So, for years it has been a nerve-wracking prospect to get James bathed or swimming. While he was
fascinated with water (as is typical for many kids on the spectrum), both he and his sister
hated water on their head, on their faces, and especially in their ears. It really distressed them.
James kept screaming and shrieking (and he has great lungs) and fighting bath time until fairly recently. The fussing and whining and "ow-ow-OWWWW" continued to make bath time the equivalent of a forced march. Up hill. In the cold mud.
Not a lot of bathing was done.
Enter a fine combination of being able to
hear Temple Grandin talk and James' team at school. I cannot tell you what exactly shifted, but my approach to bathing went from "omg, how long can I the put off" to "this needs to happen and here are your choices." James' OT gave James a bag of hygiene products for guys. James' teacher and OT came up with a chart that looks like a combination of PECs schedule and a hygiene chart. It's additional homework.
James
does not want to come to school with his homework undone, which - yay - works in our favour.
After about a month of this, James has asked to and started to handle all bathing aspects on his own. After testing to see if Mom really notices if he uses bathing water or not, he has committed to the schedule - to the extent that he now initiates bathing and
prefers to shower.
Remember James and the shower? Yeah. This is happening.
Growing up, being responsible, being independent. So proud of him. So thankful it finally happened!
