RE: Kids w/ Classic Autism, PDD-NOS & Speech Delays

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Do you know what the program is called? This is just out of my own curiosity.

I have noticed there is such a large social component to potty training (typically), so it would make total sense that the less socially-inclined would need to take a different route.

Good luck on your journey!

Hi, what we're doing is participating in a study (we have to collect data everytime he is taken to the toilet) where a known method - where the child is taken to the toilet six times a day at fixed times - has video modelling added to that method. I couldn't find the program name it is based on, but I found that Autism Speaks recommends the same method of six visits a day.

It's not too bad, we're three days in. No results yet, but he is complying mostly with everything e.g. taking his pants off, sitting on the toilet etc. Lots of prompting and reinforcers are used. He has to sit on the toilet for 10 minutes, and if nothing happens he can get off.

However he has diarrhoea hangover though from being sick earlier in the week (we all got it) and so it's very messy around here and there's a lot of laundry and stuff in buckets soaking..

Day four and he did the first pee in the toilet today! Whether by accident or not I'm not sure, but we made a big fuss about it and gave him lots of treats I'm pretty sure he will be aware that we're very pleased with him.

Glad to hear it! I still have to wipe my son when he does a #2 and sometimes he refuses to use public restrooms forcing us to cut trips short ... but I still don't miss those diapers at all. Good luck.

Awesome news ! !!

My son is at the point where he usually (but not always) holds it in till we bring him to the toilet.

He will sometimes request "I want toilet/potty" when he needs to go.

He even used the bathroom on his own once!

My son who just turned four and is non-verbal has started vomiting on purpose whenever he doesn't get his way or has a meltdown

We have made sure not to ever reward him with what he wanted after he does it but he is just getting worse with it, tonight because we finally said he could not have an inflatable pool in the bed we had to take it and put it outside and lock the door, then I was holdinh him and trying to comfort him and singing to him half asleep when he just turned to me and vomited a large amount.

We have to wash the sheets daily and he is starting to do this in public, whenever he doesn't get to do what he wants no matter how petty. I'm feeling kind of at a loss here because it is just so nasty, he isn't sick either he is able to will himself to vomit.

I would get him checked out by a GI specialist, just to make sure that there is nothing else going on. It is rare for a child at this age to be able to vomit on demand, but not impossible.

Not only should you not be rewarding this behavior but also you should ignore it, to stop repeat performances. I know that is hard but he probably does this because he knows that he can "get to you" in this manner and is being reinforced by your reactions.

If he vomits again, and your doctor has told you that he isn't physically sick, say NO firmly but calmly, clean him up, take him to his room, and shut the door behind you for a time out. It is VERY Important that he does not see that you are upset or angry or sad. Do not yell, do not cry, just change his clothes and put him in his room for time out. This way, he will know that he cannot manipulate you anymore.

My guess is that you (like any normal parent) were / are usually shocked when you see your child throw up, act distressed and show that you are upset. He is being reinforced by your reactions, even if you do not give him what he really wants. So, don't react in his presence, and you should see this behavior fading.

Good luck !

Okay lets see then, some maths.. it's now been nearly a month since this post, not a day off, minimum 6 trials a day, now doing 10, so that must be around 200 trials by now, and he has gone wees on the toilet a grand total of 3 times.

He's getting really good at these steps:

- Put the iPod in Daddys hand and ask to go to the toilet
- Go to the bathroom
- Take down your pants and sit on the toilet
- Stay there for 10 minutes
- Pull up your pants
- Flush the toilet
- Wash your hands
- All finished now
- Wander off and p*ss your pants somewhere in the house

But I'm still married, and things have been fairly hard but haven't actually got worse, which means we can keep at it which is what we'll do I suppose.

On a less yucky note, anyone one in here having much success with your children and literacy?

Me, but that's always been one of his strong points. Having him explain what he just read is another matter.

Reading has always been fine for my daughter, it's the comprehension part that she is having trouble with.

CyberDad, was your child verbal when she learned to read ? I seem to remember you saying that she was hyperlexic ? Any tips on how to find out if a totally pre-verbal child could "read", even without comprehension ? As in, sound out the word ? Thanks !

Mine is also hyperlexic and could read before he made much sense verbally. It's a good sign if they can read and say letters and numbers before they can say more developmentally typical things like Mom and Dad, milk etc. He did have access to a lot of educational material though. When he was still a baby I would try to show him flash cards and read to him, even though he was screaming most of the time (it seemed like he was always screaming or shrieking back then) ... it didn't look like any of it was sinking in, but it turns out it was. He knew all his letters and about 20 numbers before he could/would say "Mom".

My son showed clear signs of hyperlexia around age 22 months, when he could identify every letter in the English alphabet (caps and small) and numbers up to 20. One time I heard someone counting backward from 10 to 1 and assumed it was my daughter who was learning subtraction at the time (they sounded a lot alike back then). Imagine my surprise when I found out that it was my son imitating his sister's counting backwards a few hours ago.

The echolalia, rote counting and ability to identify letters all went away following a MASSIVE regression at age 27 months. He didn't have regressive autism, per se, as he just seemed to stop gaining skills after learning to walk at 13 months, but he lost the numbers & alphabet identification skills that he did have, which was devastating as that was the only way that I could hear his voice. He has also said used words FUNCTIONALLY off and on, but nothing since March of 2013.

Once in a while I will hear "Mom" during a long series of vocal stimming / babbling and that is it. We are working on reading with him but, since he is still pre-verbal, it is really hard to figure out how much of what we read he understands

One day at a time.

Last edited by HisMom on 21 May 2014, 2:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

As I said to HisMom in a PM, my son also regressed massively. Makes me angry to think about it, what he lost, but I have no-one to be angry at.

His words and skills slipped away, and we kept trying to keep them to no avail, my wife described it like trying to hold sand and its slipping between your fingers.