Potty Training an Autistic Boy

My son was just diagnosed on the spectrum, and he was trained by the preschool by 3.5 years old. I was actually intimidated by potty training, but the KinderCare near my home did a great job. He saw the other kids going, we implemented pullups during the day to practice pulling pants up/down, then progressed to daytime underwear. Now we just do nightime pullups and he's fully day trained. He's 4.5 and has been day trained for a year.

Don't rush - boys usually are slower at it even without the autism issue. See what happens with the peer modeling - it may make all the difference. Good luck!

Does he have a restricted interest? Luckily for me, during potty training my son's restricted interest was the toilet!!! It got to be a huge problem though with many temper tantrums in stores that I wouldn't let him check out the potty, etc. But that's another story.

My son always has a RI. Ceiling fans, vacuum cleaners, the color blue, toilets. Thankfully right now it's anatomy, which is more fun to teach and talk about. Where I am going with this is that obviously there are times I have to restrict his RI to keep him from perseverating on it non stop. He will do anything to get it. It's been great as a reinforcement and also as a teaching tool.

Be creative Mama!!! There has to be SOMETHING that he is willing to work for. Also, perhaps part of his problem may be sensory related. Find out if that is part of it. Warm butt on a cold seat?

Don't know how helpful this was, but want to wish you the best of luck and I'm sure other Mamas will have GREAT ideas!!!

My son is not Autistic (although being tested at Children's Mercy monday for some sensory issues) but when he potty trained he learned to go standing up first. Perhaps your son will enjoy seeing it stream in and then flushing it down? Of course, sometimes you have to sit down but that can come a little later.

Mine learned a lot from watching other children at school, his friends on play dates and of course, us parents. We did not start training until two months after he was 3 and by that time he had seen a lot of kids using the potty.

I think mine was helped by us having pets, too, b/c he was used to seeing them pee/poop and talking about it, what was happening and how he does in inside when they are outside. In fact, he's fascinated by it and has to see the dog doo every time before I clean it up. Ugh.

Good luck!

My autistic son who is almost 5 while not potty trained does use the toilet. We use pullups at school and of course school works with him, he's in a program similar to your son. I can relate to the game issue and what we've done is read books and watch a show on my phone for positive reinforcement while remaining seated. We have found that some children(not mine, we did this over this past summer break)can be trained during an extended break or summer vacation you just must dedicate yourself to spending lots of time in the bathroom. I realize you don't want to spend hours doing this but as I'm sure you know it's going to take a bit, but if your son is motivated by others definitely expose him to that. For an autistic child 3 years old is still quite young especially if he has sensory issues as well. Be proud of any strides he does make towards using the toilet and try not to let it be a huge stressing point for either of you. Wish you the best. :)