Expert: Catherine Ridenour - 9/10/2008

Question
Hello, I'm the step mom of a 6 yr old who has high functioning severe autism....He is not yet potty trained.  Dakota attends school (grade 1) full time and is doing well.  His E.A's have started working with him on potty training as we also have here at home.  I'm just wondering if you can give me some advice, tips or suggestions to make this process easier on everyone including Dakota as he has no understanding of potty training whatsoever. I've tried sitting him on the toilet for long periods of time, short periods of time, I've tried talking to him, though he doesn't understand, I've tried showing him when his dad goes to the washroom and still...nothing works....is there a certain way to potty train autistic children ? and is it common for autistic children of the same age as Dakota not to be potty trained ?

Thank You Very Much!

Crystal Mills

Answer
Hi Crystal,

I understand it is very common. In the past, the belief was that most autistics could not be toilet trained so no one even tried. I strongly disagree with that. Pardon the animal reference but, if you can housebreak a puppy, you can toilet train a child, even a willful one or one with disabilities.

Here is the best article I have found about toilet training autistic children on the Internet:

http://groups.msn.com/TheAutismHomePage/toilettraining.msnw

I agree that you need to choose a method and stick with it, figure out the child's natural schedule, be consistent, patient, and avoid punishment. Everyone has to be on board. The child will not progress if one parent/teacher is conscientious and another is lax.

One thing I know for sure is that you have to be more persistent than the child is resistant. This goes for all child-rearing.

Best wishes,
Catherine