Recommended Books For Potty Training Children w/ Special Needs

Toilet Training in Less Than a Day method by Nathan H. Azrin and Richard M. Foxx was developed when these two psychologists were trying to research toilet training for children with special needs.

In the forward of their book, they talk about how they could successfully toilet train severely developmentally delayed people in 3 days. Here are an excerpt from Toilet Training in Less Than a Day:

"One of the major unsolved problems for the profoundly retarded was toileting; most of them are incapable of toileting themselves even as adults. Our efforts with toilet training of the retarded yielded results as gratifying as teach results for the other activities. We devised a method that was successfully in training about 95 percent of them, and in an average time of only three days, to toilet all by themselves. Forty years of pants wetting and soiling could be ended by a few days of intensive training..."

Toilet Training for Individual with Autism & Related Disorders: A Comprehensive Guide for Parents & Teachers. It have over 200 toilet training tips and more than 40 case examples with solution.

Here are some great tips from Toilet Training for Individual with Autism & Related Disorders:

• Recognize the impact on your family and resources
• Access available resources such as Medicaid or public school non educational monies to assist in offsetting costs of diapers, equipment, respite care, etc.
• Determine if the person is ready for toilet training
• Recognize that time and effort invested in effective toilet training is temporary, with demands decreasing significantly when training is complete.
• Realize the long-term impact of toilet training on the person's independence, resources, interactions and social acceptance.
• Set aside specific amounts of dedicated time for other family members who may feel deprived of attention
• Use stress management techniques to decrease the negative effects of extra demands on time and energy.

The book is written by Maria Wheeler who has her M.Ed and has spent greater than 20 years in the fields of Psychology and Special Education, with an emphasis on Neurobehavioral Disorders, Applied Behavior Analysis and Specific Learning Disabilities.

Ms Wheeler holds Texas teacher certificates/endorsements in Serious Emotional Disturbance and Autism, Special Education and Psychology. She is nationally recognized speaker and trainer in the fields of autism, behavior and learning disorders and effective discipline.

For more information and products, please see our Special Needs Potty Training section.