nose-blowing

[BeckyScott]

I am out of ideas on this.

DS7/HFAutism doesn't blow his nose right. Like he doesn't know how to do it. He just doesn't "get it", blows thru his mouth. We of course have tried a dozen different ways to teach him and none of them are working. This has been an ongoing problem for many years.

If he has a snot-head, one of two things happens. Either he will eventually start sneezing and the stuff just flies out. Or we will give him meds and he'll "dry up". I tried to explain to him that he needed to not "sniff", that the snot needed to get out of his head.

Bottom line, we just can't figure out a way to teach him how to blow his nose. "Pretend to blow up a balloon with your nose" "close your mouth and breathe out with your nose" we hold a kleenex up to his nose and have him make it move, and we're standing in front of him making snorting noises and generally looking pretty silly -- it never works, he blows with his mouth!

He is pretty under-sensitive, and it doesn't bother him one bit to have a runny nose or a messy face, I don't know if that plays into it or not. He is *aware* of it, it just doesn't bother him.

Ideas? Any big secrets I didn't learn?

 

[SandrainNC]

My son won't do it either. He makes this sound through his mouth when I try to get him to do it. So I end up having to suction him with the bulb thingy. No choice if he is really bad because he has gotten sinus infections before because the stuff just sits in his nose. I hope somebody has some ideas!

Sandra

 

[Forevryoung]

My ideas: (and i've never tried them so don't blame me if they don't work! ) is to have the child practice blowing bubbles in the pool or bathtub out of their nose. I have taught swim lessons to SN kids and they get the fact that they can blow bubbles with their nose and it's easier to show them in the pool that you are keeping your mouth closed and the bubbles come from the nose...

Or have them feel the air come out of your nose when they are not stuffed and then have them immitate it.

The third idea is to have them say "hmmm" really hard with their mouth tightly closed- it will push air through their nose automatically due to the nasality of the sound (anatomically it should work, have never tried it personally)

Good luck!

 

[SueM in MN]

Those sound like good suggestions.
My youngest DD can't blow her nose because she is not physically capable of doing it. We started cleaning her nose gently with q-tips. It works well for us.

 

[BeckyScott]

I could try buying a nose-sucker. Do they only come in one size? (I know that sounds like a silly question) I mean, just buy the baby one? Would that still work?

The Hmmm is a good idea. You know I'm sitting here Hmming to myself to see what happens. Unfortunately, DS won't put his face in water (another "issue") so that idea is out, although it seems like a great idea for someone else to try!

The kid has allergy problems anyway-- he takes Claritin pretty much year round-- and I know his para fought with this last year too. It seems like such a silly thing, but it's making me nuts trying to solve!

 

[Forevryoung]

The Hmmm is a good idea. You know I'm sitting here Hmming to myself to see what happens. Unfortunately, DS won't put his face in water (another "issue") so that idea is out, although it seems like a great idea for someone else to try!

You should feel air coming out of your nose- which is why when you have a cold, kids say "bob" instead of "mom" because the air cant get out the nostrils!

It would be a cool trick if it works! Let me know

 

[Goofyluver]

You should feel air coming out of your nose- which is why when you have a cold, kids say "bob" instead of "mom" because the air cant get out the nostrils!

It would be a cool trick if it works! Let me know

Air only comes out of your nose on nasal sounds...such as m, n, ing. That is why when you say "mom" it sounds like "bob" when your nasal passages are stuffy.

Mmmmmmm...or hmmmmmm...are wonderful sounds to elicit nasal airflow. Try doing this at the same time as having your kiddo try to move the tissue...

You can also use a mirror. Try to get them to "fog" the mirror by blowing air through their nose...this makes it very visual.

Have him try to make funny noises with his nose. Try snorting or snoring...do it both in and out...to increase control over nasal airflow.

Try having him press something between his lips while eliciting nasal airflow. I have used a popsicle stick. This worked for one kiddo that I had in speech with me. It prevented her from being able to open her mouth and let air escape from her mouth instead of her nose.

Try "panting" through the nose. In and out as quickly as possible. Anything to increase control.

Hope something works!

 

[Forevryoung]

Air only comes out of your nose on nasal sounds...such as m, n, ing. That is why when you say "mom" it sounds like "bob" when your nasal passages are stuffy.

Mmmmmmm...or hmmmmmm...are wonderful sounds to elicit nasal airflow. Try doing this at the same time as having your kiddo try to move the tissue...

You can also use a mirror. Try to get them to "fog" the mirror by blowing air through their nose...this makes it very visual.

Have him try to make funny noises with his nose. Try snorting or snoring...do it both in and out...to increase control over nasal airflow.

Try having him press something between his lips while eliciting nasal airflow. I have used a popsicle stick. This worked for one kiddo that I had in speech with me. It prevented her from being able to open her mouth and let air escape from her mouth instead of her nose.

Try "panting" through the nose. In and out as quickly as possible. Anything to increase control.

Hope something works!

Yay SLPs (well nearly an SLP on this side )

 

[Goofyluver]

Whoohooty for the SLPs!!!!

 

[Poohnatic]

Thank you! I thought my son's aversion to blowing had to do with the sensory issues and now you've all given me practical tips to try! Yay!

Suzanne