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ASD and Potty Training

baylorflamingobaylorflamingo
in Special Needs

We took DS to get his flu shot this week and his Pedi asked if we had started potty training. I said it was absolutely off my radar and he kinda gave me a side eye and said it should be done in the next 6 months, before he starts Preschool at age 3.

Does anyone have any good books, dvds, or words of wisdom for how to introduce the potty and the potty process? DS doesn't know the words for diaper, pee, or poo. He doesn't ask to be changed. And, in his opinion, a toilet is just a perfectly placed and perfectly sized water table for him to splishy splash in when Mommy or Daddy forgets to put the lid down.

Any input is appreciated!!! Thanks :) 

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Re: ASD and Potty Training

  • JenGKJenGK
    We just saw a dev pedi last week, and he did not mention any deadline for PT, or any cocern that DS was not -- and he's 4.  I'm in the same boat, so no suggestions.
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  • MirandaHobbesMirandaHobbes member

    I don't think there's a deadline either. My comments on the subject are further down- this was asked a few days ago. I will say that I was skeptical about training my ASD son because he wasn't really saying pee or poop either- however he proved us wrong and was trained in a few weeks regardless (by the end of the process he was using those words). We didn't start training until he was at least peeing on the potty every once in awhile- then we went all in cold turkey. We started about 6 months before his third birthday, but our NT daycare assured me he was ready, enjoyed going into the potty with the other kids, and was successfully peeing on the potty about 30% of the time.

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  • ksproulksproul member
    I don't have an autistic child but I do however work as an ABA therapist and I must say that we have had lots of success with potty training even for those children that cannot speak. We usually start out taking them every 30 minutes and use tons of positive reinforcement (m&ms, marshmellows, verbal praise, potty dances etc). We start out with having them sit on the potty for just a short song (like twinkle twinkle little star) then praise for sitting. Eventually they go. Sometimes it helps to make the bathroom a relaxing setting (low lights, music playing, dvd player in the bathroom, books, etc). It takes a lot of patience and consistency just like any other child :)
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  • Glendi2.0Glendi2.0
    I'm so not on board with pushing potty training in kids, especially ASD kiddos, according to some arbitrary deadlined (3 yo? WTF?! I know a ton of typical 3-year-olds who aren't potty trained!) We waited 'til DD was almost 4 (she has a PDD-NOS dx), and it was a tiny bit rocky the first few days, but she absolutely mastered it within a couple of weeks... in large part, I believe, because we waited 'til we knew she could succeed.
    A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garrett
    image7_0002 A ~ 2.7.06 S ~ 9.2.07
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  • lite-brightlite-bright member

    We PT'd DD1 mostly pre-dx, so I was blissfully unaware that I should do anything except take DD1's signals that she was ready and use the approach that seemed to fit her personality best. 

    For us, that was long, slow & casual. We got her a small potty around age 2 that she liked to carry around & use almost like a bumbo (clothed). Eventually we started doing practice sessions where she'd sit on it naked before her bath, with the water running as "inspiration", LOL. Very low-key introduction, lots of praise.

    Eventually we added more practice sessions, trying to catch her in the act so that she understood the connection & the goal. We put up a piece of posterboard in the bathroom and she got to choose one kind of sticker for each practice session, and special sparkly stickers if she actually went. We collected a few books about pottying and she could read them while on the potty (which she loved, she'd easily sit there for 30 minutes "reading"). We got a larger child potty that stayed in the bathroom.

    Wen DD2 arrived (DD1 was 27 months), PTing took a back seat for awhile, but then we continued forward progress. M&Ms were great motivation for pooping. 

    I don't remember exactly when we made the jump to underwear only, somewhere around three?  We also introduced a potty-ring and stool instead of her little potty, and finally moved to just the stool and a regular toilet. 

    We did pretty much everything as a gradual transition and some of it was one-step forward, two-steps back, but it worked. She's still not night-trained.  

    image

    DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
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