Potty Training and ASD

[Anonymous]

Any tips for potty training a very stubborn, verbal autistic kid (about to turn 4)? He knows how it works and will use the potty at home 2-3 times a day, but if he's not in a good mood or gets really into what he's doing, he's fine with just wetting his pants. We haven't been able to figure out a good motivator for him to use the bathroom. Further, he's really scared of public bathrooms, so that's a whole different game we haven't forced yet. We are starting soon with ABA and hopefully that will help. Any advice appreciated!

[Anonymous]

Does he go to daycare? Peer pressure was what finally worked for my kid.

[Anonymous]

I’m so sorry. My ASD kid and I barely survived the experience. No advice, but I feel for you.

[Anonymous]

You really have to take him on a consistent schedule. Have him sit for 5 minutes or until he goes. If he doesn’t go you try sitting again in 5-10 minutes. If he does go you can wait 30 minutes before trying again. Really push liquids.

It’s a ton of work but just really about time and effort and consistency. ABA can help with this as you’ll need to identify reinforcers and ways to help him sit. I’ve toilet trained about 50 kids with autism, both verbal and non verbal, and it always goes back to consistency. It takes a lot of time in the beginning you just can’t get frustrated. You basically feel like you’re living in the bathroom for awhile but it does get easier as they learn and you can space out time between bathroom opportunities.