how do you get an child with autism to sit still and be pottytrained?he is 8 years old.?

Question

my son is 8 and i need some help he is on the go all day playing with belts and he loves to unplugg everything.

Answer 1

http://www.autismtoilettraining.com
I have not looked at the site myself, but it came up on an ad for something else I was looking at, hopefully it will help! I had my autistic son completely out of diapers by the time he was 27 months old, but your situation is more normal with autism. It just happened that Tim was oversensitive to sensory input, so he HATED wearing wet underwear. I don't know how much of this will apply to you, but I'll tell you what I did anyway. Everyone on here that said to be really consistent with a reward system is right on target, that's about the only way to get through an autistic brain, and the sillier you are, the better! Find a treat that he really likes and by a bag, and only use it for potty training, no other time. Skittles was what we used. He got three skittles for sitting on the toilet and I spaced them out so that he was sitting for about five minutes. NO pullups or diapers during the day at home, only underwear, and I ran water in the sink while he was sitting. If he actually did something, he got another skittle, and we made a huge deal out of it! Then, he got one sticker put on a chart for sitting and one for going. If he doesn't go,then he still gets SOMETHING just for cooperating with you. I took him as soon as he woke up and every hour after that, and I asked him all through the day if he had to go. That's all you can really do, unless the link I sent you to has other ideas. Hope this helps! I do my own therapy with him, he's never seen a professional, and he is doing WONDERFULLY. I will be homeschooling him, and we're officially starting pre-school next month. We spent last year just working out behavior problems so that we could focus on academics this year. Contact me if you just need to vent!

Answer 2

I have a 12 yo son with autism, and he wasn't potty trained until he was 5 1/2 (and still has accidents at night). It took us a major reward system set up for him to become toilet trained during the day. Remember, with spectrum kiddos, the reward has to be immediate! That was what worked for us, however, your doctor may be able to give other suggestions. Make sure your doctor has some autism specific training however, otherwise they're probably even more clueless than you are. Hopefully your son is receiving special ed services as well, and has a good IEP if you're in the USA.

BTW, some of the "phases" we went through with our son have been the unplugging phase (and leaving the cords all over the house like little snakes), the blinking lights on and off phase (our house looked like a strobe display from the outside), and the blue car phase--he was facinated by blue cars--we even wound up trading in a 2 year old car so we could get a blue one just to pacify him. The best therapy for mom is usually laughter, you've just got to laugh at some of the stuff they do. Good luck!

Answer 3

1)Get some professional help. Don't try to do this all by yourself. Even if you did manage to get past this hurdle, there will be another ahead.
2) Start by reading the "me" book by Ivar Lovaas. It's real title is something like teaching developmentally disabled chilfren, but everyone calls it the me book.

Does he ever wake up dry? I mean in the morning if you get him up a little early could he be dry still? If so, then get him up and to the toilet. Reward him for sitting. Reward him for going. Set up a schedule and have him sit every hour. You can try pouring barely warm(not hot) water on his penis to see if that gets him going. Now when he does go in the potty, It is extremely important that your get silly with the praise. Go overboard. This really is something to celebrate so don't hold back. Give him a ton of "possitive reinforcement" He needs to be able to see that something is missing when he has an accident. I would not initially use negative consequences other than to just let him see that you think it is gross. Hope this helps

PS: pray a lot

Answer 4

I worked in a classroom with autistic children several years ago. They successfully potty trained a couple children. They would put the child on the potty for short intervals at a time, then let the up for the same amount of time. It was an all day thing. If the child "went" during the time they were on the potty, they were rewarded with their favorite thing for a short period of time. Each sit session would get a little longer, and eventually, the child got it. One child only took 2 days to figure it out, another took a little longer, the third, well, I don't think they were as successful, but it might work for you. You could let him unplug something for his reward!! Good luck

Answer 5

I paintings in a School and spent two years as an aide for an autistic boy. Yes, they do like workouts, they don't like loud noises or noisy areas, they're spacey from time to time they usually do be trained otherwise than different youngsters. But so much autistic youngsters excel in no less than one field, the boy I labored with it used to be math. He used had jestures while he obtained worried walked the equal option to get areas, and had a tough time socializing with different children. My great suggest is to have the institution he attends placed him by way of the checking out. All public faculties have a method of handling distinct demands youngsters they usually could have the assets to support you. Good Luck!!!

Answer 6

Give him some crayons and sit him backward on the potty at short periods of time to go potty. See a professional on autism too. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/autismsupportgroup/message/25

Check out this site, it's a support group and the message on this link is about what you are looking for. My youngest son and I have Aspergers. He is four and potty training is a huge challenge.

Answer 7

Now you know having a kid for 8yrs that is autistic you almost can never get them to stay still for long.

I would suggest to put a T.V in the restroom in front of the toilet (with a child cover over the plug) and make sure it get his/her fav show and have it on while you are trying to potty train.

Or get a rack with belt on it and hang them. Let him mess with them while he is on the potty.

Answer 8

Depending on the severity of his autism, he may never be able to potty train. With one of my clients, I gave him his favorite doll and sat him on the toilet every hour. It was pretty much hit or miss ( no pun intended). Talk to his therapists and see if they have a better alternative. Good luck!

Answer 9

Please get in touch with your local Autism group. You son should be getting special education and training. You also need to learn techniques and the training to be able to help and assist you son. Start with your doctor and get all the information you can get. He should be able to direct you to local agencies. Don't delay.

Answer 10

Talk to a mental health profession that specializes in autism. They will have the best advice for you. Best of luck to you!