Potty Training with Autism

I have a 3 year old little boy, he isn't autistic, but was very stubborn about going potty. I put him on the potty probably every 15 to 30 minutes and let him try. I didn't force him to try, just that I wanted him to sit on the potty if he did end up going. I did this for a week or so -he goes to daycare full time, so this was only in the evening. That weekend, I put him in the training underwear, which only JCPenny's seems to carry. They have plastic underwear that are cotton inside or cotton underwear that is very thick in the middle. He got pee pee down pretty quick. I went ahead and kept him in the training underwear even though he didn't have poopy down. I guess it depends on what you are willing to deal with on that part. He had poopy accidents daily for two weeks. He never got in trouble for it (I don't believe in punishing or disciplining for accidents) If you think about it though, it isn't any worse than cloth diapers. And in the process I explained to him where I wanted him to go poopy. When he finally got it down, we bought him a spider man outfit and he never looked back. Doing Great!!!

My son's not autistic but when we started potty training him we put a calendar on the wall in the bathroom and everytime he went potty he got to pick a sticker to put on the calendar. We also did POTTY FIVE. After he put his sticker on the calendar he would run out to the livingroom to tell his dad and they would do potty five and just make a big deal of going potty. Also I noticed my son would pee at specific times of the day so i would get him to sit on his potty. We made going potty rewarding and fun. Every child is different so watch for a pattern and then encourge him to sit on the potty at these times. If you notice he pee-pees after his bath then when you get him out dry him off and sit him on the potty before he has a chance to do anything else. You could also have him sit on the potty while you run his bath water. Running water always helps.

Good morning. My son is four and is developmenally delayed and has slight autism. I never had an idea if he knew what going to the potty was, he didn't know how to make it happen, and he didn't seem to care if he went in his diaper. I should have followed other mothers advice when they said that he would do it when HE was ready--but, he was the oldest child who didn't go on the potty and I insisted that he learn which freaked him out in the process because he just wasn't ready. Luckily, his preschool at 3 accepted him in diapers and he is now 4 in the special children's class at St. Amant Primary (which also allows non-potty trained children). I would sit my son on the potty, and once he "accidentally" did it in the potty--but he couldn't figure out how to make it happen again! We finally made him go into the bathroom with my husband for months so that he knew what you were supposed to do in the bathroom (he also felt special that he was the only child that was allowed in the bathroom with his daddy). After that, I knew that he understood what pottying was, but he still only did it occasionally. One thing that he really got excited about was doing the "pee-pee dance" which was the silliest dance I could think of for everytime he went (he loves to dance and sing and it was a very special treat for him to do that) He is now 4 and was still having tons of accidents, and then a lightbulb clicked one day in January and he started going everytime on the potty. It took us almost a year before we KNEW that he understood what was expected of him, and about 6 months before he stopped being stubborn and decided to do it. Children are not ready at the same time, and I think that it can take children with problems longer than others. Please note, that I have been told by the teachers at St. Amant that there are several other students 4 and 5 that are still working on being trained, and the doctors don't call it a problem until they reach 5 years old.

i don't have any personal advice, but maybe talk with an OT. if you live in the okc area, Lorraine Autscher at Sensational Kids is wonderful.

Hi E.,

You didn't describe your sons level of autism. My son is on the spectrum, he has aspergers syndrome. What I did with him was to introduce the potty and let him just do what he wanted with it. I know this sounds strange, but he is my fourth child and I refused to go through the forced potty training nightmare again. With so many kids in the house its not hard to tell him what its for, we allowed him to be in the bathroom with various family members to see what its all about. He took it to the livingroom and would take off his pull-up and sit on it while watching blues clues (his favorite show) By the end of the show there was something in the pot. This went on for maybe six months, and I was convinced that he would be in school with pull-ups when one day he started using using the potty (in the bathroom) instead of the pull-up and so I didnt buy anymore pull-ups and that was that.
However, as easy as that sounds I want to point out that as a substitiute teacher, I was spent a week in an autistic class of children who were aged 5 to 8 and they were all at different stages of potty know-how. Many of the kids were considered "trainable" (which means you can train them HOW to do certain things, and WHEN to do it but they will never understand the WHY). About 2/3 of the class wore pull-ups, and they had a strict schedule, every third or fourth activity was the potty, and most of the kids needed help. It was something we spent a lot of time during the day doing. One of the kids was unable to walk, or sit, he had to be strapped into a chair and would scoot all over the place. He was the oldest and so he was toobig for a potty, so we had to strap him to the toilet but it didnt help.
If your son is in occupational therapy (which he likely should be) talk to the therapists, and if they feel that he can handle potty training atthis stage they will help you to map out a plan.
My son was not diagnosed until he was 10 so I didnt have that to help me, but that is what occupational therapy is for. There is a good program in Arkadelphia (you are local right?) or f not then ask your pediatrician, but don't be shocked if they have no idea what your talking about.
Another good resource is http://www.autism-society.org they have a referral service 1-800 -3Autism.
Another is http://autismspeaks.org they have a page on Arkansas at http://communities.autismspeaks.org/site/c.ihLPK1PDLoF/b....
with local links and activities listed.
When I want information I just type "autism" into a search engine and start surfing to find all kinds of grat information. Hope this helps...
Tori

I have a five year old girl who has autism and I potty trained her about the same age as your son. I used the recommendations from the book "A Work In Progress" by Ron Leaf, I still use the book for references. But pretty much I had her sit on the potty starting out every 60 minutes and have him sit on the potty for about 10-15 minutes praise him for sitting on the potty, then when he goes give him the highest reward you can think of, whatever he loves the most save for only when he goes potty. Once you start training do not let him wear pull ups and use the regular potty (not a potty seat). The book does a better job explaining so if you can get a copy of the book use it. But for bowel movements I had my daughter sit and watch the portable DVD on the potty until she went, putting her on the potty at the time she normally would have a BM and waited until she went, I praised her and rewarded her and she never had an BM accident in her pants again and she goes on her own the the bathroom when she needs to. It will be hard work but once you start you can't quite on him. My daughter now is fully potty trained even at night so I know the method I used worked. Good Luck.

my friend at work has a 3 year old son with autism. i asked him and he gave me a link that is wonderful. http://autism.about.com/od/childrenandautism/ss/toilettra...

i hope it helps.

Can your husband put a few Cheerios in the toilet and then show him how to sink them by your husband demonstrating that urine goes into the potty? If he plays this game regularly after you have given your son plenty to drink, your son should get the idea that he needs to go in the potty!

I would think E., that it would be similar to teaching a typical 18 mo or 2 year old-which is just sitting them on the potty several times a day, giving him lots to drink until he pees in the potty. It may take a few days but when it happens a couple of times he should make the connection of what you are wanting him to do. Of course it depends on where he is on the Autism spectrum to know exactly how to start. I have a nephew with high functioning autism and taught pre-school with several autistic students ranging in severity and ages 2-5-all potty trained. If he opened the towel because he knew he needed to pee then he's got the sensation-it's just getting him to put it in the right place! Just keep repeating yourself-as parents we'll be doing that until they are at least 18 anyway may as well get used to it now! Good luck and God bless.

Hi E.,

I think the 2 previous posts are great advice-I guess it just depends on if your husband is comfortable with this-some guys are, some aren't. Does your son communicate with you verbally? An autistic child that I worked with did not communicate verbally at all when he started potty training. We made flash cards for his daily activities. The one for going potty just had a picture of a toilet on it. He knew when he needed to go, but had to have a very structured and directed environment. This worked great for him. He had a board that had flash cards velcroed to it and he would just retrieve which ever card that he needed at the time. The flash cards ranged anywhere from the need to potty, get dressed, eat, play with toys, read, etc. This system worked well for him in all areas because he did not have the verbal communication skills and was frustrated beyond belief before he was able to communicate with the cards. I worked in a classroom setting and once he was able to communicate his physical needs to us, he was able to actually start a structured learning process because his needs were taken care of without all of the frustration. Before the flash card system, most of the day was used in calming him down. I can't say that this would work with every autistic child, just depends on their level. Hope this helps.
R.