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Potty Training Children with Autism: The Naked Truth
By Nicole Mytels
The most effective method of potty training for our five year-old son was just to let him run around the house naked. At first, he peed on the floor, which wasn’t a joy to clean up, but we got some PetZyme and some Urine-Be-Gone and we were good to go.
But then, our little piddler began to notice the obvious, that he was in fact producing urine. Also, he noticed that he was in charge of his own pee. And he noticed that he could direct his pee and put it in cool places. He began peeing in the trash, in his dump truck, in the dog’s water bowl, and in the kiddie pool on our patio.
He kind of liked the sound the pee made when it hit a body of water.
After several weeks of random targeting, he began to pee in the toilet. Spontaneously. He would even flush afterwards. These were truly pit stops as he would run full speed into the bathroom, pee, and rush out again. Of course, every time he pees in the potty we tell him how wonderful he is. Lately, he’s been rushing to the bathroom first thing in the morning, just like the rest of us. The sound is music to our ears.
We’ve been doing what I think the experts refer to as “backwards chaining,” basically going about everything backwards. We’ve added a shirt, and our kiddo still pees in the potty. Great! We’ve added loose shorts. Great! He’s pulling those down and going, but... he doesn’t always put them back on.
Underwear is going to be the big problem. Unfortunately, our son thinks underwear is a synonym for “private time.” Also, he likes to wear everyone’s underwear except his own. I’ve had to hide the family underwear to protect it from impromptu fashion shows. Why don’t we try boxer shorts? He scoffs at boxer shorts.
We continue our potty training journey. Notice I didn’t even broach the subject of the dreaded #2. That’s a completely separate universe of an issue. For now, our boy rushes to don his diaper when he has to go poo. (If you have any tips or tricks, please share!)
Also, we haven’t delved much into public restrooms other than for hand washing and some random flushing. If your child has a fascination with water, use that to your advantage!
The most effective method of potty training for our five year-old son was just to let him run around the house naked. At first, he peed on the floor, which wasn’t a joy to clean up, but we got some PetZyme and some Urine-Be-Gone and we were good to go.
But then, our little piddler began to notice the obvious, that he was in fact producing urine. Also, he noticed that he was in charge of his own pee. And he noticed that he could direct his pee and put it in cool places. He began peeing in the trash, in his dump truck, in the dog’s water bowl, and in the kiddie pool on our patio.
He kind of liked the sound the pee made when it hit a body of water.
After several weeks of random targeting, he began to pee in the toilet. Spontaneously. He would even flush afterwards. These were truly pit stops as he would run full speed into the bathroom, pee, and rush out again. Of course, every time he pees in the potty we tell him how wonderful he is. Lately, he’s been rushing to the bathroom first thing in the morning, just like the rest of us. The sound is music to our ears.
We’ve been doing what I think the experts refer to as “backwards chaining,” basically going about everything backwards. We’ve added a shirt, and our kiddo still pees in the potty. Great! We’ve added loose shorts. Great! He’s pulling those down and going, but... he doesn’t always put them back on.
Underwear is going to be the big problem. Unfortunately, our son thinks underwear is a synonym for “private time.” Also, he likes to wear everyone’s underwear except his own. I’ve had to hide the family underwear to protect it from impromptu fashion shows. Why don’t we try boxer shorts? He scoffs at boxer shorts.
We continue our potty training journey. Notice I didn’t even broach the subject of the dreaded #2. That’s a completely separate universe of an issue. For now, our boy rushes to don his diaper when he has to go poo. (If you have any tips or tricks, please share!)
Also, we haven’t delved much into public restrooms other than for hand washing and some random flushing. If your child has a fascination with water, use that to your advantage!
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