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Autism & potty training - help

2igloo April 8, 2013 19:00
Hi.I wondered if anyone has any advice for me. I''m trying to potty train my son who has ASD. I''ve read lots on the Internet but I would like advice from someone who understands adopted children as well as autistic children, he is 5 and not dry day or night, can''t tell me when he needs to go (apart from occasionally when he needs a poo) isn''t bothered by a wet nappy or sleeping in a soaking bed. Any advice or things thy worked for you.
Edited 17/02/2021
Monkey Magic April 8, 2013 20:20
Hi 2iglooMy LO doesn't have an ASD diagnosis (yet) but she displays some traits.She's 5 and has been dry during the day for about 6 months. It took almost a year but I'm afraid that I can't put my finger on what nailed it so am probably not much help.I would say to keep at it and not give up. The ERIC helpline suggested at one point that we gave it a break but we persevered and got there in the end.The advice is usually to ensure that the child drinks enough but in our case (LO has issues with food and drink) we found that LO was helping herself and over-drinking at nursery which didn't help.I bought a portable potty with bags in and carried it everywhere with us.Pull ups didn't work for us as LO appeared to enjoy sitting in a wet nappy. We still have problems with her wetting her pants and not telling anyone. You can get free nappies via your HV if your child is over 4 (in this area).She's not dry at night and we've decided to leave trying that for a while.MMx
Edited 17/02/2021
Dusty April 12, 2013 23:12
Have you tried contacting ERIC for advice as they provide leaflets. They used to have a lady called June Rodgers from promocon who you could arrange a chat with over the phone and she was brilliant for us. Also hoping that your local authority provides you with free pull ups or nappies and wondering if their continence advisor or nurse can help.
Edited 17/02/2021
milly1 April 16, 2013 20:57
Hi, its osme time ago now but when Pumpkin came to us she showed some autistic behaviour, she was 3 yr 4mth. We waited for about 6mths before attempting to toilet train but here is what we did and it worked.We didnt bother with the potty as the first time we sat her on it she screamed blue murder.We bought one of the kiddies toilet seats that sit on top of a regular toilet seat. We also gave a few smarties as rewards when she made it to the loo on time.DAY 1 and 2...We set an electronic timer to go off every half hour and every time it went off we sat her on the loo, she started to think this was fun and when the alarm went off she ran to the bathroom. These two days she wore pull ups.DAY 3...We set the timer to every hour and did the same, again with pull ups on.DAY 4...As day 3 but with "big girls pants" on. She had a couple of accidents and hated the feeling of being wet.DAY 5/6/7...No timer just kept asking her at regular intervals if she needed a wee, by day 7 she was telling us when she needed the loo.She generally used to do a poo at night in her nappy but by day 8/9 she started shouting us when she needed a wee or a poo if she was still awake.I'd say that 8 out of 10 mornings she was dry now so she didnt need her pull ups at night for long.Pull ups are fine for the first couple of days but they need to feel wet otherwise they'll not bother too much about it.Try to do it during a few days that you dont have to go out, on the couple of occasions i had to nip to the shops i did have to put her pull ups on but she stayed dry.Good luckmilly1
Edited 17/02/2021
ADOPTER April 17, 2013 14:10
My asd son was similar. Although he was dry at 3.5What I found helped was taking him to the potty when I wanted him to go. I could keep him dry but he didn't recognise the need to go or bother with being wet.To start just concentrate on the days.With asd children they often like what is familiar and not using a nappy is a change in routine. We used a combination of social stories about using a potty, a chocolate button for performing on the potty and taking him every 30minutes.Some find a visual chart about using the potty helpful for asd children so they can follow it.Gradually I left him longer between toilet trips and as he had felt used to being dry when he then had an accident it was not then familiar so didn't like it. He then gradually recognised the need to go. It all took about 8 months so it wasn't quick.The autistic society may have some tips to help as well.
Edited 17/02/2021

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