Accidents at school | ADHD Information

My son who is 5 years old and has been potty trained since age 2 is in Kindergarten and all of a sudden he's going to the bathroom in his pants (bowel movement).  He has ADHD/Mild Autism.  He's all the time talking about fire drills at school, does anyone think this could be triggering it?  It's like he's reverting back to baby time or something.  I'm getting very frustrated with him because he won't communicate with us.  Does any one have any suggestion.Does your son have sensory Integration if so fire drills may trigger him for his  hearing may be sensitive and may hurt him.  As for regression my girl does this from time to time and maybe besides the hearing issue maybe he is struggling with anxiety for if he is in kindergarden school is new and scary for him. You may want to consider if you child has
encopresis, an underdiagnosed but common
condition in which a child has involuntary bowel
movements. Even most pediatricians don't quite
understand if, so you may want to go to a pediatric
gastronenterologist. I actually googled the words encopresis and ADHD
and got lots of hits. It appears that encopresis is
actually quite common in kids with ADHD, so I would
definitely recommend looking into it. We are going to see a doctor in early October to see about either a change in his meds or uping the dose.  I will ask about that bowel problem too while I'm there thanks for the tip.

Ask the doctor about Encopresis. My son has this and for about 6 mos he was on punishment for BM's in his pants. I was so embarrased. I went to the doctor and they X-Ray his stomach and sure enough his transverse colon down was black on the X-Ray. He has to get occasional Enema's, worst part by far I think. He also takes a mild stool softener daily. Check on it. Hope everything works out.

Hi again NNjpolive.

Good luck!

I hope you don't mind my mentioning it again, but
even with a clean x-ray in July, I would still ask about
encopresis. If he occasionally withholds his stool,
this is a real warning sign. And doctors often
misread the bowel x-rays. Unfortunately, I know
waaay too much about this!!

In July of this year we took my son to the emergency room for vomiting.  Turned out he had a stomach bacteria virus.  They did X-Ray his stomach though and everything was clear on the bowl part.  This is for Momval.  I think I might see my doctor about that or another type of anti-depressent.  Right now I keep myself busy by cleaning my house.  Yes, you might say my house is one of the cleanist in town .  Thanks for all the good advise.  We are going to see his pycholigist tonight and hopefully she can let me know when will be seeing the phycolist  regarding his medicine.  (Sorry about the spelling, missed that day in school).

NNjpolive,

Good luck and keep us posted!

Yes, my son has sensory intergration issues.  So far since friday he has not had an accident.  I spoke with his teacher today and she informed me that his comprehension and writing/coloring have been getting worse since school started a month ago.  I go to his doctor tomorrow, she is supposed to get me in contact with a specialist who deals with meds.  I don't think his medication is effective anymore.  He is heavier and taller then he was a year ago when he started these medications.  Also, this is for CLEO,  I don't think he has any bowel trouble except he holds himself on occation.  So I hope I'll get some insight at the doctor regarding this because I don't know how long my nevers are going to hold out.  I have anxiety every time he gets on his school bus until the time he comes home.  Anyone else have this problem with themselves?I am taking a low dose of xanax for the situational anxiety I have over my son's issues. I've never taken an anti-anxiety in my life before this, although I have had to deal with a lot of anxiety in the past.

It could be a lot of things. A shot in the dark. Sometimes kids get so focused on what they are doing they are not aware until too late. This could be an issue with both ADHD and Autistic kids. One way of handling this is for the teacher to have him try every hour.  Working with this problem at home, having a clock going off every hour then having the kid try has had some good success.

There could also be something he cannot well verbalize about going to the restroom at school: fear or anxiety range.  If he was in school last year then this is probably not it but it may be worth looking at. A mild phobia might be occurring. Remember, kids this age cannot verbalize their feelings well. He may have a reason but cannot put it into words.

You can get lots of good ideas on this forum. Sometimes it is a detective situation trying to figure what is going on. Sometimes the kid handles it on their own and it just goes away and you may never know what caused it.

Keep plugging. This is not an uncommon problem and as above, occurs more often with certain populations.

Good luck. This almost always resolves itself with time.

Dizfriz