Mold and Mildew can great affect children with autism

[Guest guest]

Mold and Mildew can great affect children with autism.

I have first hand experience with the fact. My son became very hyper and almost hysterical. This happened after he was playing in our basement rec room. He seemed fine for a few hours after coming upstairs but seemed to get wound up later. While I was holding him I noticed that he smelled lf mold in his hair. I gave him a bath to get it out of his hair and off of him (I didn't have any epsom salts back then). It seemed the next day he was very hyper and stemmed a lot. I read other posts from parents saying that their child gets that same way after being exposed to molds or mildews. One child actually rubbed his face along the carpeting of a home that had some mildew in the carpeting. When the family stayed at another place for a few weeks his behaviors changed to less autistic and stopped running his face on carpeting.

Here are a few tips to help reduce mold and mildew in your home. If your basement or rec-room smells slightly moldy or mildewy there is evidence of it. Keep your children out of that area. I moved my son's rec-room play area to his upstairs bed room closet. I took all his clothes out and made a play house in there. I moved most of his closet stuff to the hall closet or spare room. I'm going to get down to the rec-room and bleach it out good. I already took care of one part of the room and now I have to move equipment to get the rest.

tip 2

clean your shower curtain every week with bleach or alternative bleach if allergic. I soak my curtain in a dish pan right on top of the tub - that way I don't have to pull the curtain down to wash. I use the shower to rinse the curtain throughouly. Once a month I take the whole curtain down to wash in the washing machine.

tip 3

Wash your childs plastic bath toys in the dishwasher after each use as you would your dishes. This will sterilze and sanitize them (Most toys have a leak somewhere and water gets into them and will cause bacteria growth inside toys - Especially in squeaky duckies.) I have washed different types of toys in my dishwasher top rack. (even very rubber/ vinyl fishes.) They all come out well. after washing in dishwasher if any toys have water inside that I can't get out of them - I put them in the freezer till the next bath to prevent mold growth.

tip 4

For Colds and Flus and to reduce dust - run your childs stuffed animals or pillows in the dryer for at least 20 minutes. Also works good for after colds and flus. Wrap pillows and favorite stuffed animals in a clean pillow case and run on high heat for 25-30 minutes to distroy viruses. (use washing machine if washable and then dry).

Hope these tips are helpful.

~n