SPD Support Forum

When my son turned two, we talked about the potty and bought him his own little potty seat, bought the underwear and books and were ready to begin the process. Right off the bat, he balked at the underwear, but we figured that was normal and that he just needed to get used to it. At 3, he was still not making any progress and wouldn't have anything to do with the potty, he would cry and scream and beg to be let off the potty, both of them, his chair, and the regular toilet. We chalked it up to anxiety over something new and kept on encouraging him. Before his 3rd birthday, my youngest child was born, my mother had a disabling stroke and my father passed away all within a few short months so it got put on the back burner even though we kept trying to encourage him. By 4, we realized that he was still having major panic attacks when we tried to put him on the potty or toilet and when he finally did pee in the toilet after much coercing, we rewarded him which only made him that much more upset. By the time he was getting close to 5 and would be starting school, we realized that there was something other than normal anxiety going on with him but we continued to try and the more we promised his favorite things, he refused. I even took away his favorite stuffed animal (which was like cutting off his arm in any other situation), and he didn't care, he said that he didn't want Pooh bear anymore, as long as he didn't have to get on the potty, he was willing to give up the Pooh bear that he had been inseperable from since 1. I consulted the Dr and he started with a Behavioral Therapist who noticed the signs of SPD and possibly Mild ADHD. Has anyone else had this issue with their SPD Child? I am still at a loss as to what to do for him and until the school completes the evaluation and identifies his needs and issues, he is just going day by day with the pull ups and nighttime underwear. He is doing very well in school, he thrives in a structured setting and learning, but he needs an OT like the Psychologist recommended. I feel so alone in this, like I did something wrong, and his previous school Principal acted like I just didn't potty train him. She had no idea what we had went through the last three years to try and potty train him, and I told her that repeatedly but it was just dismissed. He has a Dr's appt tomorrow, but we just don't understand yet what sensory issue it is that is causing him to not be able to do it. If he really doesn't 'feel' the need to go, or what it is about the potty he doesn't like, the feel, the height, or the ability to release.

It has been a while since you posted but hopefully my story can help.

My son has SPD and is now 5. We had very similar issues getting him potty trained.

First we got him to pee in the potty by making it a bubble game and telling him it was time to make bubbles. That was a struggle but it eventually took. However it was a whole different story getting him to poop in the potty. It actually took about 5 months after he was already peeing in the potty regularly for him to poop in the potty.

The trick that worked for pooping was pretty hardcore and pretty nasty but it worked.

We spent a whole weekend not letting him wear anything below his waist. No underwear, diaper, nothing what so ever.

If he pooped and it was not on the potty he was pooping on the floor. After about 4 or 5 times on the floor our son was not happy with himself and started using the potty to go poop.

He has been fully potty trained since about 4 years old now.

None of this was easy. We had to keep trying and not give up. We had to know when to take a break and when to try again. We never forced it on him if we could tell he was getting high anxiety. But it eventually took.