This can be taxing on a parent's time and patience, and success often needs to be measured and rewarded in smaller steps of progress. A child with mobility limitations, or with coordination problems, often needs continuing physical help in getting to the bathroom, onto and off the toilet, and assistance with self-cleaning. Some children have a difficult time with toilet training because of communication or learning disabilities and they may not understand what is expected, or may not be able to consistently remember what is expected, or other complex processing difficulties. And some children struggle with emotional or behavioral issues of independence, control, anger, or inconsistent mood states. Any of these issues often create confusion and frustration and incredible fatigue in parents.
Toilet training seems so basic, so necessary to successful development.
The frustration and fatigue that many parents feel is often communicated to the child, either directly or indirectly, which, as you undoubtedly know, creates a vicious circle of frustration, impatience, feelings of failure and disappointment on the part of everyone involved - parents and child alike. Children with special needs often need to learn new things in their own time and their own way. Most of all, they need their parents to be patient, but persistent, along the way, guiding them in small achievable steps that are rewarded with genuine respect. Failures along the way often mean that our expectations were too high, or our own impatience and frustration got in our way. Home Copyright 1997-2000, The Resource Foundation for Children with Challenges .