This is one of the posts that I have been writing in my head for a very long time. It's a tough one to start. This is one of the those posts that Shea will be mad at me about in 10 years.
Potty training was one of my concerns I brought up when we took Shea to UW CHDD last spring. I was looking for any ideas, support, tips, direction on helping with this. Because, you see, Shea still has very little interest and he is 4 1/2. He isn't inspired by "big boy pants" and doesn't find sitting on the potty all that life affirming. He seems fine with mom or dad taking care of the mess, thank you very much.
Due to his language difficulties, he never really had a word for potty and has never expressed himself when potty was happening. Sure, he hunkers down when he is working on the business of poo but that is a "during" sort of thing. Probably too late at that point.
And, then the food allergy issue comes up again. Because we have been struggling with his allergies and food issues, he isn't necessarily very "regular". So, there is that difficulty too. Although, we have been known to bribe with M&Ms. At least he can eat chocolate.
All the specialists say, "Oh...boys...he isn't ready...don't push too hard." Good advise, so we don't but he sure seems happy to continue on as we are. Meanwhile, we are REALLY ready to let it go.
CHDD did hook us up with some direction the TEACH method for potty training used for autistic children. Even though, nobody seems to think Shea is autistic because of his non-verbal language issues, they suggested this method as a good one to try. It breaks down the process into many little steps where direction, support and reward can happen at each step.
The Developmental Preschool is helping and we have included potty training in Shea's IEP. I didn't even realize we could do that but Bubble lady suggested it. She said she has had several kids include it in their IEP therefore the school must work on it with the child. Although, Shea's at school only a few hours a week, it did make us feel more supported and that we weren't all on our own on this one. Although, we are still have a long way to go.
So, I wish I had more supportive suggestions but I don't. In fact, I hope someone has suggestions for me.
1 comment:
I wish I had some advice for you, it must be so frustrating! I have heard many stories about how food allergies can play a role in the child's bladder control and also frequency.
I do belong to a Yahoo group that has been very helpful in connecting to other families with food restrictions and learning from them. They may have helpful advice for you-I mostly lurk and learn so much! If you google "yahoo groups" and then Food Lab.
I hope that will be helpful!
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