potty trining and autism....Help!

loughallenlass

i have a 3 1/2 boy and i'm tryng to potty train him but getting nowhere!!! We are working with the early inervention team and ADOS but as yet he has not been diagnoised and i'm just really looking for tips. He will not sit up on the toilet at all!!!

LadyMayBelle

http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/understanding-behaviour/toilet-training.aspx Read through all the literature when you have a chance, i found it very useful.


when you say he won't sit up, do you mean he physically support himself, he won't go near the loo at all, or that the action of getting onto the loo is the difficulty?

What have the EI team suggested already?

loughallenlass

The EI haven't really said alot abouit this....as for him, he just wont sit up on the toilet at all. thanks for the link..will read it now

THENORTHSIDER

Firstly lots of patience is required, with my son it was a battle initially which upset us and him. We withdrew from the toilet training for a while and just worked with him encouraging without forcing him. Eventually he went himself and continues to do so.

You could try social stories also. Make up a story with pictures describing what goes on to try and make him relaxed about the toilet. You don't say whether he is verbel or non verbel but don't be afraid of the social stories even if he is non verbel as you would be amazed at what he will understand.

it won't happen over night but work with it this is from someone who had ended up on the floor crying more tears than my son after one horrific attempt to start the toilet training.

Good luck

cynder

My boy was 3 and a half and he didnt have any issues, and my bother boy was 3 and 1/4 before he was trained and he had lots of issues and there was a question of autism, (diagnoses of severe speech and language disorder, but possible adhd/add) i used a musical potty for him and he took to it right away, my elest boy was 3 and a half and had no interest in using the toilet/potty, as with all kids it takes time.

You know what your son likes and dislikes and use that to guide you. some kids without any issues are 4 before they are fully trained.

V1llianous

My little fella was non-verbal and diagnosed at 3 and we tried to stop potty training as everything we read was that not to start unless they could say what they needed to do, even with one word.

We left it a little bit and in all honesty he trained himself. We just noticed him toddling off to the toilet every so often on his own and that was it. The only ongoing issues we have with him is weeing in the garden as he can get back to play quicker (can't fault the logic ) and if he is sick he can soil himself but these incidents are few and far between.

Our other fella a 3 year old, who has no signs of any delays is a trickier matter, he is very stubborn and keeps on having accidents cos it isn't convenient when he has to go (ie he's watching a program and won't bother). We struggled to get him to sit on the toilet - big fear factor as he is small for his age. It sounds weird but the easiest way we found for this was an open door policy - we leave the bathroom door unlocked if we need to go. He often followed in and chatted to us while we were busy. He also climbs up and sits on our laps if we are sitting on the toilet - not in use while overseeing bath time and his anxiety seems to be lessening.

It may be worth trying plastering posters or pictures of his favourite tv show / film around the bathroom. Bathrooms can be very functional and have nothing to keep the interest which can be an issue if you are trying to get someone with autism to stay there for more than 20 seconds.
Good luck with it.

Lady Chatterton

OP - My cousin has a child with autism too, she used the following book to toilet train her son.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toilet-Training-Individuals-Autism-Developmental/dp/1932565493/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1318787743&sr=8-4

She also used visual schedules, the early intervention team should be able to help you put a visual schedule together. Good Luck