The Dark Side of Autism by Berg-Dallara Angela;

Author:Berg-Dallara, Angela;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781630470814
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing

POTTY TRAINING

When Dominic was two and wasn’t potty trained, it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t that unusual. I could still buy diapers that fit him. Fast forward to seven years old, weighing 65 pounds. Finding diapers (because you want them to be pull-ups) has been a challenge. The only diapers that fit him are the Goodnites® that older kids wear for bedwetting. They come in size XL which is an 8-10 boys size, which actually fit him! The problem with these is that they are very expensive, almost a $1.00 per diaper. You do the math. When you have a child with digestive issues, which most kids with autism have, it’s easy for Dominic to go through 6-10 diapers per day. Even on a good day, the low-end being 6 diapers × $1.00 × 7 days in a week = $42.00 per week in diapers. $42.00 × 4 weeks in a month = $168 per month for diapers. That’s a whopping $2000+ per year. Diapers are an expensive necessity that Dominic can’t do without.

Changing a kid’s diapers at the age of seven, and I’m not going to sugar coat it, is disgusting. Never did I think I would be changing diapers for this long, but Dominic just doesn’t get it, and there’s no light at the end of this subject. It’s a shitty job, but someone has to do it. Next stop—Depends™.

Let me just say for the record that we have tried and tried and tried to potty train Dominic. We continue to try. And, we won’t stop trying. In other words, while you’re reading this book, picture me trying.

Dominic knows where the potty is. We’ve spent enough time in there trying to teach him. But, he has not been able to grasp the concept and figure out when the urge is coming. He can’t correlate the urge with the act. Either that or he is so used to going in his diaper and so adverse to change that he is comfortable only going in his pants. It doesn’t bother him to be wet or soiled. He isn’t even to the point where he will come and tell us after he has gone #1or #2. He doesn’t care. And, it’s impossible to teach a kid who doesn’t care and doesn’t want to change.

The hardest part, for us, is finding a reward to give him that will entice him to go potty on the toilet, not in his diapers. He is not a neuro-typical kid. It’s not as though giving him a treat or a toy is going to motivate him to go potty on the potty. He is severely autistic, remember? Low- functioning. My child happens to not want to or be able to potty train, and it’s something I cannot make him do. It could be attributed to his sensory issues. He doesn’t like the feeling of the cold plastic seat. He laughs uncontrollably when you try to put him on the potty. The sensory issue could also be why he doesn’t understand if he’s wet or soiled.

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