Hi all. DS is 4 yo and autistic. I am trying to potty train him. He totally understands that he has to go, but really cannot give up the diaper. He has held it for 9 hours in the past and just today held it for 9 hours and I finally caved and gave him a diaper. I know i need to be consistent but I'm worried about holding it that long. The last time he held it that long, he just peed in his pants. He has control, but did anyone else have a child who held it and won't go in the toilet? He will sit on it for a few seconds but that is it. I really need to get him trained. Anyone have any ideas?

I recently talked with an OT about my DD who is not potty trained. She recommended the book- Toilet Training for Individuals with Autism or other developmental Issues by Maria Wheeler. You can find it on amazon. I have not had much time to read through it yet but I think the idea is to put them on a schedule. You might want to check it out. HTH and good luck!

Tracey
GGG, 2004

I do have that book, thanks for the suggestion. My son gets something in his head and if I try to show him the picture schedule, he gets mad. However, maybe I should re-try that. Thanks for jogging my memory. Maybe there is something in the book about holding it.

Good luck with your DD!

Have you tried rewarding him? My ds has autism as well, potty training was pretty easy he got it.. but when it comes to # 2 forget about it! up until recently (halloween) when he discovered "candies" he wouldn't even go near the toilet to poop until my dh promised him candies...sure enough he goes everyday and he even makes an announcement to make sure he gets his candies! not the best reward but it works! hth
Ivy
http://dn.daisypath.com/5b6Im

Potty training was so hard with my DD who has autism. I think part of the problem is that she does not like change and getting rid of the pull ups or diapers was change. Also, she has so many sensory issues that the toliet irritated. She hates the sound of a flushing toliet and she always felt like she was going to fall in. I bought one of those little seats that sets on the actual toliet seat to make it smaller. I also bought a ton of those little plastic dinosaurs. DD is obsessed with dinosaurs. Every time she went on the toliet, she got to choose a dinosaur. This really helped. Also, we had the video "Potty Time" and it was really good. Accidents still happen today, but they are usually when she is sick or very tired. I would encourage you to hang in there. It will get better!

Karri
Kolton (14)
Madison (9)
McKayla (9)
Dalton (9)

http://www.education.ucsb.edu/autism/behaviormanuals.html

Here's a linke the the UCSB training manuals. They are great resources that we've used for our oldest child. They have one specifically for toilet training, but I've order all the manuals and found them quite helpful. They're fairly inexpensive, and we need all the advice we can get with these kids, don't we!!!

Good luck!!

Anne