Need Advise on My 13 Yr Old Blind and Atuism Son

As a teacher I have worked with some autistic boys around your sons age however they were not blind. We work with the boys to keep their hands out of their pants which begins the stimulation process. We remind them constantly to have "quiet hands" translation: take your hands quietly our of your pants. In a non verbal communication you might be able to touch his hands before he puts them in his pants and however you use to communicate "no" do so at that time or even as he has just placed them in his pants. I am assuming that this is how he stimulates himself to the point of ejaculation. I hope I have assummed correctly and this will help some. Bless you for continuing to work with your son as autism is frustrating in andof itself let alone adding another disability. I admire you and honor you for the work you and your family are doing.

I am working with some autistic children currently, just acquired a new job not long ago-I work mostly with a functioning group and to be specific- they do see and I took a seminar which stresses communication... so if I can help only if from my heart I will. And I'm the mother of two sons.If he can eat, go to the bathroom and everything else then he can also learn that this bodily function is normal and the end result somewhat controllable. Well, we know it isn't completely, but I do not know the severity of his problems.He is going to have to learn if he is doing that to confine it (underwear perhaps? ) If you can speak with him and he understands then you try can work out a resolution. It is a normal thing but obviously he can't plan it. If he goes to the bathroom and has been able to deal with this function or anything else then you can probably work out a solution for you. You should contact the autistic organizations for advice. I don't have any listings right now, but you might have those available to you. But it should be treated same as any other unacceptable behavior. You do not let him go to the bathroom all over walls, so this shouldn't happen either. Don't mean to sound tough, but that's what it seems to be.Good luck! I know how hard this is. I am exhausted at the end of the day. I can't imagine what it is like to be a parent in that situation. I just read the school social worker's post, also. That is good advice.

D.

I would strongly suggest that you discuss this with the school social worker and/or primary teacher. I realize that this is a potentially uncomfortable topic for you to bring up, however, this is a regular part of the curriculum especially in special ed. As a former school social worker myself, I held groups in a junior high specifically targetting developmentally disabled boys about appropriate social norms, masterbation, and sex education for the developmentally disabled. There are very appropriate, wonderful teaching materials out there that your school should be, and most likely, are using within the special ed student population. Best of luck!

Hi D.. This is normal, though I'm sure it's frustrating for both you and your son. Your pediatrician may have some ideas, but if you are comfortable with members of your son's IEP team (or other academic support members) they are likely to have some strategies that you can put in place. You can also check out the website for the Texas School of the Blind and Visually Impaired www.tsbvi.edu. Type in puberty or sexuality into their search engine and you'll find a bunch of different pages with strategies.

Hello,
I don't know what kind of services or support you get for your son. You should be getting a lot of help through the school/special education district and they should hopefully be able to at least point you to therapists and other professionals that could help.
My autistic son is only 5 and he is not blind. His receptive language is, I think, fairly good but his expressive language is very poor. His hands are in his pants CONSTANTLY. So we tell him to take them out and he does...for a minute and then back in they go. I just constantly have to tell him all day to take his hands out of his pants. I'm not looking forward to years of my son walking around in public places with his hand in his pants. He has also pulled down the front and exposed himself at the grocery store, library, etc. Sure, it is less of an issue at 5 than it would be at 8 or 11, etc. But it is concerning. Let me know what you find out. I would try to communicate to your son that his behavior should be done in the bathroom, only. Does your son have good receptive language? Does he talk or have any devices that help him to communicate to others?
There are several autism-related groups on Yahoo groups that you could join and perhaps someone there has suggestions. I belong to the biomedical related autism groups, mb12valtrex and chelatingkids2. I'm sure there are many others. I hope you can can convince your son to use the bathroom for his newfound activity.
B.

Please call Jewish Child and Family Services. I'm pretty sure that they have a extensive services for kid/families with Autism.

This is an outstanding organization and are sure to be able to help you in more than one way with your son.

Central Office
216 W Jackson Blvd, Suite 800
Chicago, IL 60606 – view map
T ###-###-####
F ###-###-####

Website

http://www.jcfs.org/

E.

A couple of things. You can ask his teachers to write up a Social Story about how, when, and where he can masturbate. Also I think, if you have a husband/dad, then he could work/talk with your son about how to best take care of his needs in a cleaner manner. I think with help and a social story he could learn how to do it a bit more appropriately. Social Stories work great with children with Autism.