autism

has my child got autism. she has been potty trained for a while now but somtimes she jus stands ther and wees her self. and she doesnt understand that its wrong and does it over an over again sometimes. and does things out of the oridinary she is 3

[amy517]

Hi, my daughter just turned 4, and we are preparing for an eval for possible autism disorder.  She did same with potty. Trained fairly easy at two, for few months or so, than started wetting & soiling herself.  Since then we have been back and forth between panties & pull ups and has had constant trouble.  She also has other signs of autism and sees a play therapist once a week and was referred to neuropsych for testing.  My daughter also didn't seem to understand and it was frustrating because I knew she could do it.  I also didn't understand.  The older she got, the more things started to show that didn't seem normal.  But, with therapy these last few months, and enrollment in preschool, she has progressed and is now in panties full time and rarely has an accident!!!  I would recommend at least talking to your ped dr. about whatever else your daughter is doing, possibly get a referal to a specialist!  Good luck.

[Myrna Libby, Ph.D., BCBA]

It is impossible to diagnose autism over the internet and certainly not based on this much information.  I would certainly schedule an appointment with my pediatrician to discuss her toileting issues and see if there any other symptoms that suggest a more thorough evaluation by a pediatric neurologist or a developmental pediatrician.  It may be that she is having some behavioral issues around toileting and if that is the extent of the problem the less attention you pay to it the better.  You might want to go back to a pull up for a while to de-emphasize the issue and put in some basic positive reinforcement toileting program when you want to try to work on toilet training again.  Resources can be found at www.BACB.com to find Certififed Behavior Analysts in your area who could provide consultation on the toileting problem or, if other symptoms appear and result in a diagnosis, early intervention techniques.