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Hi there! I’m a fellow “au-some” mom (for 20 years) and have worked with young kids in a 1-to-1 setting. First, I’ll tell you a brief story that happened once on the job, then offer a couple other ideas: One day we took the kids to a farm for hippo (horse) therapy. Clearly, the one little girl was petrified of the horses. Each child wished to ride on them except [Lacey]. So I knelt at her level and just quietly told her how sweet and gentle they were. Then I described exactly what it would be like to ride one of them in the “ribbon circle,” and pointed out how happy the the other kids were as they rode. With that, she brightened up and decided to give it a try. Maybe a half hour later, she snuck up behind me and slipped her hand in mine, smiling (although without eye contact)–as if to say, “Thank you for explaining this to me.” I was stunned and excited all at once. My other ideas off the top are: 1) You can create a social story about the day you plan to purchase the puppy. Illustrate exactly what it will be like. It would probably make things even easier to call up the place in advance, explain your child’s condition, and ask them to verbally walk you through the puppy purchasing process prior to your arrival with your child. 2) You could take him to the park to try and have him get used to as many dogs as possible. Maybe do this every day for a week until he’d show a notably higher comfort level. Our son has shown terror in the face of dogs in the past. But I noticed on the summers when we had him visit parks regularly, his comfort level increased. He still wouldn’t pet them; but at least he’d walk by without trying to climb up my body or run in the other direction. Also, if you hate the idea of writing a social story, you can just talk your child through the process every day, and certainly make that phone call I mentioned. I wish you the best!
From what I can remember in having trained my own son and the other “au-some” kids I taught, you need to have them on a fluids schedule. About an hour or so after giving him a beverage (and something substantial at that), you set him on the toilet. Then when he goes, you literally applaud his efforts: clap, hoot and holler, point to the stuff in the bowl and go, “Yayyyy, you did it! You went in the potty!” You may even wish to draw up a star rewards chart. If he uses the toilet, give him a star for that day. Then if he gets, say, 5 stars by the weekend, give him a reward like Marco’s pizza, a favorite outing, etc. Here’s the hard part: You may need to put him in old-fashioned cloth diapers with the plastic underpants over the cloth (to make him uncomfortable whenever he goes in his pants). While they’re wearing Pull-ups, it’s not that uncomfortable to go that way. But when they can feel the wet, now the comfort factor kinda goes out the window! Whatever you do, be sure you always speak positive to him: “That’s ok. I’m sure you’ll make it to the toilet tomorrow…” etc. Hope this helps!
