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Our Son Obsesses On Light Switches And Ceiling Fans, To The Point Where He Ignores Everything Else. Need Advice.

A MyAutismTeam Member asked a question 💭
St. Louis, MO

Our 4 year old son with HFA 1 is supposed to be potty training but he spends every second of every session asking for the lights to be turned off and on and off and on and off and on and commenting as to whether the bathroom exhaust fan is on or off. When near switches, he will flip them off and on repeatedly, stimming in between, for half an hour sometimes and during this time we cannot get his attention for anything. Almost two months of potty training has produced no progress. We are… read more

January 17
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A MyAutismTeam Member

I was really worried around that age that preschools and daycares would not take my son because he was not potty trained. Fortunately, the places in my area seemed to expect to be working with kids around that age on toileting. If it's a preschool program through public school and you have a formal diagnosis, they still have to take your child. After-school care programs were the only things not being potty trained kept my son out of. My son is not high functioning. Honestly, if it were me, I would buy an unattached switch at a hardware store and allow him to play with it while he sits on the toilet. If it really engages him, it may help. Sometimes fixations change with age and get replaced with different fixations. Good luck with everything.

January 17 (edited)

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