RE: Aspergers - High Functioning Autism (HFA), incontinence & multitasking

[Guest guest]

Just an observation from a mom, don't know if it will help or not. After my

first vaginal birth, I've had a lot of incontinence issues. For the first

couple of months, it felt like I was going to be needing a diaper myself,

and it was almost as you described: I really had to pay attention to those

muscles to hold urine for any length of time.

I decided that I wasn't willing to give in to that, so I've been doing some

very serious Kegel training. This takes some time out of my day, as I'm

never very successful at doing Kegels while I do something else, as they

tell you to do. But what I've found is that as my muscles tighten back up,

I am more and more able to go back to not having to think about it.

I know that men can do Kegels as well. Have you ever tried a

strength-training regimen in this area? I'm thinking that perhaps if you

can strengthen those muscles enough, they will better hold on their own

without your having to think as much about it. My current regimen takes

about 20 minutes or so. I do 10 reps of holding tight for 10 seconds, 10

reps of doing 5 quick hard squeezes, and 10 reps of doing 4-level graduated

squeezes, then I start over and keep going until I've done 100 total. It's

time consuming at the moment, but it's worth it to me.

Elayne

http://www.huntfamilyhome.net

" The government thinks you're an idiot. " -- Radley Balko,

www.theagitator.com

[Guest guest]

I've run into the same sorts of issues as well. When I feel the urge to go to

the bathroom, I have to go right away, regardless of what I'm doing. Otherwise,

I fear that I'm going to wet or crap myself as the case may be.

As for multi tasking, I can't do so too well either, and I have to stay focused

on what I'm doing, otherwise I feel as though I'd have to scrap all the work

I've been doing and start over. It's really annoying, since when I get

distracted, i tend to completely forget what I was working on before.

" The truth is, I never fooled anyone about who I really am. People did a good

enough job of that on their own. They would create a character of me in their

minds, and be thoroughly disappointed when I failed to live up to that. " -

Marilyn Monroe

Debogorski

elcap1999@...

RE: Aspergers - High Functioning Autism (HFA),

incontinence & multitasking

Just an observation from a mom, don't know if it will help or not. After my

first vaginal birth, I've had a lot of incontinence issues. For the first

couple of months, it felt like I was going to be needing a diaper myself,

and it was almost as you described: I really had to pay attention to those

muscles to hold urine for any length of time.

I decided that I wasn't willing to give in to that, so I've been doing some

very serious Kegel training. This takes some time out of my day, as I'm

never very successful at doing Kegels while I do something else, as they

tell you to do. But what I've found is that as my muscles tighten back up,

I am more and more able to go back to not having to think about it.

I know that men can do Kegels as well. Have you ever tried a

strength-training regimen in this area? I'm thinking that perhaps if you

can strengthen those muscles enough, they will better hold on their own

without your having to think as much about it. My current regimen takes

about 20 minutes or so. I do 10 reps of holding tight for 10 seconds, 10

reps of doing 5 quick hard squeezes, and 10 reps of doing 4-level graduated

squeezes, then I start over and keep going until I've done 100 total. It's

time consuming at the moment, but it's worth it to me.

Elayne

http://www.huntfamilyhome.net

" The government thinks you're an idiot. " -- Radley Balko,

www.theagitator.com

[Guest guest]

starfleet wrote:

>...It seems like I have multi-tasking issues between holding

>urine and attending to and enjoying daily tasks. A couple

>of weeks ago, I was under the stress of helping my wife

>shop for groceries. I was able to hold urine for a couple of

>hours, but I was starting to emotionally " overload "

>and get into a depression.

Here's another case (as with mild OCD) where my " neurosis " seems to

be an advantage. When I read the above quoted part of your message, I

thought to myself " for a couple of hours?!?!?!?! "

All my life I have been " neurotic " about needing to know I will have

easy/instant access to a toilet. People who know me know they can

always count on me to be able to tell them where the nearest

facilities are. It might be possible for me to go a couple of hours

between pees, but I could not go for a couple of hours while " holding

urine. " Would drive me frantic.

The only exception is when I am deeply, deeply engrossed in

something. Then I sometimes have trouble tearing myself away. I may

even say to myself, " You need to go to the bathroom, " but half an

hour later I will realize that 1) I haven't gone to the bathroom, and

2) I am in pain as a result.

Generally speaking, though, being " neurotic " about getting to use a

toilet often is part of how I am, a result of growing up that way.

[And it really is me, not bad toilet training, btw.] I never leave

the house without: 1) using the toilet last thing, and 2) having

clear in my mind where the next available toilet will be. Even people

who know me well do not understand the anxiety I experience when I am

asked to undertake an activity that will not allow for good or timely

toilet access. The only person I do things with on a regular basis is

chronically late picking me up; one reason this bothers me is that it

prevents me from being totally ready to leave when she shows up,

because going to the toilet always has to be done immediately before

leaving.

I wish I could clone a bit of my " neurosis " in this regard and send

it your way. Maybe it would help you be more assertive about moving

(and be more able to implement the decision to move) from whatever

task you are doing to heading towards the nearest loo.

If peeing in the diapers helps you retain stability, though, I'd say

you've found your work-around for the problem.

Jane