This website (previously ASDinfoWales) belongs to and is run by the National Autism Team, which is funded by Welsh Government. It is one of the resources which helps the Team achieve their aim to improve the lives of autistic people in Wales.

Toileting with Autistic Children

When toilet/potty training an autistic child, additional structure and visual cues will be needed along with a potentially non-social reward.

Autistic children prefer routines, they will reassure them and let them predict what is expected of them. To create a routine for toilet/potty training you will need to use a phrase or signal that indicates the child needs to use the toilet or potty – this should be the same phrase that is used by everyone that is involved with toilet/potty training your child. This could be a signal card, with a picture of a potty on it for example or just choose a phrase (be careful to choose one everyone will be happy to use) such as ‘potty time’ or ‘toilet time’.

There will be lots of accidents, don’t scold the child or pay too much attention to the accident. Clean up, be positive and try again.

As soon as the child does a pee or poo on the toilet/potty, reward them. For some children, this can be social praise such as ‘well done’ or putting a star on the chart. However, many autistic children do not respond to this sort of reward and you may need to use a physical reward such as a short activity that they enjoy.

As successes and rewards increase, the child will learn what is expected of them. For those children who are able to communicate, they will begin to tell you or signal that they need to use toilet/potty. For other children, you may need to continue with a routine of encouraging the child to use the toilet/potty at regular times until they are able to communicate their needs to you.

Using a picture planner is quite important, the same picture planner should be used in all situations. Pictures or images should be printed to visually represent the order of events. Planners should be kept near the toilet/potty where the child can easily see them. An example of this follows on the next page.

You can create and download a picture planner for toilet/potty training for free here: Childrens picture cards – Autism Wales