Has anyone studied how to help toilet-train children with ASD?
This week’s answer comes from two of the clinicians who work within our Autism Treatment Network (ATN) and our Health Resources and Services Administration funded Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health (AIR-P). Both helped write the Autism Speaks Toileting Toolkit for parents, which will become available this fall.
Psychologist Terry Katz, PhD, of our Denver ATN Center
Around half of all children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) learn to use the toilet later than other children. In the Autism Speaks ATN/AIR-P Toileting Tool Kit due out this fall, we talk about why your child might have trouble and provide tips for achieving success. Here are some important points:
Toileting Challenges with ASD:
* Physical: Talk with your doctor about medical reasons that may make toileting more difficult for your child. These can include constipation, and kidney, urinary tract, or bladder problems.
* Language: Language delay can make it difficult for a child to ask to use the toilet. Children may need other methods to communicate their needs.
* Fears: Your child may be afraid of sitting on the toilet or hearing it flush.
* Body cues: Some children with autism have difficulty sensing the “need to go” and may not realize that their clothes are wet or soiled.
* Dressing: Can your child easily pull up and down his or her pants? This may need to be addressed.
* Need for sameness: Your child may have developed a habitual way of toileting and, so, may resist doing so “your way.”
* Using different toilets: Your child may have difficulty toileting in new places—such as school vs. home.
Tips for Parents:
Sit for six: Set a goal for six toilet sits per day. Start out slow. First trips may only last 5 seconds. Encourage boys to sit to urinate until they regularly have bowel movements on the toilet.
Don’t ask, tell: Take your child to the toilet and tell them it is time to go. Don’t wait for them to tell you that they need to go.
Stick to a schedule: Take your child to the toilet at the same times each day. Track when they urinate or have bowel movements and use those times if possible. Otherwise plan toilet trips around your usual routine. And think ahead: Take your child to the toilet before he or she starts an activity that will be difficult to interrupt.
Communicate: Use the same simple words, signs, or pictures during each trip. Talk with other people who work with your child. Everyone on the team needs to use the same toileting communication plan.
Reward: Praise your child for trying. Give your child a favorite treat or reward right after going in the toilet. Be matter-of-fact when accidents happen.
Consider comfort: Your child needs to feel safe on the toilet, with feet supported for balance. Also address sensory difficulties your child may have with sounds, smells, lights, or textures in the bathroom.
These are just a few of the ideas we discuss in the forthcoming Autism Speaks ATN/AIR-P Toileting Toolkit.
Please remember: Toileting can be difficult for children with an ASD. One study found that they needed a year and a half of training, on average, to stay dry during the day and more than two years to become bowel trained. So don’t become discouraged. Be consistent. Build routines. Talk with your doctor. And look for the launch of the Autism Speaks ATN/AIR-P Toileting Tool Kit. We’ll keep you posted here in the blog and on the ATN’s Tools You Can Use section of the Autism Speaks science pages.
The Autism Speaks ATN/AIR-P Toileting Tool Kit is the product of on-going activities of the Autism Treatment Network, a funded program of Autism Speaks. It is supported by cooperative agreement UA3 MC 11054 through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), and Maternal and Child Health Research Program (MCHB) to the Massachusetts General Hospital. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the MCHB, HRSA, or HHS.