Toilet Training Disabled Children

If you have a child with a disability, you may feel daunted at the idea of potty training and may believe that due to their disability it will harder for them to learn. For most disabled children, this is not true.

Even children who are quite physically or mentally disadvantaged can learn to use the potty or toilet. Obviously there may be some children who have physical problems that prevent them from being toilet trained, but even children with quite severe spina bifida or cerebral palsy (CP) for example, can learn, given the right support or aids.

Accessibility

The main problem for most disabled children is really one of accessibility to the toilet, and the willingness of professional carers to take the time to take them.

It's often much quicker for a care worker to change a diaper than to take the trouble of taking a child to the potty or toilet, especially if they have several children with different levels of disability to look after. To recognize when each child wants to go to the toilet, help them to undress, get on the toilet, wait and then reverse the procedure requires time and patience.

If a child also has communication difficulties that can compound the problem, so the carer may choose the easy way out. Once you have decided to train, you need to discuss the timing with your child's caregiver as they may prefer you to train your child during the holidays when the child is mostly at home.

Special equipment

You may need to buy special equipment so that your child can access the toilet alone. If the child has physical mobility problems, then sometimes all you need is a guide rail or step installed. Your social worker or disability adviser should be able to help you assess your needs and choose the appropriate equipment or adaptation to help your child.

The older child

You may have seen older disabled children who are not toilet trained, and felt that it was an inevitable consequence of their condition. In many cases the reason the child isn't toilet trained is because no one tried to! Even disabled children as old as 11 or 12 have been successfully trained using a combination of positive reinforcement, assisted technology, behavior modification, medication, dietary changes and sufficient access to a suitable toilet.

When to start potty training a disabled child

Most disabled children, depending on their degree of mobility, can start to be trained at around the normal age of 2-3. However it is important to be guided by their developmental age, rather than their calendar age. They may need to start later, and depending on their disability, take longer to train than the average child. However, if they are showing the usual signs of being ready, then they probably are!

Social integration

Even if your child won't be able to use a toilet without some sort of assistance, it doesn't mean that he doesn't want to fit in with everyone else and be as independent as possible. With your help, he can succeed in passing this milestone.

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