Potty Training

Well, I think we are almost there!  We started potty training with Jack last weekend, Saturday, June 1st.  He needs to be potty trained for his school in the fall and he just seemed ready.  Multiple times, he took off his diaper at nap - clearly a sign he was ready to be done with diapers.  One positive of autism (there are not many, so I like to highlight one if it ever occurs), the therapists did most of the potty training!  And, it was not fun.  Rebecca was here Saturday and Sunday, along with another therapist for each shift.  And then, the therapists continued to work on it during the week.  On Wednesday, I was starting to get nervous.  Jack did not really have many accidents, but he could hold his pee for a long time.  He was scared to pee on the potty and one time literally sat on the potty for 3 hours!  He would cry whenever he was on the potty and actually needed to pee because he was scared.  It was so sad for me to watch and listen to, but I knew we had to push through.  I was also worried he was going to spend the entire summer sitting on the potty.  But luckily, he must have sensed my concern, and on Thursday we turned a huge corner.  He figured out it is not that scary to pee on the potty.  In fact, he likes to watch himself do it and is very proud afterwards.  He also likes to flush and say "bye bye tee tee".  And since then, he sits on the potty and goes within a minute (much better than the 3 hour stand off).  He is not quite initiating that he needs to go, but he will say yes when asked and he will pee when he sits on the potty!  Yahoo!!!  We still need to work on pooping in the potty, but that will come and I am not too worried.  This is one of those things that takes a huge unconscious weight off my shoulders.  When he was initially diagnosed, one of my first questions was would he ever be potty trained?  I have worked with families with big kids who are still in diapers and that was really something I was hoping to avoid.  So, now that he is successfully peeing in the potty, I feel even more confident that he is going to be okay.  And the more confident I am that he will be okay, the more likely it is that I will be okay.