Learning to use the toilet can be challenging for some children, and grueling for parents, too! But for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), potty training can be especially difficult.
As a parent, you may feel unsure about how to decide if your child with ASD is ready to regularly use the toilet. And you may be especially frustrated if you have unsuccessfully employed strategies and techniques that seem to work for neurotypical children. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy helps transition children with autism into their big kid underwear for good.
GBC Autism Services can help assess your child’s potty training readiness and then work closely with you, your child, and the rest of your family to determine what type of toilet training will be most beneficial.
Children with ASD frequently take longer than neurotypical children to give up their diapers. Here’s why:
- Children with autism often have general developmental delays, which means they are slower to develop some skills.
- They may have trouble understanding and using language, therefore are unable to ask to use the toilet.
- Many children with ASD have difficulty breaking established routines.
- Some children with ASD are afraid or anxious about sitting on a toilet or hearing the flushing sound.
Our Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA) at GBC Autism Services can recognize the signs that your child with ASD is ready to commence toilet training. Here are some cues they look for:
- Can they tell you or show you with a gesture that their diaper is wet or soiled?
- Can they follow a simple instruction, such as “sit on the toilet” and pull their pants down before doing so?
- Do they have regular, formed bowel movements and bladder control to keep their diaper dry for at least an hour at a time during the day?
If you answered “yes” to all of the above questions, your child with autism is probably ready to start learning to use the toilet.
Strategies to toilet train children with autism
While every technique is not going to work for every child, here are some methods that professional BCBAs may employ:
Encouragement and rewards
Praising or rewarding your child after they have completed specific steps will help keep them on track. Before beginning, your child’s BCBA will work with you to determine exactly which actions will garner the reward (for example, at first, they may receive the reward after signaling that they need to use the toilet) and then ascertain which is most effective for your child, such as verbal praise or a favorite food or toy.
Social stories
Your BCBA may create a “social story” to support your child through their toilet training journey. Social stories can be effective for children with ASD because they can prepare the child for what is about to happen, including the sequence of events, an upcoming change in routine, or even help them understand the perspective of others. Potty training stories are personalized to your child, either incorporating characters they love or even acknowledging their fears, such as “the toilet can be loud but I will be ok.”
Put your child in underwear – immediately
When you are ready to start potty training, stop using diapers as soon as possible.
The use of underwear while potty training is one of the most important steps. When your child goes in their diaper, they do not have the opportunity to feel the sensation of being wet. The discomfort of feeling wet when going in underwear encourages children to dislike having accidents while wearing underwear.
Develop a visual guide for potty training
For some children with autism, the use of a visual step-by-step guide can be beneficial in helping them complete tasks. Keep this visual guide in the designated bathroom and review it with your child before each bathroom visit.
Carve out a few days to dedicate to intensive potty training
To start out, potty training should be as intensive as possible. It will require a lot of work on your end, so make sure you are scheduling it during a time that you will be available to run into the bathroom with your child at any moment’s notice. The first 2-3 days will be spent following the toileting schedule the entire day.
Follow a timed schedule for sitting on the potty
To start, have your child sit on the potty every 5 minutes. This gives them plenty of opportunities for success and can minimize accidents. Have your child sit for a total of 1-3 minutes or until they are void in the toilet. For every success in the potty, increase 10-15 minutes between sits. For every accident, decrease 10-15 minutes between sits until you are back down to 5 minutes.
Provide access to preferred drinks
By drinking plenty of liquids throughout the day, your child will have more opportunities to go to the bathroom. To increase the likelihood that your child will drink more, have their preferred drinks readily available to them.
Ensure your child has a way to request to use the bathroom
If your child verbally speaks, have them say the word “potty” or something similar before taking them to the bathroom each time.
If your child uses an alternative communication system (PECS, AAC device, etc.), ensure that you have an image of the potty or bathroom, and have them select this image each time you take them to the bathroom.
Be consistent
Once you start potty training, stick to the schedule.
Do not re-introduce diapers once you have introduced your child to underwear.
Continue to give rewards for each instance of successful bathroom trips until you feel your child is able to continue using the toilet without receiving a reward.
Seek professional help if needed
Potty training a child with or without disabilities can be difficult! If you feel you need support in potty training your child, reach out to an ABA provider for an individualized support plan.
GBC Autism Services; Clinic-Based and In-Home ABA Therapy for Kids with Autism
At GBC Autism Services, we provide ABA therapy to children with autism in the areas of Chicagoland, Peoria, Normal, Rockford, Springfield, Dekalb, and North-West Indiana. Our services include in-home and clinic-based ABA therapy, early intervention services, school consultations, and social skills groups.
The team at GBC doesn’t only focus on the behaviors that might be seen as weaknesses in children with autism. We accept and appreciate each child’s unique abilities and incorporate them into our programming. In fact, we love to learn about each child’s interests and strengths and only look to help them navigate the world better.
