Autism Support Group

So I am FINALLY serious about the potty training. Brian is four and it's got to happen, I know it's not going to happen on it's own. He doesn't have the desire to please me like a "typical" child would... I get that. So I have been reading and reading on how to train him. We have done hit and miss training at home with a picture schedule but we have to get more focused. The schedule does not interest him at all... then again, I have no "reward" for completing it, so maybe that is why.

At school, they simply take him at the same time several times a day every day. He rarely goes. But this doesn't teach him to recognize and acknowledge/signal that he has to go. I don't think wetting his pants even phases him. But he knows when he has to go "poopy" because he will go hide in a corner.

Some articles are telling me that at 4 years old, he is used to the feeling of the diapers/pull-ups and my only choice is to put him in regular underwear cold turkey. Is this true? Shell, you have raised six! I think they are all potty trained. How have you done it? Did you use pull ups or underwear? What about training pants over the underwear - are they ok? I need all the advise I can get! Pull ups for a 54 pound boy are getting expensive and difficult to find!

Oh and another thing.... he is a boy! Stand up or sit down? Should we let him watch dad? HELP!!

Post edited by: briansmom, at: 04/18/2010 02:20 PM

Lots of autistic chidren develop a fear or discomfort of sitting on the toilet. helping the child become familiar with the toilet without requiring them to actually use it may help. Practice sitting them on the toilet fully clothed. Let the child play, read, or color while sitting on the toilet fully clothed. They will become gradually more comfortable.

Practice the procedure using a doll or favorite toy.

Sometimes children don't understand what they are being asked to do. Offer a a variety of toys to play with Keep rotating the toys, so it's always something new and intriguing. ,The inclusion of a concrete, visual "what happens when I'm finished" piece of information is an important part of this system. For some children this may be looked at as a motivator or even a reward. For many children with autism, it is equally or more important as a clear indication of closure. Task completion is a powerful motivator for most people with autism,Also a first ??? then ??? approach may work if you do this you get this.

PECS work well and can introduce in a way they understand.offer a drink within around 20 mins he will need a wee use a potty (have sent a link to what i mean it may not be called a potty there lol and i shows a child with a distraction)Hand them a "toilet cue" - picture to let them know it's time to go. Use an empty wipe box as an indicator,seeing how going to the toilet can work well,

hold a pecs of a boy having a wee/poo and a pic of favoured toy or reward, wee first then ???

with my youngest we litterally had to wait for him to begin to dribble and catch it when the wee hit the potty we gave lots if praise,(sam likes us to cheer his name) we did have to chase him for a couple of weks lol

Post edited by: spectrummum, at: 04/18/2010 02:39 PM

just to add we went native lol no pants during the school holidays when it would be a constant run.

however how you do it at home is how they will have to do it at school or he will be confusd and may just refuse to go at all

"Native" ... LOL! I love it! The problem I have with school is that what he does there is what they expect ME to do at home, not the other way around. I asked them to use the picture schedule but so far no luck with that. He is going to the autistic center this summer and they are much more trained than the public school system, so perhaps we can work out something together and he will pick it up this summer.

you are in charge hun not the school they should be doing what you think is right ,I make sure our schools do LOL I am there parental nightmare lol

doing it when there is no enviroment distraction is better than being at school then coming home and doing it your way,once he "gets It" and he will most quickley it will not matter what they want e will show them himself lol

Hello, I thought I would add to this discussiong because I am in almost the exact same situatiuon at home with trying to train my 4-year old boy. We went cold turkey and just put him right in underwear. We have been setting a timer and we religiously put him o the potty. Sometimes we catch it, and sometimes we don't. We always give him three M&M's when he does something in the potty. And he know that now because I gave him just two the other day after a pee and he said "ONE MORE!!!!" Anyway, we are not ready to take off the underwear when out or in the car just yet though. We have been doing tons of laundry, but I know it will be worth it when he is trained. We have his school doing the same thing we are doing. The use an iPhone for visual and auditory cues, which he loves. I am going to get them to put those cues on my wifes iPhone so we can use them at home too. I said to my wife last night "I don't care if it kills me, this kid will get potty trained!!!" Let me know how you do, and let's share any tips that we might come accross!

Jeff

too add one more thing......Lately, he has been doing just a little pee in his pants, and then when we see it, we take him to the potty and he does the rest of the pee in there. So maybe that is his way of telling us for now!

Hi,

My son Owen is also 4 and we have not had a lot of success with this task. We usually have to take him to the toilet periodically to get him to go. On the few sucessfull attempts, I have found that Owen prefers to be alone in the restroom. I put a clock on my restroom wall to help me with the time as I get ready for work in the morning and I have found that the tic toc of the clock was too distracting. So every time he has to go, I have to take the clock off the wall and put it away where he cannot hear it. On a few occasions, we went cold turkey with only his underwear. He had a few accidents that weekend. Fortunately, it did not happen on the furniture, which I was extremely paranoid about! Keep trying and I will do so on my end.

I made "tinkle targets" for my little boy when we trained him. It did help! If any of you would like a little tinkle target for the potty let me know in a PM I'll send you one for free.

The "tinkle targets" are extremely easy to make. We used a rubber stamp and stamped different pictures (boats, trains, etc.) on individual squares of toilet paper. When you drop them in flat, they float for a while - certainly long enough for the boys to have fun "sinking the boat"!

On another note, I am extremely impressed with all of you for tackling this job. Even though we tried every trick imaginable, Matthew was 7 years old before he even thought about using the potty himself. He was 11 before we could let him go to bed without pull-ups. In one sense, puberty has been a blessing because he FINALLY stopped wetting the bed even occasionally. Good luck to you all!