Autism blog – How autistic is poo smearing?
I recently had someone challenge the degree of my autism on the basis of not having been a poo smearer. Well, whilst Temple Grandin (known as ‘The Woman Who Thinks Like A Cow’) has spent decades entertaining audiences with tales of being a poo smearing toddler, it seems that poo smearing is yet another autism stereotype.
In fact it occurs in non-autistic toddlers too, and, to my surprise, poo smearing at age 3 has even been considered by some experts as a sign of a highly intelligent, creative toddler. Cases of older non-autistic children as old as 6 are treated as part of emotional disturbance but not autism and some cases are linked with sexual abuse. One thing is probably for sure, with sexual abuse, IBS or boredom aside as possible underlying causes for poo smearing, personality traits must play some part in whether a child seeks power, rebellion, attention or social distance, which can all be implicated in something as socially disturbing as poo smearing. Such personality traits aren’t exclusive to people with autism.
… Donna Williams
autistic author, artist, consultant
http://www.donnawilliams.net
I live ‘in & with’ and work in the disability industry, and no, smearing is not a common trait in disability clients or even ‘normal’ kids.
And as soon as staff hear the term, it gets bumped to the top of the list of behaviours to be treated and worked on, because staff hate the cleanup. (Squeaky wheel syndrome I guess)
So whether the smearer is just doing it for attention or for things like ‘Prader-Willie’ syndrome, (Overeating- Food Ingestion Disorder), or self stimulation, there is usually some reason behind it and it certainly isn’t autism itself.
I wouldn’t have thought it was exclusive to autism – in my experience, some do – some don’t!