Autism & potty training

[Laura55]

My daughter is 3y5m, she’ll be going off to reception next year and (I sound like a bad mum, I know) it just hit me!!!
my daughter isn’t potty trained and still has a dummy and a muslin she calls her “blanky”. Says single words and only communicates to let me know what she needs/wants or says full sentences when repeating something from cartoons (she has a great memory and remembers chunks of her favourite shows). Anyway, as I was thinking about reception and primary school and how my daughter will be 4 in December, and how I’ve been judged a lot for the fact that I just don’t seem to figure out how to take these things away from her at her “big” age, I realised I need to get on it and try to figure out how to at least get rid of the nappy, and summer seems to be the right time to do this.
any tips? Tricks? I got her a toilet seat, a small potty and a small pink toilet that has the flush noise. She will stay on it for about 20 seconds without nappy but will get up and do her number 1 or 2 on the floor instead if needed. I tried stickers, but she isn’t interested and she doesn’t really understand most of what I tell her anyway so it’s not like I can explain stuff to her. I tried to sit on it myself and pour in some water (grandma’s idea), she looked and wasn’t impressed, almost called me disgusting 😂
how/when did everyone potty train their autistic kids? Especially the ones that don’t seem to fully understand what you tell them 😢x

[Scratchybaby]

Just going to watch this thread with interest. If it makes you feel any better DS is 4.5 and we still haven't cracked it! I think he understands enough of the concepts, and certainly anticipates, recognises and reacts when he has a no 2 at least, but he's currently dead set on not doing it.

At present our problems are that he refuses to sit on the toilet with the lid up, or sit on it even with the lid down with his nappy off (presumably sensory issues?) He also won't wear pants. He won't wear shorts either, so this again is presumably a sensory issue about expecting all clothing from the waist down to be long trousers. In all, we are currently butting up against a big, immovable wall of "no" and we've got months to go before he starts reception.

No amount of stickers, pants with favourite characters, books about using the toilet (at least none we've found yet) is convincing him this is a thing he wants any part of. He loves flushing the toilet, but he's adamant he doesn't want to use the toilet or wear pants.

Has anyone found any books, videos, games or any approaches that have convinced their DC that potty training is a thing they want to take part in? As is always the case with DS, it seems our hurdle is convincing him this is a good idea (or better yet - his idea!), rather than a complete lack of understanding as to what we're asking of him.

[openupmyeagereyes]

We used the Oh crap potty training method when ds was 3.5ish, having not succeeded in a previous attempt. It worked well for us, though each stage took longer than outlined in the book which was fine. He got wees very quickly but it was a couple of months before he asked to poo in the potty. We also carried a potty around with us in a bag for months when we went out anywhere. He wasn’t reliably dry at night until he was maybe 7, I can’t quite remember. Good luck.

[Scratchybaby]

Thanks @openupmyeagereyes

Hmm, I see it also involves them going commando to start out. We tried this last year and he got quite distressed seeing what happens when he went (i.e. seeing liquid on the floor) so we stopped before we completely put him off. We may need to do some more groundwork before attempting this as I don't think I could even get trousers on him without a nappy. Which may ultimately mean he's still just not ready.

[Icedcoffeeday]

Hi @Laura55 this was us last year, my DS now 4.5 finally transitioned into pants last month! After 2 years of failed attempts, refusal to wear pants, screaming for a nappy. I think what I have learnt with DS is it’s everything in his own time, and if I try and encourage something before he’s ready for this change, I am guaranteed to fail!
Good Luck, but I wouldn’t stress about it, I wish that I had been more relaxed with everything.

[Giselletheunicorn]

Does she respond well to visuals? If so, Google Tom's Toilet Triumph ok YouTube. We tried unsuccessfully to train my son on and off for over a year. He honestly didn't understand what he needed to do. We sat down and watched this video with him 3 or 4 times and he was toilet trained, on an actual toilet, within a weekend. We never even needed the potty in the end.

[Pjmasksonrepeat]

The 'poo goes to Pooland' video on youtube helped my DS and prizes as motivation.