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Training a child with PDD (autistic spectrum)
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Training a child with PDD (autistic spectrum)

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Last Post Sep 19, 2009 1:22 AM by: QueenJyl
QueenJyl
 
QueenJyl
Posts: 6
From: Somewhere in California :)
Registered: 9/19/09

Re: Training a child with PDD (autistic spectrum)

Sep 19, 2009 1:22 AM
Relax! I have a Late Talking Child( almost 3) and a 16 year old. The eldest potty trained by watching others (myself and girls at preschool). You might want to take a break from potty training and see if by letting her control whether she uses a diaper or puts a pull up on gives her the control that she needs internally to train. What I did with my eldest was to take her to Walmart and make a big deal about buying the big girl undies. Then I put them on over the diaper. I let her decide when to change from the diapers to pull ups and then when to start wearing the pretty panties. I know that rituals are a part of PDD. I was a Late Talking Child and my mom said that I pretty much decided when I wanted to wear panties when I was about 4 or so, because I saw my sister wearing them. With Autism/PDD and Late Talkers, the one thing to remember is control. If a child feels out of control, the rituals increase. Maybe you need to just give your child more control over her body and this will allieviate the need for stool softeners and will allow her to feel the control of her body. Put yourself in her position and think about how you can empower her to succeed. Get off the timetable of others and get on her wavelength. Just a thought. I hope it helped. :)
nevergoingtopottytrain
 
nevergoingtopottytrain
Posts: 9
Registered: 6/23/09

Training a child with PDD (autistic spectrum)

Jun 23, 2009 4:05 PM
My daughter is going on 4 and doesn't even show any readiness to potty train. I tried when she turned 3. I tried again after Christmas. I even tried putting a DVD player on the back of the toilet and having her sit backward (only way to keep her sitting on the toilet) and still can't get her to know when she needs to go #1 and she refuses to sit on the potty to do #2. Actually she doesn't want to do #2 and her pediatrician has her on miralax (stool softener) for a few months because she was holding it in so much she was getting constipation. She also doesn't know when she needs to go #1. She wakes up from sleep totally wet and she wakes up from her nap totally wet. She also can't seem to stay dry more than 2 hours at a stretch. And her speech/language is well over a year behind.

So how do I potty train? Someone suggested I hire someone to do applied behavioral analysis therapy and do potty training that way, except there is NO way I can afford that. What can I do to potty train my daughter? She does talk. She does interact with people. But the whole toileting thing is just well freaking her out. Is she going to be 4 and still not potty trained? Is she going to be 5 or 6 and still not potty trained? Is she going to be 18 and not potty trained?

I've tried rewards. I've tried a lot of techniques. We use the pull ups. We tried putting underwear underneath the pullups so she'd feel all wet but not stain the carpets. We tried having her go potty on the toilet wearing her pullups (cutting a hole out for her to go) so she wouldn't feel too strangely different from the normal.

And then I'm dealing with a girl who has OCD tendencies (commong for autistic spectrum disorders)... so when she sits on the toilet, she fights to do this whole ritual thing with getting off, tearing off a certain number of toilet paper squares, flushing them, sitting back on the toilet, then getting off, getting back on, and doing these wierd ritual things. I think she's stressed out so she's doing the ritualistic behavior to make her seem like she has more control over the situation.

HOW on earth am I going to potty train her? At least without spending thousands of dollars with trained therapists coming to our house. *sigh*