Thank you @A MyAutismTeam Member. It had been calm for a few days until yesterday. When I found him sitting in his room rocking back and forth on his bottom again after he'd pooped, I tried to handle it calmly. Instead of rushing in, I tried to stayed calm, and when he saw me, he stopped and laughed at me as usual. I simply asked if he wanted to follow me to the bathroom, but he wasn't interested. Then I suggested we go there before eating, and I left him. As I walked out of his room, I saw him start rocking his bottom again, but I didn't let it provoke me. I let him continue with it. I'm not sure if I did the wrong thing, but when it was time to eat, it was easier to get him to the bathroom. He knows we always change his diaper before lunch.

I don't understand why he's become so difficult to change his diaper in the last six months. It just happened.

Today, we went shopping, and I had no idea he had pooped until I saw him starting to get really warm and i tried to take off his jacket. He didn't want to take off his jacket and got irritated when I touched him. He often gets like that when he's trying to hide something, so I calmly took his hand and tried to take him to the bathroom. But he had a tantrum when he saw where we were going. He sat down on the floor and refused to get up. I tried to stay calm, there was no point in arguing with him with so many people around us. Instead, I told him that we would wait until we got home, and then he became calm and followed me back into the store.
It's so hard to handle these situations alone. This time, I tried to stay calm and coax him to the bathroom, but it didn't work. :(

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A MyAutis...

Sometimes for some reason, the big reaction the kid does find funny because they don't understand normal social cues. I got upset when my son would sometimes want to wipe poop everywhere during diaper changes. Once I stopped reacting the behavior decreased a lot and eventually went away for him. All kids are not the same. It's just another thing to try. I had to often take a few minutes in the bathroom or another room to calm down to react neutrally, go back and act as if the mess were from a glass of spilled water instead of poo. Still say no firmly and calmly. It's just one thing to try. If the attention from the reaction in the reason, it may help but the issue could be sensory or for other reasons. It's a difficult thing to deal with.

Thank you, @A MyAutismTeam Member, for your advice. Unfortunately, I find it hard to stay calm in this situation, but I'm trying. But when I see him sitting and rocking back and forth after he's pooped, I can't help but rush over and tell him to stop. He just laughs at me and finds it very amusing. Is it my reaction that's funny to him, or does he find it amusing to do this?

I've tried bribing him with candy or a reward chart where he can collect points for toys if he tells me when he's pooped and doesn't start "fighting". But it hasn't worked at all or been interesting to him.

How should I react? The way I've been handling it has only made it worse and worse. :(

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A MyAutis...

My son has had a lot of difficult behaviors regarding poop. You are definitely not alone. Sometimes, time helps and these behaviors will be outgrown. (They might be replaced by other behaviors regarding other stuff but time can change things.) Once piece of advice that I got that was helpful was to try to remain calm and neutral even though sometimes it's hard to do with the mess and stuff it is helpful because all kids have behaviors at some point that are based on a reaction they like. If there is a candy or time on the tablet or something you can use as a reward for a successful diaper change that might help. Also if he is doing something he likes and you are able to change him try to make it a point to allow him to go back to the thing or activity he likes afterwards so he learns that bathroom breaks don't have to mean the end of fun activities. I know it can be difficult and frustrating. Hang in there