Can I Have A Bathroom Break, Please..?
It has been a bit since i have written a blog. Our family has had a bit of a hard time recently and it was very difficult for me to think about writing or talking or much else really. I have talked about my own depression and recently did battle with it. To say it was difficult would be an understatement. But today I am fine. Hopefully the issues that are being worked on stay in the past and life gets back to what our new normal is.
One of the things that I think most people do not realize is that toilet training a kid with autism is one of the hardest things a parent has to do. Now I have read about kids who like to play with their feces. spread them on walls, clothes, bedding, pretty much whatever. Fortunately for us, we have not had to deal with that as of yet, but we have been working on toilet training Aidan for what feels like forever. Let me correct this just a bit. Lisa, the teachers at school, and his therapists have been working on this for a very long time. I tend not to work on this personally.
Usually every hour or so someone would bring him to the toilet and he would get a treat if he pees, much like a reward you give the dog for going outside and peeing. During this time of toilet training he does not wear a diaper or pull-up. when training you can imagine how many changes of clothes are necessary. And of course during this training which lasts months, you can't really take him anywhere without a pull up on cause you can never tell where he will decide to just pee. So its like a catch 22. Over the last few months, he has gotten better about peeing in the toilet and he has these little signs you can see if you look. The running to the bathroom, the total out of control kid, the jumping up and down, and the words, "I have to go on the potty." Yes miracles do happen.
Recently I was driving with him, pull up on of course when he became very quite and started bucking up and down in his car seat. I asked what was wrong and he didn't speak. He looked very worried and moaned and cried a bit. I thought perhaps stomach ache. This went on for about 10 minutes or so. At one point I thought perhaps he had the ever explosive diarrhea and was uncomfortable. When we reached our destination and I took him out of the car, same thing happened, jumping around, moaning a bit and when we went inside, first thing he did was run to the bathroom where he stood at the toilet and peed. When he was done he was like a new kid, talking away. Never a more proud moment for me. Now all we have to do is get him to poop on the toilet and I will start to really believe in miracles.
