With everyone - from home to school to outside therapy - participating, we took James to the bathroom hoping to catch him. No luck. James held his urine until either the bath or at night. He held his bowel so long we had to use suppositories. We did this for over a year. It was insane and crazy and STUPID. Luckily, his school hired a new teacher. After a few months, she put a stop to this method. Apparently it works for almost every autistic child. She had seen a child hospitalized as a result of this method and thought that was the path James was heading down. After another year, James was finally comfortable again to go in his pull-up. His teacher takes James to the bathroom only when she takes the boys who can use the toilet. Unfortunately, he usually holds the entire school day and goes at home.
On vacations, we have tried centering the day around the bathroom. Having to stay on the toilet for extended periods of time. In the past, we have also tried having James naked all day. After going ONCE, he then held his urine. For 13 hours. Sure he went on the toilet then but was shaking and sobbing hysterically. Nothing was learned. I, of course, tried this method for the entire vacation. He was hiding from me by the end. The next week, back at school (and in his diaper), James would sob even when he went in his pull-up. Another great association was formed.
I read James a zillion potty books. A great one is "Everybody Poops" by Taro Gomi. It shows how everybody eats so . . . . Great right? He totally generalized (it helps having a mom who explains things left and right, wether he listens or understands or not) and STOPPED DRINKING.
Thankfully he is off suppositories and poops daily. It has helped his mood greatly. Probiotics help. It makes the stool soft so it is easy to pass but not too mushy that I can't dump it in the toilet as demonstration. I have said Bye-Bye to a lot of poop. His diet is monitored and recorded as well. An even balance is extremely important.
So this summer, I went for bathing suits and boxer shorts sans diapers. It worked like a charm after one "accident" in the living room. Then James decided to pee outside. No problem, it's my house, go for it James! I did not pressure. I only talked about the potty. Finally I told him that when he felt like he had to pee, go to the bathroom. Eventually he did! He went and sat on the potty. He didn't pee. Instead he then ran outside and went on the porch. Still I was SO SO happy. He did this two times. We were tooling around town, running errands, diaper-less. No accidents. He'd pee at home. Then one day, he just began marathon holding again. No clue why he stopped. We are back to square one.
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