Potty Training for Autistic Children

My son had a lot of trouble peeing in his pants if he was wearing underpants (in the early stages of potty training) - I think it felt too much like a diaper. We just let him go comando for about a month and it worked like a charm. One day his cousin was over and he saw that he was wearing underwear (they are 2 months apart) and he decided he wanted to wear it too. So far, so good. I expect accidents once in a while but they are pretty few and far between. Good luck.

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Even children who are not autistic have trouble with that. I would give it some time. You can just reassure him and tell him that he can use the toilet whenever he wants. Maybe tell him that he has to tell you when he needs to (if you are not comfortable with him usign it on his own just yet). My son was not doing that well at 31 months, so you are ahead of some.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi T.,
My daughter has autism too. I know that when it comes to most things it is a lot more difficult. Children with developmental delays do take longer to do a number of things, potty training being one. I am sure it does not occur to him to tell you he has to potty because that is a social skill. Does he want to get out of his underwear really fast when he wets? For my daughter, I had to use reguular underwear or else she would not use the potty. She started using the potty at about two and a half and it took a very long time before she was completely done with potty diapers. We are still working on pooping in the potty. My daugheter is super smart and very high functioning and always requests a diaper to poop in. She has done this since three, she is now four and a half. Is he in early intervention? This is the very best way for them to get help! I love the ei. I hope all is well and if you ever want to talk or email, my email is ____@____.com... GOOD LUCK!

Totally normal my three and a half year old just turned the corner and has finally started to recognize those body signals. No kid really is fully potty trained until they are about 4 years old. Yeah, you can get your two year old to wear underwear and sit on the potty, but they are going to have accidents until they are almost four. Your boy is doing awesome and you are doing awesome Momma!!

T., my son is just over 4 years and diagnosed ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) last February. He decided to wear underwear in July and we are just about throug the pee part of the training and still hit and miss for the pooping. Phases we have gone through are similar, my suggestion for this phase is a timer, since he might just be concentrating so much on other stuff (toys, playing) the sensation awareness is just not "key" enough yet and the timer will at least start training an amount of time for him to start think about it (and it reminds YOU as well). I'd also be happy to talk or email more about what I have learned (most I have tried, so I have not just knowing my child) about working through the needs of an ASD child. T. (____@____.com)

Hi, my son was just diagnosed with High functioning Autism spectrum. My son is 4 1/2 and I just got him in Early childhood (they are great with the kids) check into getting your son in.
I started potty training my son when he was 20 months old. I set the potty chair in the living room in front of the TV, used it as a chair, took his diaper off when he sat on it.
My bathroom is on the second floor. I did slowly move it to the landing then to the bathroom as he was able to climb the stairs.
This took a year to fully potty trained in a year. This will take a lot of patience. I went to a class on "Bookmaking" what it is, you can find different clip art of pictures on each steps that you need your child to do ex sample: 1. pulling down pants 2. setting on potty 3. wiping 4. pulling up pants 5. flushing 6. washing hands.
You can make this as detailed as you need. I find with my son if I do a schedule of things he is to do through out the day a stay in a routine it helps with meltdowns (makes it easier on you)
I have more info if you would like to talk
thanks

From what I know about Autisim it is mostly social skills that are lacking, correct? If this is indeed the case my one bit of advise on the subject still holds true. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! From every room and from outside too. When you go somewhere new help them find the quickest route to the bathroom from where ever they are playing. When you make it habit and routine it is much less stressful for the kids and you. Some kids freak out in a new enviroment (and have accidents)cause they have to concentrate so hard on where the bathroom is that they forget what to do when they find it. If this is so ingrained in them they will be more confident in their attempts. When all the other "readiness" sign are there they will be ready to go! And you will be so proud!
Happy Training~!

My daugher was diagnosed with Autism at 18 mos. and didn't speak until she was over 3. We did speech therapy to help align the words we used around her with the words she understood. She was 4 before she was fully potty trained, but we still aren't sure how much of the delay was within the range of "normal" and how much because of the autism. Hang in there because work you do with your son now is CRITICAL in overcoming problems/stigma related to autism. By the time my daughter started school, she was assessed as "too high functioning" to let her participate in school-provided speech therapy programs, and other kids never viewed her as a special-needs kid.

I am the the mother of 2 autistic childern. Both are fairly grown up now, but when it can to potty training the first one I had a lot of back steps. I learned that they don't always know how to ask for help. But what I learned was that once you started to potty train move forward use big kids pants (underware) not pull-up or training pants. If he does have an accident take to the toilet and set him on it while you change his pants. He does understand but may not know how to ask. Give him time and some sore of object he can use to show you he need help. I made a sign on a stick with HELP on it for my child. Make it something simple, and like a game. This may work for you.

Hi T.,

I don't know if it helps, but my son is 38 months and he just started being able to go in the toilet when he has pants or underwear on. He is not autistic. Maybe your son will learn on his own. That's what it took for my little guy!

Dani

Many boys are not ready to potty train at 31 months. Your son is doing well. It is normal that sometimes he pees in his pants. Potty training is just like training in any other area. We are not immediately perfect in using our new training.

Just relax and savor his current abilities. It's great that his behavior and skills are improving!