Poop in Pants Poop in Pants in School

ARCHIVE 4th grader pooping his pants?!?! (long) > Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,757 Senior Member Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,757 Senior Member 4th grader pooping his pants?!?! (long) 10-25-2006, 06:50 PM As the school year has progressed, I've been learning more about my students (I've been looking at their cums, IEPs, etc.). I have one student, a male, who has a one on one aide. His IEP is as thick as a book! Anyway, I knew right off the bat that he had some form of ADHD, and that was documented in the IEP. It says he has sensory difficulties, ADHD, and processing difficulties. He is pretty smart, though. As I talked to some of his past teachers, they all told me they had a terrible time with him because he would poop his pants, starting from 1st grade on up! His former teachers would even find his "stuff" in the room (one time behind a bookcase! EEEWWW!). One teacher called the union, the health department, but no one could do anything about it. There is a total of ONE LINE on his entire IEP that mentions "bowel problems". There were no behavior modifications for this. Meanwhile, I know of at least 2 occasions where he has pooped his pants in my classroom - 4th grade! He refuses to acknowledge it happened, even though we smell it. Little parent support - parents have their head in the sand, don't know what they think when he comes home after sitting in his "stuff" all day! They won't even take him to the doctor to see if it is physiological or emotional (I think emotional). Don't you think this kid should be in an ED class of some kind? Tomorrow I willl send him to the office if he does it again, and let them handle it. What would you suggest? Haven't met the parents yet. Should I call another IEP for him, even though he's not due for one until April? What if the parents don't care? How can I deal with this for the rest of the year??? Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 682 Senior Member Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 682 Senior Member 10-25-2006, 07:02 PM I wouldn't deal with it. If it happened, I'd send him to the office and let them deal with it. It sounds like they (school? Resource specialists? Parents?) have let this go on for too long. Will they still let this go on in middle school? High school? Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 123 Full Member Wow 10-25-2006, 07:43 PM We had the same thing! I thought ours was a unique situation. The only difference is that the mom finally woke up and began taking him to doctor after doctor (psychiatrists included). We even tried homebound instruction. I understand if he had an emotional/physical problem and couldn't help it, but... he could certainly go to the bathroom and clean himself up. I never understood why he chose to pretend it hadn't happened, especially when the other kids were holding their noses and making comments. We had a school nurse who had a bathroom in her office. We finally put him on a bathroom schedule- every 60 minutes whether he wanted to or not. That helped but didn't "cure" it. He did eventually get an ED label (other behaviors started coming out and eventually escalated) in 5th or 6th grade and was sent to an alternative school. I would definitely talk to his parents and explain what a social stigma it is. It also hinders the education of others. No one should have to work (kids or adults) in an environment like that. Good luck! get him some help 10-25-2006, 10:17 PM When someone "has an accident" in the pool or dressing rooms, health regulations say the pool has to be closed, drained, cleaned, disinfected, and pass hygiene tests before re-opening to the public. Dressing rooms, showers, saunas, same. So what about classrooms, playgrounds, and school washrooms? Send him home, and insist they get him some help. He's crying for it. And he can't stay at school like that! Joined: Aug 2000 Posts: 297 Full Member Joined: Aug 2000 Posts: 297 Full Member My thoughts 10-25-2006, 10:31 PM First thing you should do is talk to your administration, his former teachers and your special ed teacher and find out exactly what has been done in regards to testing, dealing with his parents, accomodations, etc., Meanwhile yes send him to the office when it happens so that they begin to understand the frequency and the need for something to be done. As far as him not admitting to it - depends on why he is doing it - if it is for attention he's getting it, if it is emotional he may be embarrassed but doesn't know how to deal with it. I don't know how your school deals with IEP's, but in my school each teacher writes up their own IEP's and we update it at least 4 times a month in conjunction with report cards. You may want to develop your own IEP in the next few weeks to address this concern and work on it with his TA. Also you mentioned sensory issues - he may not know when he has to go to the bathroom (doesn't feel the urge) so you may want the TA to document what times he goes over the next week or two to see if there is a pattern - mid-morning for example and then you can send him to the bathroom prior to that time and see if it helps. And with the parents - perhaps they are overwhelmed with everything as well or have had negative experiences in the past with your school staff. Try meeting with them again and let them know your concerns and bring up the link with his sensory issues and ask them if they have ever checked on this with his doctor. Sometimes a new teacher trying it from a different perspective can get through to parents. If the parents refuse to talk about and deal with the problem then talk to your administration about involving social services. That might light a fire under them to get things done. Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 628 Senior Member Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 628 Senior Member Not Typical 10-26-2006, 02:22 AM This is not typical behavior for an ADHD child or a child with sensory issues. It can be typical behavior for a child with autism, however. How are his social skills? Eye contact? Body language? I would handle this by sending him immediately to the nurse, where he would have to wash up and change clothes. He, therefore, will need a change of clothes at all times in the nurse's office. I also would have bathroom breaks written into his IEP and ask the parents during the IEP meeting how they are going to handle this ongoing problem. If the parents say they are not going to take the child to a doctor to check this issue out, then that should be written into the minutes of the IEP. If the parents say that they have taken the child to a doctor and no problem was found, I would also write this in the minutes and formally request a statement from the doctor saying there is no physical problem, also clearly noted in the minutes. Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,757 Senior Member Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,757 Senior Member Regarding IEPs... 10-26-2006, 03:49 AM Thank you for the comments so far. The only thing I'm worried about is that the AP who handles special ed issues is not the strongest. For instance, his aide talked to her before about his outbursts and the AP never got back to her. Also, the AP is the one that types the IEPs into the computer during the meeting (in our district everything is through the computer). Since I'm an IEP newbie, I don't know whether or not she has to put in what I say, or skew things using her own words. I will tell my TA to immediately take him to the office if there is another "problem" today. We'll see what happens. Joined: Mar 2006 Posts: 6,974 Blog Entries: 1 Senior Member Joined: Mar 2006 Posts: 6,974 Senior Member same problem last year 10-26-2006, 01:18 PM I had the same problem with a third grader last year. He was wearing pull ups to school every day. He wouldn't acknowledge when he had an accident and would sit in it all day! YUCK! I approached mom from the stand point that is was a health issue. It isn't sanitary for them to sit in it all day! It is ridiculous. She was supposedly taking him to the doctor for it, however, she contridicted herself so many times and never knew the DR's name that I didn't believe her. If he had an accident and I noticed, I would send him to the office for clean clothes..after a few times of that, the office started calling mom and telling her she had to pick him up. She would tell me he had no accidents at home...I don't believe her at all. Then by the end of the year (the last 5 days) he started wearing underwear. There were emotional issues also and I can't believe that there was not abuse. I reported it, but they said since she was taking him to the Dr there was nothing they could do (the Dr. didn't report abuse). I know at one point we had (the school psychologist, etc) that there is a medical issue that fit his profile, but I still believe it was mostly emotional! I would get as many people involved as possible. If it is a medical issue, maybe parents would be more likely to get treatment. You could even approach them to see if they have taken him to a medical Dr. to help rule causes out! I wish you the best...I know there were days I had parents come in and tell me my room smelled like a barn..usually days he had accidents! Amy Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 8,778 Blog Entries: 6 Senior Member Joined: Mar 2001 Posts: 8,778 Senior Member me too 10-26-2006, 05:31 PM i had a pooper several years ago (i teach 6th!) it was a medical condition....can't remember the actual name of it--something like endocrinosis (that's not it!) encropsis....something.... anyway, he really didn't know he was going or had control--but he would know he had gone--but he just sat in it--and smelled! whoowee! that kid had parents that were WAY too old to be having kids so they had a "different" parenting style with him. for example, they took him to a 9:00 showing of a rated R movie on a school night--not abusive "bad" parents--just.....different. anyway, my kid ended up in the TLC room (ED students) but it wasn't the pooping that caused this--they had been working on that referral process in 5th grade too. good luck! Oh my Gosh! 10-26-2006, 07:00 PM I thought I was the only one dealing with this!!!!! My pooper is in third grade. He's been doing it since Kindergarten. We have tried EVERYTHING as a school, including seeing the psychologist. Last year we even sent him home and said don't come back until you are "cured." But he's back. This is the same kind of story....single dad, mom's a recovering druggie, dad is in denial, is suposedly taking him to the dr for it, whatever. I've had to talk to the kid three times about personal hygiene and how 3rd graders notice "things." He will have an accident and then sit in it all day. I have documented one accident, but even that one he denied, it smelled so bad there was no denying it! I have talked to dad about personal hygiene and how third graders will notice and how the kid will begin to be ostracized (sp). That was two weeks ago. Kid still comes to school in dirty clothing and smelly. There are times it's so bad I can't even walk by him without gagging. Two sad things about this kid, one, he's starting to get teased about being a bit chunky. I don't think that's what's behind the teasing. And, two, this is the kid in my class that refused to sign the "say no to drugs" spider (see This is so sad post on the teacher's lounge). Hmmm, connection? So I'm at the point where I'm not saying anything. When he comes to school smelling OK and starts smelling during the day I'll send him to the office to change and document it. I feel for you. Good luck, let us know what happens, sounds like some of us could use some new tricks. Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,757 Senior Member Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,757 Senior Member Update 10-27-2006, 04:21 AM Well, it is obvious I'm getting no support in the office. Yesterday he didn't poop, but he was so disruptive during testing! Then, I caught him cheating on a different test (which he denies, of course). This happened toward the end of the day. I had to get my testing done. So the TA and I wrote a referral for behavior and cheating, and she took him to the office 10 minutes before school let out. She said the principal asked, "What do you want me to do with him?". So he sat there. He ends up sitting in the office during recesses because of behavior (per his aide), and I think everyone just ignores him. But I've got a class full of kids that need to finish their work in peace! I plan to talk with the AP today and see if I can get him another IEP. I don't want to rock the boat, though, because I am still probationary. Gotta love it... Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 1,746 Senior Member Joined: Apr 2006 Posts: 1,746 Senior Member Pooper 10-29-2006, 06:39 AM Well, I can't believe how many of us have to deal with this problem!! Mine happens to be a GIRL and a 3rd grader. I thought it was an unusual issue, but after reading these posts, perhaps not. I was also hoping to find answers to the problem, but y'all seem as perplexed as I am. I got the school nurse involved (she is new, and a go-getter!) She has talked to the parent, last year's teacher. Doctors can find nothing physically wrong with this child. They think it's just psychological. We started the child on a regime of going to the nurse daily after lunch to use her private bathroom, thinking maybe the public toilet intimidated her. The nurse would reward success with a peppermint candy. After about a week, she would poop on command! After a couple of weeks of this, the nurse told her no more candy, she'd just have to go because we said so. Again, she would go on command. Then we withdrew going to the nurse altogether, but she was still allowed to use the private handicapped bathroom down the hall. That worked for 2 days. Now that no one is reminding her to go, we are back to pooping in her pants, sittiting in it all afternoon and denying ther has been an accident! Guess we will start over this next week! Someone, and it wasn't me or the nurse, called child protective services about this child. Having this sort of problem can be a sign of sexual abuse. However, I honestly don't think it's the case with this family. I have taught another of their children, and there were never any problems. the one I have now is always happy, does well in school. She just poops her pants! 10-29-2006, 05:59 PM My brother actually had this issue all the way into Jr High and my mom tried a million things, took him to psychologists, doctors, had behavioral plans, etc. My 4 1/2 yo has the same issues right now, and it's really really really frustrating to deal with, as a parent. I would never be happy to hear of him sitting in it all day long, but it's a really difficult issue to resolve. In some cases, it has an etiological basis, and in others, it's an emotional issue. I'm really bummed to hear about it happening to so many older kids, and I really hope that won't be my son someday being talked about. I potty-trained all three of my kids the same way, and he's the only one having issues. I can understand parents feeling helpless about it (and it's hard to understand unless you've been there), but I can't understand them not willing to address it. Of course, I've only been dealing with it this long.... 11-07-2006, 06:14 PM JUST WANTED TO THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU DO. I AM A FATHER OF A 5th GRADER THAT IS HAVING PROBLEMS WITH DEFECATING IN HIS PANTS. I FELT LIKE I HAVEN'T BEEN A GOOD PARENT. THE ONLY THING THAT I HAVE DISCOVERED A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN SOME OF YOUR STORIES IS THE FACT THAT HE HAS BEEN A BED WETTER OR AS THE DOCTOR CALLS IT "NOCTURNAL ENURESIS" FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THE DEFECATING ISSUE HAS JUST RESENTLY STARTED. I HAVE EVEN MET WITH THE TEACHER AND WAS TOLD SHE HASN'T NOTICED A PROBLEM AT SCHOOL (THANK GOD), BUT I HAVE NOTICED IT AT HOME. I DON'T WANT IT TO BECOME A PROBLEM AT SCHOOL. I HAVE SEARCH THE NET TO TRY TO GET SOME ANSWERS, BECUASE THE DOCTORS THAT I HAVE SPOKE TO HAVE NOT BEEN HELPFUL. I DID FIND SEVERAL NOTED POSTED ON THIS SITE THAT I WILL EXPLORE. AGAIN THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU DO. I KNOW YOU ALL PROBABLY DON'T HEAR THAT ENOUGH, BUT JUST REMEMBER THERE ARE A FEW OF US PARENTS THAT REALLY CARE. MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL. 11-08-2006, 08:07 PM I am a teacher but more importantly a parent of a 7 year old with this issue. It is a medical condition called ENCOPRESIS. I thought for a long long time is was emotional or behavioral but after MUCH research I have found it is completely medical but leads to emotional issues as you can imagine. Encopresis is much more common in boys than girls. We have been dealing with this for three years under the care of a physician and a specialist. So, I guess my comment to all of you is most docs don't treat this and don't even understand it. They think it is a potty training issue. We went through four docs before we found one who would help us. We live in Chicago so we have access to large hospitals and it still took that long. If you are in a smaller community it may take longer to get appropriate help. There is a great website that helps all dealing with this issue. It has a bulletin board full of advice and parents dealing with this. I don't know if I can post it or not but I will try since it is a medical site that will offer help to all of you: www.aboutencopresis.com The most important thing to know is that because these kids have been pooping in their pants for so long they do NOT FEEL OR SMELL IT. For them it is a way of life and they are used to it. I can't imagine being my son's teacher either so I feel for all of you but your parents may be as frustrated as you are. This takes years to correct. Good Luck and thanks for helping these kids. A very appreciative parent of an encopretic boy Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 178 Full Member Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 178 Full Member I hear you... 11-09-2006, 07:14 PM I have a pooper too...grade 3. This student, however definitely does not have a medical problem. He will intentionally poop his pants to get attention in class. If someone makes him very very angry, he poops. This child has no friends (not only because of this) and there is no parental support. The most mom would do is send an extra change of clothes to school. This students is (I can't believe I am actually going to type this) amused by his feces. From time to time, he will smear messages on the bathroom walls, floor, etc. I cannot imagine the fascination. It is nice to see that I am not alone! my 9 year old has always had this problem 12-27-2007, 08:41 PM My daughter at about 1 1/2 started getting constipation and would not move her bowels. I took her to her pediatrician who sent us to the gastroenterologist. I had to start with manual manipulation (lubricated gloved finger), then laxatives. At one point she didn't go for 2 weeks and the doctors weren't very concerned about that! I thought she would die holding all those toxins in her. I insisted they do something and they started test after test, even a biopsy. Nothing was ever found. One thing that stood out to me was that she stopped gaining weight at about 18 months. The child was born 9 lbs. and 3 oz. She is now 50 lbs. and almost 10. She was either not on the "curve" for her weight or just barely. Her height was fine. After many, many tests the doctor concluded it would take her up to a year to get the feeling back in her sphincter to realize when she needed to go. We were at the end of suggestions. We went to 2 other gastroenterologists and one even treated me like I wasn't feeding her. I was so damn mad and hurt! Well, she will be 10 in Feb '08 and she poops in her pants still. Sometimes dry and sometimes more soft and wet. I started back to the gastroenterologist 3 weeks ago. She put her on laxatives and now it is worse! Poops all the time in her panties and sits in it!!! I don't understand. Sometimes I get very angry and I yell at her over it which I know is not good. I wish I'd never see any more poop the rest of my life! No dog, no cat, not even a goldfish! It is very hard on me and my husband. We have spend so much in medical expenses and gotten nowhere. After tonight's incident in which my son went to take a shower and there were two pair of nasty panties filled with poop in the shower floor, I had a talk with her. I did and have been making her wash her panties herself but that hasn't worked. Tonight when I asked her if she can feel that she has to go she said yes. When I asked her why she doesn't she said she is busy watching tv or playing so she just does it in her pants !!! I asked her why she would want to smell, sit in it, have people smell her, and get mommy and daddy so upset and angry. Her reply was, "everybody has their eye on me and stuff like that" also [they] stop paying attention to Ryan [her brother] and pay more attention to me. Sounds psychological but in the past she has told me she doesn't know when she is going. I'm at the end of my rope here. She's been tested for celiac, inflamatory bowel disease and a host of others. Does anyone have any insight I may be overlooking? All about the girl 12-31-2007, 09:30 AM We are a foster family with a 7 1/2 year old girl who has this problem. After reading many forum messages, I only found one that offered a positive approach. Every day is all about her pooping, changing her clothes, and using the toilet. That has become who she is. We just recently tried to take the focus off of that and talk about other things, spend more time with her, and, not surprisingly, she's been much more pleasant to be around. She is still going in her pants, but she is not as defiant about changing and she doesn't deny that it has happened. Her specialist says that it's not medical, but behavioral. I'm convinced that one day she will have enough confidence in herself and will start to use the toilet, but for now we're working on keeping it positive and changing our behavior since she is so reluctant or unable to change her behavior. Many people say it's a control issue and if she can feel control in other parts of her life, she might relinquish control over pooping her pants. We try to give her choices even for little things. It's a long hard challenge, but we need to all support each other. Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 26,071 Senior Member Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 26,071 Senior Member I had one last year 03-12-2008, 04:39 AM The first quarter of the year this boy pooped his pants every once in a while. I'd send him to the nurse and she would call his parents. The second quarter, it started happening almost every day. We set up a schedule where I sent him to the restroom every 1/2 during the afternoon. I actually set a timer. I talked to him privately and told him just to get up and go out to the bathroom every time the timer went off. The other kids never said anything. I'm sure they knew what was going on because they had to have noticed the smell when he was pooping in his pants. Anyway, he still was having some problems pooping in his pants. The parents blamed me, saying I wasn't letting him go, so we started keeping a notebook of when he went. Finally, they took him to the doctor. There was some medication that he started taking that helped. That, along with the schedule, put an end to the problem by the end of the year. I'm sure that his problem must have been less severe than some of these listed here, because we were able to put an end to it. I don't know if he had any problems this year or not. Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,602 Senior Member Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,602 Senior Member 03-12-2008, 09:35 AM I had one in my second grade class who would soil himself pretty regularly. Even up until the fifth grade it was still happening. He was severely developmentally delayed-- barely even verbal. The parents and the school ran all kinds of tests and found nothing. We did notice it happened more frequently during times of change (if I had a sub, during Spirit Week, if our schedule was frequently disrupted) so we thought it was a fear mechanism. Last year (sixth grade for him) he began having grand mal seizures. One every couple weeks. Terrifying. But he also stopped having the accidents, at least for the remainder of the time I was at the schoo. No medical connection was ever actually made, but we wondered if maybe he'd been having petite seizures when he was younger and having the accidents then. He started having the grand mal ones around the time he would be physically reaching puberty. Again, this was just us thinking, not a doctor's determination, but the brain is so mysterious, who knows? I'm no longer at that school and neither is he, so I don't know how he's doing now. Copyright © 2019 ProTeacher® For individual use only. Do not copy, reproduce or transmit. source: www.proteacher.net

Poop in Pants Poop in Pants in School

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