Potty training

[keonsmommie]

My son is 4 now and has been dx Autism . I am just wondering if anyone has any advice on potty training. I have tried the conventional practices with no luck. He is afraid to even touch the little potty, let alone sit on it. My major problem is that he has started taking his diaper off and painting the walls with it! Either that or he finger paints! My Mother suggested the fact that taking the diaper off may symbolize potty training readiness, by way of him noticing the "poop" is uncomfortable. I am not so sure thats why he does it though. He is very into textures and patterns and I think that he just likes the way it feels on his hands to be honest! I have looked on several sites, but they all lack one thing, another mother telling me that it worked! lol So if anyone has any suggestions please share, I am all ears. Thank you!

[keonsmommie]

Oh that is a great idea thankyou! He goes to a little preschool up the street, and while they never offered to help potty train they do use pictures to illistrate their schedule. I am thinking that a plan like that would fit perfectly into the existing set up they have! You know I have been doing ANYTHING that has to do with potty or diapers in the bathroom with no exceptions because I was hoping that would if nothing else cause an association between the "toilet room" and going potty. I never thought of making pictures thats great! He also has a little book at school they have a name for the method of communication but it exscapes me right this second. He has pictures in this book of pretty much anything he can ever want or need and all he has to do is go to the book and pick the picture and sign to the teacher that he needs her. He is no pro by any means but he is doing very well. I think this may be the perfect time to throw the potty pics in there! Thanks again anniecrawley, and everyone who were so helpful in my time of confusion!

[anniecrawley]

I'm not a parent of an autistic child but I do work with autistic children and we had one little boy who was four that we potty trained his mother sent underwear to school and she worked with him at home as well we took him to the bathroom and showed him the big potty and at first he just looked at it then he sat on it what we did then was we took pictures of the toilet ,the table and chairs. Everything he interacted with and made a chart just for him like his very own. Routine and worked with him and showed him and told him what they were he started taking our hand and leading us to the bath room he is now potty trained and going to kindergarten it to a little while but he was successful

[keonsmommie]

Thank you ! You all have been very helpful, I pretty much had an idea what I thought I should do. I just wanted to make sure I didn't do anything wrong, as we all know one little slip could set us back a year! :) Thank again and I wish you all the best!

[William L. Holcomb, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

Well, I’m not another mom, but I thought I would try to provide you with a few suggestions for helping to potty train your son.  The book that I recommend for anyone toilet training any child is: Azrin, N., & Foxx, R. M. (1974) Toilet Training in Less Than a Day. Simon and Schuster, NY.  It is written for typically developing children, but the basics of the potty training procedures apply to everyone.  If you do an Internet search for books on potty training you will find many, and even a few written for help with children with ASDs.  In working with children with an ASD I often point out that the same problems that interfere with teaching them most things play the same role in toilet training.  That is, for many children with ASD, social praise does not function as a reinforce (typically developing children are almost always very motivated by the praise and attention for successful “performance” during toilet training); there are communication challenges (so you can’t “just explain” what you want them to do, or “bargain” with them), and they may have a bunch of repetitive or stereotyped behaviors (that directly conflict with some behaviors they need to learn for toileting, or these behaviors may make it difficult to change a routine).  You will need to adapt your training methods for this, and if you are able to work with a behavior analyst to do this, I highly recommend you do so (perhaps there might be someone from his school team who could help or recommend someone).  

Many young children play with their feces (if the opportunity presents itself).  Teaching your child the complete routine for toileting and monitoring him closely until he is fully independent in toileting, will probably help.  

Finally, you mentioned that you son “…is afraid to touch the little potty, let alone sit on it.”  If that is still the case, you need to address this problem first.  If your son is just a bit afraid of the toilet, that would not be too unusual.  If he is really engaging in fear/avoidance behavior and actively resists going near the toilet, then you would need to work with a behavior analyst.  There are several reasons your son might be afraid and I cannot review all of them here.  I suggest that you check the more common factors like making sure he is supported when sitting, trying to determine if the noise of the flushing frightens him, etc., and take measure to address any of these factors.  You might also try seeing if your son would “tolerate” sitting on a potty chair (if he is not too large) and then once he is more comfortable with this try moving him to the toilet.  
Best of luck and, try not to worry, I am sure you will succeed.  

[xx_Louise_xx]

Hello there, i have a 5year old son. He hasn't been diagnosed as being autistic, but is in the autistic spectrum. So they say he has some sort of autism, but there not sure which. Anyhow, my son has only been out of pull-up's for about a year now. And he would take them off at night, smearing them over his carpet and walls. Definately not a nice thing...and so frustrating. My son also has a speech and language disorder, and therefore doesnt understand much of what i say. So it was very hard getting gim to understand that what he was doing with his pull-ups at night wasnt normal. If i was clever i could of tried bribing him, but if i said something like you can have lots of sweets if you use the potty, he would not understand. My son needs non verbal interaction, to help him understand!

If we were just hanging around the house, i would let him roam free without a pull-up on, but tbh, he would sit behind the sofa and pee....so that for him didnt work!

Now, what i did do is i brought a potty that was a step for the loo, and a potty in one. It had a lid on it too... So what i did was i put it in his room when he went to bed, so if he wanted the loo he could just use it of his own accord without me pressuring him in2 it! It took a couple of days for him to use it...i would check, and when he did i would empty and clean it and put it back. After about 2weeks, he was using it every night, then after w hile he was using it and then atempting to empty it himself (unaware that it needed cleaning). Any how,,,  after about a month of him using it. He was completely out of them, he stayed at my parents one night, and slept through without a pull-up. So i just though what the hell...and from that day he didnt wear one again. And now he uses the toilet like everyother person! :) I was soo worried at the time thath he would be forever bound in napies. So it does help.......wish u all the best! x Iv sent u a friend request, iv yet to meet someone on here with a son like mine!

[KarenDiane]

I think painting the walls is fairly common with autistic kids. My daughter didn't do that, but she wasn't fully potty trained until 4 1/2. She would just poop in her pants and not care. I did get her to pee on the potty by putting her in regular panties and letting her pee herself a couple of times. Within 2 days she was peeing in the toilet. To get her to poop in the toilet, I started taking away her computer time everytime she went in her pants. She threw Hellacious tantrums, but it only took her a couple of days to start going in the toilet. Good Luck.

[kynjpa]

my son has Dx for ASD and is 3.7 now.I got him potty trained at 3yrs..after a whole year of unsuccessful attempts..tried all fancy potty , treats , rewards etc.BUT .he just did not"get it"...finally one day i kept taking him to the grown up potty every 5- 10 mins..he wonuld just stand there and when he goes out of the bathroom..he wud go pee pee on the carpet(it was super  frustrating) but suddenly i got him there at the right moment and he went pee pee in the usual toilet and suddenly it was like a "aahha" moment for him..suddenly he understood what we expected him to do.And after is 3rd birthday he has not worn a diaper again.He has occasional  pee pee accidents, but thats normal especially when he is busy playing of just focused on something specific.. but pretty much almost always he tells me and goes in the grown up potty...earlier he needed to stand on a step stool for proper aiming..but now he does not need it..

my advice..try many techniques ...see what works....ur son may accept one of that and

be consistent ...just stop diapers at home...accidents will happen..be calm and continue to insist on using the kids potty or grown ups potty..whatever he chooses.

(u might want to stock-up on sham wows and clorox wipes :)

all the best !