We have been potty training our just turned 3 year old son for 3 weeks. Within a few days he got the process down (pulling pants down, going, pulling pants up, flushing and washing hands) but we are stuck at this point and can't seem to get him to go to the bathroom on his own or tell us when he has to go. With prompting we can sometimes get him to say "I have to go potty", but even then he doesn't always have to truly go. He can hold it a long time. When he has accidents he doesn't care and doesn't mind being wet. Any tips on getting to this next step of him going to bathroom on his own or telling us when he has to go?
It is hard for autistic kids to learn to interpret body signals, so he'll probably need some extra help and time in getting that down pat. In the meantime, you can develop a good routine for taking him to the toilet regularly enough so he's diaper-free.
Here is a link to my potty resources. You'll find articles, sample social stories, even an online game there.
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16098&am p;KW=potty+resources
Good luck with everything.
JJ Dad,
I don't know whether this will work with your boy, but this was what we did. We would have the potty ready in the living room. Our boy would be roaming around the house doing his own thing... but every hour or 2 hours, either me or my wife would take the potty to Daniel and prompt him to piss. He might let out a little bit but at least he learns not to hold it for too long.
Soon enough, after this "urine chasing routine".... he begins to respond to a verbal question, "Do you want to piss?" That's where he will say yes and piss into the potty again.
With time, he then goes to the toilet.... BUT BEWARE !!! That's where another obsessive habit comes in... FLUSHING down the WATER... they get a thrill from the WHOOSSH sound.
All this time, of course, he would not be wearing any diaper. Of course we also tried this at night once he took to the toilet routine. Every night, he'll have his piss but throughout the night, the urine collected would definitely be too much. So what I did was to carry him, every night, maybe 3 am, bring him to piss (his eyes would still be shut, and kinda tricky balancing a sleepy boy on two legs!!) and back to bed. And VOILA!! when he wakes up... NO BED WETTING & NO DIAPER!!! Of course there were many nights when it backfired and we ended up cleaning the bed !!!
All the Best Trying !!! Things should work out eventually....