Highlights of Potty Training.

[Guest guest]

Just a brief outline of Potty Trainning Highlights.

Section A. For beginners.

Section B. For parents who have tried training and need more help.

Section C 1. Helpful resources of videos and books (for young children and beginners).

Section C2. Book on specific toilet training help for children with autism.

A. For beginners;

1. Both parent and child need to be ready for the endeavor.

For the parent to feel ready:

Usually a parent feels ready when there is support from somewhere on the issue. This is a stressful job and you know it. Getting help with toilet training will provide you with some confidence. If you have confidence, your child will feel more secure about the process.

Knowing when the child is ready is when they show some kind of interest in the potty.

To facilitate an interest:

For children with Moderate to high function: You can facilitate an interest by allowing the child to lift the lid on the seat and also flush the toilet. Have them sit on toilet for as long as they want. This may be half a second for some. But each time give them a reward for sitting. Make them feel good about their achievement for sitting even for only a tenth of a second the first time. Oh..my goodness you sat on the potty! Yea...can you do it again, just a wee bit longer....Yea...good for you! Some will want to get on and off over and over again, if this happens, this is good to start with. Next you could try having them sit and sing a short song sitting. Or what I did with my son is let's count my 5 fingers long. In a singsong voice sing 1,2,3,4,5! Yea you sat for 5 fingers! Good sitting! My son enjoyed my attention as he sat on the toilet. We eventually started singing songs together, of course, you will need to transfer this attention outside of potty training so they wont depend on that togetherness time; as time goes on.

For a "young" child with moderate to high function, the best way to get your child interested is to not pressure them into using the toilet. Just be casual and talk about it in a singsongy pleasant voice. This will allow them to "not" feel pressured or criticized.

Section B:

For older children and children who have been in training for a while and not progressing you can contact our ABA consultant. Kim is our own ABA consultant that will be very happy to correspond with you about this. Her e-mail is: behavioranalyst@... See also, the special chat we with her. Write to me and I'll send a copy to you: n: DMHelmick1@...

Section C 1.

Here are some encouraging videos or books you could try; see section C 2 for The Autism training book:

Some of these may be at your local library or check Amazon.com or your favorite organization to order.

Now I can potty! [videorecording] / Kids in Daily Situations, Inc. ; video production, Gemini Productions, Inc. ; executive producer/director, s.

Descript 1 videocassette (22 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in. + 1 parents guide and songbook

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Author el, Alona

Title Once upon a potty : [sound recording] for boys / for girls. Pub info New York : Harper, p1999. Descript 1 sound cassette (ca. 25 min.) + 1 book

They also have video recordings and books for this story by another publishers.

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Author Genechten, Guido van. Title Potty time / by Guido van Genechten. Pub info New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2000, Descript 1 v. (unpaged) : col. ill. ; 30 cm.

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Title One year through toddlerhood [videorecording] created & hosted by T. Berry Brazelton. Pub info New York : GoodTimes Home Video [distributor], c1991. Descript 1 videocassette (ca. 50 min.) : sd., col. ; 1/2 in

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Section C 2.

Author Wheeler,

Title Toilet training for individuals with autism & related disorders : a comprehensive guide for parents & teachers / Wheeler. Pub info Arlington, TX : Future Horizons, 1998.

Don't forget to write into our list friends, let's all keep and touch, we are here for one another!

My Best,

n

DMHelmick1@...

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