th, 7:30 – 9OOpm at St. Francis in the Wood Anglican Church

[Author]

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