Hello all,
I am new to this site. I have a 3 year old boy that was recently diagnosed with autism. I am a foster mother and did not know what I was getting into. I usually take in infants, but for some reason they thought I would be the perfect person to care for this sweet little 3 year old. I was told he was hyper....well, I soon found out that it was much more than that. So I took it upon myself to get the appointments moved up from december to last monday for an evaluation. He is a hand full to say the least., he is not potty trained, nor can he feed himself nor dress himself. I have seen some progress since i received him. I taught him to accept all kinds of foods, when he came to me he only ate chicke n nuggets, he now eat everything I put in front of him. He never slept in his toddler bed, it took me days to get him to stay in his bed. I know there is lots of work to be done. I am waiting for the doctor to submit the reports so I can get him in a school. But, I really would like to know how to potty train in asap. Any suggestions?
wow. you have accomplished a
wow. you have accomplished a lot in a short time. if he learned all that, he can be toilet trained. you need a behavior approach and time (3 days to 2 weeks). i am assuming he is in diapers and never tells you when wet or soiled. so first i would watch for clues that he is going or is going to go and try to figure out when he stools/urinates...as best you can not an exact science. Then i'd figure out something he loves (a great reward) that you control. So if he loves chicken nuggets, i'd deprive him of them for 2 weeks, then only give them right after he goes on potty...never any other time (ate least for awhile) That might be a difficult food to use so if he likes chocolate better that might work. make sure the potty is comfortable...the little ones might be better or at least a stool to rest his feet. dont bother teaching standing and urinating yet...just sit. you have to make sitting fun too so maybe if he has a little hand held toy he loves, keep it around for sitting on potty but save the best reward for when he actually gets poop or pee in the potty.
I would have him be in his underwear and maybe even naked just to get him aware of his plumbing when you train him...which may take a week. Give him lots to drink so you can maximize turns for success and practice. If you think he might be due to pee, put him on potty and have him sit until he goes (this is why it is important that he likes to sit). Then have him sit every 20 minutes, if he makes it a few times, go to 30 minutes, etc...until you get to 2 hours. If he starts to pee, hurry get him to the potty so he can finish on there. He needs to get some in the potty or he should sit on potty until he can make more.
Might be good if you work with the school too, they potty train preschoolers if it is a good special needs preschool. make sure home and school programs are similar.
hope that helps. toilet training is so vital independence for these kids.
It might not be possible
It might not be possible this early. I was still in diapers at 7. Some autistics *NEVER* get past this stage, but learn to at least change their own diapers.
The problem with potty training is likely a sensory issue- can he learn to feel when he needs to go before he's actually going? The key to finding that out is the most labor intensive potty training method I know of: Put him on the toilet every 15 minutes, reward him when he actually goes in the toilet. Then move it out to 30. Then 45. Then every hour. You get the picture. Takes several weeks. But at least he'll learn that the toilet isn't scary and that he can go there.
Getting from there to no more accidents though is the hard part; you see, in his brain, this isn't important. But the real thing to recognize here is that autism means he's developmentally delayed- which means he's likely (at age 3 anyway) not developmentally ready to do this. So the most important thing is don't blame him, and don't tell him he can't- because in autistics like myself, we avoid the things we think we can't do. What looks like regression is actually an overreaction to failure.