What's the schedule for the Ellen show?

WHATS A GOOD POTTY TRAINING SCHEDULE FOR AUTISTIC CHILD?

• I don't know if the autism has anything to do with it but potty training my now 27 month old has been a challenge especially because she doesn't talk yet and can't tell me when she needs to go. We have started a picture wall so she can show me the picture of a potty etc as a sign. Speech therapy is also teaching her basic sign language. Anyways day 1 and two she peed very well every time I brought her but after that she plays with the toilet paper then wants down. Then will continue to wet her diaper. We did have training panties on her but she kept soiling them. How can I promote potty use and what's a good schedule for the day? *she doesn't talk and won't understand anything except one step commands if that *she would NOT comprehend a reward system (we've tried) Thanks

• Answer:

  Honestly, I would just leave it for now and worry about other areas of development and like any other child, wait for signs of readiness before starting. Keep in mind that the average age for girls to be potty trained is 29 months meaning a full *half* of all girls are not yet potty trained at 29 months. Add autism into the mix and absolutely you need to expect that potty training is just going to happen later than average. If the school is pushing for her to be potty trained tell them to back off. Too often schools push for this so they don't have to deal with diapers, but if she isn't showing signs of being ready she's not ready. Signs of being ready for a child with autism looks very much the same as signs for neurotypical children: dislikes being in wet/soiled diaper, has periods of 2-3 hours of dryness, has regular bowel movements (if you're having digestive issues with your child as many children with autism do, try to make progress on resolving those first), can follow simple instructions, can express basic needs (verbally or with signs) like needing to pee - even if it's only just the one word. When she is truly ready to start, start with any of the normal methods: having her naked from the waist down (if she doesn't have sensory issues that would make that impossible - our daughter preferred to be naked but I do know of many children with autism who hate to be naked), or put her on the toilet on very regular frequencies and load on the praise when she does pee. Remember - "rewards" don't always come in the form of saving up star stickers to go buy a toy, or a food reward, but children especially children with autism do respond to other forms of reward, usually in the form of praise (high-fives, hugs, cheers, tickles). Do explore what it is that motivates your child as some of these things may not be "rewards" (some children with autism do not find hugs rewarding but will tolerate them) and find what actually motivates your child. I've heard of some rather strange motivators out there for children with autism like being able to smell soap. Our daughter has sensory processing issues so deep pressure works really well with her - namely we squish her. Tight hugs, or have her sit on the sofa and we practically sit on her. Work with whatever motivates your child - no matter how silly. :) Are you working with an occupational therapist? They're great help at toilet training too. For our daughter she's a very very visual learner and has a lot of trouble understanding anything that's spoken to her. She can even repeat it back, but she still doesn't understand many times. When we wrote it down and drew out some pictures though it worked brilliantly for us. The OT should have lots of suggestions of what may work, but you need to figure out what works with your child and her style when she's ready.