it's 'national autism week'...

No kidding. Me, too. I can't imagine dealing with potty-training issues when children are school aged, unless there's some physical/physiological problem. Parenting is a tough job, anyway, but we apparently have some of the best, most admirable of parents on here.

 

Yes. Daughter is not special needs, just a typical 3-year-old, which is just a different type of challenge. My days are never boring. The school is being a little harsh, especially since there was no warning, but we’ll show them!

She’s doing really well so far. #fingerscrossed

 

It's not really hard to imagine how to deal with. He shits, you clean it up, you put on a fresh diaper. It's not like there's a lot of other options.

 

I wasn't talking about changing diapers, really.

 

Single parents are America’s real heroes.

 

Do your best today, everyone. Good luck.

 

Away from home and missing my boys.

For the parents of special needs kids...

My autistic son is 11 and in Grade 6. He's verbal and understanding of lots of things, so I know we have it easier than many of you, but he's often been tricky at school, especially with transitions. This year started really badly, but he's turned it around and is having his best year ever. Maybe one or two big meltdowns and nothing like those weekly terrible, heart-sinking calls from school that he's having a "bad day." He's getting older and that helps, obviously, and he has a great teacher this year. But one thing that's working for us that you might want to try:

He is awarded "stars" every day for good behaviour—like, an easy transition between subjects, or participating in gym class. If his teacher gives him three stars, that's a great day—that's the most he can get. He comes out of school and hollers "three-star day!" and we all cheer. But we also have a system of tangible rewards in place. Like a lot of autistic kids, he started out train crazy, and now is Lego crazy. For every five three-star days, he gets a Lego mini figurine. (He got one yesterday, which is why I'm thinking about this.) For every 20, he gets a small Lego set. And for every 50, he gets a big one. He can understand the system, and his love for Lego, which is intense, seems to supersede his less desirable instincts. I have no doubt that it's having a huge effect. He's racking up three-star days like a champ, and it's been months since we've had a serious incident. I sometimes find myself wishing we'd started this years ago.

It might not work for every kid, but it might work for yours. I've never been so happy to go bankrupt at the Lego store.

 

Good luck. I echo those who believe it's a little harsh to threaten to evict a 3-year-old who isn't potty-trained. Mine didn't get it until her 3s (believe she was three and three months, FWIW). But after a rough, tantrum-filled first day, she took to it quickly. Hopefully the story is the same for you.

 

Doing our best again today. Let's find our encouragements where we can.

 

Here we go.

 

Have a great Sunday.

 

I heard a story yesterday that made me think of this thread. A buddy of mine has a young son who is autistic. The place they took him to get his hair cut just told them he can't come back. In fact, they gave up halfway through his most recent attempt at a cut. Of course, I wasn't there and I'm sure the kid was giving them all kind of trouble, but that's still has to leave everybody feeling terrible.