Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Help, K.C. won't stop running around in the nude!
K.C. has been taking his clothes off every single chance he gets! It has gotten so bad I do not know what to do. He's very fast when he takes his clothes and will do it anywhere. I took him shopping with me and right in the store he tried to take his clothes off. I stopped him but when I do stop him he screams at the top of his lungs and bites (not me but himself). I tried duct taping his diaper but he gets so angry that he bites and screams so much my ears are still ringing from earlier. How am I going to get him to keep his clothes on? The more I try and keep clothes on him the worse it gets. We have new neighbors that bought the condo next door and they can see into our backyard from upstairs. K.C. stripped his clothes off in the backyard and when I went outside to hurry him inside I noticed the new neighbor staring down into our backyard at us. K.C. screams, bites and this goes on for a good 1 1/2 until he's soaking wet with sweat from crying/screaming. I haven't changed detergents and he isn't wearing new clothes. I have noticed his hearing is sensitive (always sensitive but more so this week) too. I was sitting in the kitchen and saw K.C. run to the door and look out. I looked and saw nobody but about a minute later College Boy pulled into driveway. Does anyone have any ideas of how I can get him to keep his clothes on? It's hard because he understands very little. I am keeping K.C. in the house during break times from homeschooling because he strips his clothes off in the backyard. I am going to go to Home Depot and ask the guys if there is something I can add to my fence to keep the new neighbors from peering down at us and watching K.C. Help I need ideas!
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6 comments:
Roo goes through phases where he is more sensitive than usual and he also likes to strip down. When he gets like this, I usual try to make sure I am keeping up with his brushing program. I also give him lots of messages with lotion. One more thing that I have tried that seems to help with this is to give him epsom salt baths. I add about 1/2 cup of epsom salt and a cup of baking soda to his bath. The salts really seem to do something to relax him and to make it so that he is less sensitive.
I agree with Mamaroo's suggestions. Since his hearing also seems more sensitive I would definitely focus on his sensory coping mechanisms.
However, I also have a behaviorist in me. You might also try stepping up the positive reinforcements. I have found that when JP gets stuck in a rut with behaviors the best way for me to help him is by distraction.
For example, he used to never be able to sit still at the dinner table. I set up a token system where I displayed some of his favorite candy and small toys. We called it "Home Walmart". Every time he sat still for "X" amount of time at a meal he got a token.
At first it was one token for one toy. Eventually we worked up to one token for sitting the entire meal and he needed 5 tokens to acquire one toy.
Perhaps with KC it can be a token for 15 minutes of being dressed. Then 30. Then 45. Perhaps if he has incentive to stay dressed he won't be so inclined to streak?
Again, that is just a suggestion. I DO NOT want to minimize the sensory component. I agree that if he is in distress and feels the need to remove the clothes then that is real!
But it may have just become a fun game as well. Who among us wouldn't prefer to feel the sun on our skin? (Okay, granted my motiviation is not there...too much weight AND the 30 degree weather here might deter me!)
But I would say after you try the sensory diet issues you might give the distraction approach with the positive reinforcements a chance.
With JP we eventually incorporated several "chores" this way. Simple chores like putting his dishes in the sink, taking his MANY medicines, and we even built in a chore of "trying something new". Eventually we faded it out but he continues to do those chores!
You guys are wonderful! What would I do without you! Thank you for the super suggestions, I appreciate it very much.
Charlie went through this too. We called it his naked year, but it lasted three years. We tried all sorts of things, but eventually he just got over it. We found that one thing that helped was actually giving him time to be naked, but putting it on our terms. In the bath, in the pool (we did have to stop letting him be naked in the pool when he was about four because he would then run around the yard naked, too), and in the house. But not outside and not in the store.
When my neighbor Rita calls me occasionally in the summer to day, you have a streaker, we bring him in and dress him and keep reminding him, we wear clothes outside.
Also, we let him wear sweats in the winter and silky short sets in the summer, those set him off less. And no tags EVER!
As for behavior like this out in public, I have found that I have to be willing to just stop, leave my cart and leave the store carrying my son with me. He needs to know that there are limits. I haven't had to leave the stores too much, but certainly have walked out a couple of times. I wasn't sure that he would understand, but he gets a LOT more than we ever thought that he understood.
Underscore the token system and sensory component (is the weather getting warmer? any barometric pressure changes?). I also think it might helpful to let KC learn that he can be naked at certain times---in his bedroom or the bathroom---and not others (such as outside). It seems to me that it might be helpful for him to know that it is not that he CAN'T do this, but that he CAN do it at certain times and places.
I let my son be in his underwear at home or maybe at my sister's house. I agree with Jan B's comment. I had to teach my son that he couldn't strip down at the store. It was hard at first!
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