Poo - Of Various Sorts

A toy - NOT a real poo.

Poo is a big thing in our house.  It's not uncommon for kids with autism to have issues with bladder and bowel and sure enough Harry is in there - not exactly with the greatest, but he gives it a good run for the money.  He'll happily urinate (until the cows come home), but when it comes to "dropping the kids off at the pool" he'll go through long periods of failing to keep it regular.  They can medicate for this, but the trick is to give them as little (leading to none) as possible so as to make it a regular as possible.  He'll get to the daily stage so we roll back on the meds and he'll be fine for some time, and then a set back (some minor illness, such as a cold or something like a trip out of town that doesn't go well) and he'll hold onto it for days.  He last went on Saturday (I'm writing this on a Friday).  So we're getting to the stage of medical intervention - which can make him go almost instantaniously.  But that doesn't help the long term, so it leads to daily pressure (I don't mean physically) to get him to go to the toilet and give it a "go".  It's not clear why Harry's "voiding" is an issue.  I read something that suggested that kids on the spectrum have issues with "letting go", but with Harry I think it's more to do with transition - from going from one activity to another.  He has to be slowly steered from one activity to another, so this sudden "need" to do something has to be fought and he has now found that if you fight it hard enough, it will soon pass.  At least temporarily.  And of course when he does go, it's uncomfortable - because he hasn't gone for so long.  Which teaches him to not want to go.

Before beeing a beekeeper I never thought about insect poo.  That also is an issue.  During the warmer months it's easy for them to defecate outside, but when the temperature drops these cleansing flights have to be brief and it's not unusual to find a number of bees dead outside the hive in winter who had to go poo, but just quite didn't make it back.  They can go many weeks without pooing, so with the arrival of spring their evacuation becomes something quite obvious, so if you park your car near a hive or if the neighbours hang out their washing, it can become very noticeable.  It's yellow and sticky (they eat honey -who'd 'a thunk) and some beekeepers refer to it as yellow rain.  Pooing inside the hive is a no-no, so if they do, it can be a urgent indicator of poor bee health, especially if it appears to be diarrhea and may require intervention.

So we'll see.  Both with the bees and with Harrry.  But I hope Harry gives in first.