It can be very upsetting to find feces smeared around.

However, it is important to remember that the kid needs support for autism.

Although it is natural to be agitated, try to keep your nerve and help an autistic kid who smears feces.

There might be several reasons for smearing feces from an autistic child.

However, to be able to help the autistic kid smearing feces, you might need information.

You can consider keeping track of the kid's behavior in a log book.

An autistic kid who smears feces might not understand how to use the toilet.

Visual aids and stories are children-friendly methods to use the toilet.

You could use visual aids and stories to teach autistic children proper toilet manners.

You can help an autistic kid who smears feces by providing other sensory outlets.

It is essential to consider if the child's feces smearing is due to a lack of sensory outlets.

You can provide alternative sensory outlets to express this need.

You can help an autistic kid who smears feces in the following ways:

Use Visual Aids and Stories 

Autistic Children might have difficulty understanding how to use the toilet.

Consider how you can explain your message on how to use the toilet properly.

A great way to teach children to use the toilet without smearing feces is to use visual aids and stories.

You can begin by reading books or speaking to the child.

However, most autistic children respond better to the use of stories and visual aids.

You can purchase books, visit a library, or use the internet or youtube to find good visual aid and stories for the child.

Sometimes, you might have to draw the autistic child to teach proper toilet manners.

The visual aid is to remind the children of the expected toilet behavior.

It might also help to leave the drawing in the toilet for the autistic child.

Through the use of visual aids and stories, you could be able to help an autistic kid who smears feces.

During the process of teaching an autistic child to use the toilet, it is important to keep track of if the child is paying close attention to the visual aid and stories.

Apply Sensory Integration 

One of the big concerns most people will have about an autistic kid who smears feces is why the child would do that.

Sensory integration might be the answer.

This means that the child might be understimulated or overstimulated.

Try to remember the state of the kid before smearing feces.

Consider if the child had been left unstimulated for long periods.

The use of sensory outlets might help an autistic child stop smearing feces.

A way to stimulate the child not to smear feces is to provide alternative stimulation.

For instance, you can provide a child with soft and sticky substances like clay, shaving cream, or anything that feels like that to stimulate the kid.

The kid might also have smell stimulants.

Here you could consider cheese, spices, or lotions to satisfy the desire for that smell.

The smell and touch alternative might help stimulate the kid to prevent more feces smearing.

Understand the Behavior 

Scatolia is the medical term for smearing feces.

Another way to help an autistic kid who smears feces is to develop a behavior plan.

One of the first things you can do to stop a child from smearing feces is to understand why they are performing the act.

It is important to observe the habits of the child.

Try to determine if other conditions occur before smearing.

Also, try to focus on the events that happen after the smearing of the kid.

The objective here is to figure out why the autistic child is smearing feces.

An autistic child can have different motivations for engaging in this behavior.

If you can understand the child's decision, then you can make adjustments tailored to the decisions.

You could try to keep notes or a log of the kid's actions.

It would help when reviewing to make notes before, during, and after the incidents.

Determining a trigger will help you manage the behavior.

Reinforce Positive Behavior 

Children with autism learn and interact verbally and nonverbally with adults.

An autistic kid that smears feces might be getting receiving reinforcement about the habit.

The autistic kid might even demonstrate such behavior to get the attention of adults.

It is crucial to ensure that you are not in any way reinforcing feces smearing to the autistic child.

Try to remain neutral when an incident occurs.

You can do this by showing no emotional reaction and having minimal interaction with your child after an incident.

However, when an autistic child demonstrates positive behavior towards their toilet habits, you can show positive behavior.

It is vital to reinforce the behavior.

The child might be able to understand your reactions to the behaviors.

It is possible that an adult might unintentionally reinforce negative behavior in children.

Also, consider if other people are reinforcing the behavior in the child.

It is important to ensure that an autistic kid who smears feces understands it is unacceptable behavior.

Restrict Access to Feces

Smearing feces can be a barrier for the autistic kid.

You might have to take some pragmatic steps when a kid left unsupervised plays around with feces.

For convenience for you and the autistic kid, consider restricting the child's access to feces.

This is a more pragmatic method to stop an autistic kid who smears feces.

The objective here is to prevent the kid from having any access to feces to smear.

There are many safe ways to block a kid's access to feces to smear.

Using special diapers, you can restrict the kid's ability to smear feces.

Another method to prevent a child from having access to feces is to use restrictive clothing on the child.

This will require adult supervision to remove the blocked access to the feces.

A downside to blocking access to feces is that it makes independent toileting unlikely.

Generally, restricting access to feces is a short-term method to help an autistic kid that smears feces.

However, if the smearing was done for attention, it could address that behavior.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that kids who smear feces need help. Try to remember to offer support for autism to maintain your composure with a child that smeared feces.

The ways to help an autistic kid who smears feces are by using visual aids and stories, using sensory outlets, understanding the behavior, reinforcing positive behavior, and restricting access to feces.

Resources 

https://blog.theautismsite.greatergood.com/autism-fecal-smearing/

https://safesleepsystems.com/how-to-reduce-fecal-smearing-in-children-with-autism/

https://www.verywellhealth.com/toilet-train-your-child-with-autism-260160

https://hes-extraordinary.com/fecal-smearing-autism

https://www.autismparentingmagazine.com/autism-fecal-smearing/