15 year old adhd child will not keep clean
By Jenny40
@Jenny40 (30)
September 2, 2008 1:43pm CST
My son is 15 (16 in November) and has ADHD as well as Autistic Spectrum Disorder and we are having a really hard time trying to get him not to smell. His age is causing him to sweat a lot and he will not use deodorants or even let me spray him with one - He hates the feel!
He will not go for a bath or a shower unless it is Sunday (due to his change in routine thing which needs to be the same)
We have sat him down and tried to make him understand that people will not want to sit next to him and that he will get laughed at but he just says he doesnt care.
Any advice would be welcome.
2 people like this
2 responses
@metalhalo (599)
• United States
2 Sep 08
I went to school with boy who sounds very similar to your son. Sadly he had no friends and was teased a great deal amount. At the time I couldn't understand why he chose to be that one. Now that I'm older I understand better. His parents were kind, owned their business and his father was a policeman.
Since he has to follow a routine, I'd simply start adding another bath or shower into it. People need to be able to adapt to change no matter how difficult it is or not. I don't mean to pry or sound ignorant but because of his ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorder does he have to meet with any professionals/counselors? If so maybe they could help him understand the importance of grooming himself and having good hygeine routine.
If not..maybe rewarding him for his effort in some way would help. He needs to learn to care about himself and to have good self-esteem.
2 people like this
@kenzie45230 (3560)
• United States
2 Sep 08
Bless your heart. When my son was that age (he's mild undiagnosed Asperger's), he went through a period of about 6 months when he didn't want to bathe too often either. And he had read on the internet about the bad effects of an antipersperant/deodarant. Fortunately for us, he loved the youth director at our church. (She as a woman just a few years younger than me who had a son my son's age.) She took him to the store one day and asked him what deodorant he liked and bought it for him. There was never a problem after that.
In fact...the following year, he took 3-4 showers a day.
1 person likes this