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Home › Articles › Autism › Autism and Bedwetting

Autism and Bedwetting

A Guide for Parents

By Heather V. Long

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Adjusting Diet

A treatment that seems to work well for children with autism is diet intervention. It often helps because autistic individuals are more apt to have allergies and food sensitivities, which many believe to be caused by their impaired immune system.

The most common food allergies tend to come from grains, dairy products, strawberries and citrus fruits. Grain products like wheat, oats, rye and barley cause allergies due to the gluten they contain, and the casein in dairy causes reactions to milk products. Consuming these foods can lead to bedwetting, plus a host of other symptoms such as headaches, nausea, stomachaches, stuttering, whining, crying, insomnia, hyperactivity, aggression, ear infections and possibly a seizure.

To test if your child is having a reaction to a certain type of food, remove the item from their diet for a week or two and then feed it to them on an empty stomach. If there is a reaction, it will take place in 15 to 60 minutes. You can also try giving them the food every so many days. If they have a reaction on those days, then there is an allergy to the item.

Of course, the best thing to do is to speak with your doctor before trying any treatment. He or she can help you tailor a program to fit your child's specific needs and encourage you that most children do grow out of bedwetting – autistic or not.

Parental Advice

Parents of children with autism offer the following advice to other parents facing the same issues:

  • "I never used any special resources for bedwetting or potty training, but I saw a book once called Toilet Training for Individuals with Autism and Related Disorders by Maria Wheeler, that some parents might find helpful," says Indiana mom Teresa, whose 5-year-old son has autism.
  • "The most important thing I can tell another parent of a child with autism who is having trouble in this area is to remember that it is not the child's fault," says Jeanne Brohart, mother of 5-year-old Zachary, who is autistic. "These children have been shown to have brain damage/dysfunction in areas clearly involved in this process, and all parents need to understand that clearly. It isn't that your child isn't trying or doesn't want to please you or that he is 'opposition defiant,' a new buzzword in psychology – it is that there is actual brain damage."
  • "I'd also suggest parents use a 'timer' of some kind in doing this training and try to get 'results' 15 minutes to a half-hour after the child eats," says Brohart. "In my opinion, if Zachary starts to associate timer sound with 'time to go,' then it may help in triggering his own 'clock' and 'habit formation.'"

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