Potty, Potty In Da House!

     Oh, the things I must discuss, but I'm sure this is on a lot of parents' minds, especially parents of children with special needs.  It's a struggle for any child to go from diapers to potty training, and even more frustrating for parents.  You really want your child to transition into the next stage of their childhood, but sometimes the speedbumps along that road are nearly the size of mountains.     But, how do you help your child transition from diapers to potty training, and how do you complete potty training?  Special needs children who are typically developmentally delayed, at least to some degree, are going to struggle with this more than normally developed children.  But how do you teach them how to clean themselves after a routine battle with #2?  This is where we are, struggling to teach this very simple, but very frustrating act of self-cleaning. 
     Parents, do not despair.  There is hope out there.  There are lots of fun, new products that encourage children to transition from the diaper to the potty.  There are potties that play music once a child has successfully used the potty, there are potties that look like toys you ride on with handles and everything, there are plastic, chld-size urinals (wish they had this when Teagan was going through this stage), potty training dolls, and reward charts.  But not all of these products will work for your child.  You just have to find what does work. 
     Rewards will always work for children.  Children love getting little gifts and praise for a job well done, so this is definitely a starting point for every child.  One technique we used was having Teagan go to the potty every hour on the hour, whether or not he needed to go, just to get him used to going, and anticipating the need.  It eventually worked for us, you may want to try this yourself.  Just find what works for you and your child, and run with it!  Lots of praise, no matter how small the deed, will go a long way.