1/21/2010

Dignity

We have a child who has a medical condition in which she has no control over her bowels.  In order to help control this we need to make sure she sits on the toilet at scheduled intervals and hope that it’s the right time.

Now, she can sit on the potty, but it’s not always the right time.

We also know that it can be controlled somewhat with diet.

There are times when things are a bit looser than other times.  No matter what the time, her bowl movements are extremely loose and have an extreme smell about them.

She is hitting that age in which she is developing her self image and has shown signs of her embarrassment in this condition.  How?  She gets aggressive towards the other children, is withdrawn in her play, and is not as outspoken as before.

Before is when she was in the toddler room still in diapers.

She is toilet learned for what is in her control; her bowels are not in her control.

As a result of her embarrassment, it was time to do something to help her further.  Her parents were very hesitant (to say the least) to put her in pull ups.

I am NOT a fan of pull ups; so for me to suggest them means that there is a real reason for them.  Her parents don’t know me, however, so I don’t expect them to jump up and say, “Well, if Jenni says so, it MUST be the answer!”

No, we had a meeting with them to discuss the reasons for this.  The number 1, 2, and 100 reason was simple: for her dignity

It has been made increasingly evident that this is impacting her self image negatively.  Other children were beginning to comment and, no matter how much teaching and compassion was given to the children, it was not helping.

It was a LONG road to getting the parents to bring her in pull ups.  We had a meaningful meeting with them and they are now on board.

We almost immediately saw a difference in her behavior.  She is building confidence in herself, her aggression has gone done, and she is beginning to speak out during circle.

My point in this?  There are tools, like pull ups, that are there for us to use in EXTREME cases.  They shouldn’t be the rule, but the exception.  This is a case that this tool should be used.

What tools do you see that are over used and shouldn’t be?

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