Shaping bladder and bowel continence in developmentally retarded preschool children.
Shaping toilet visits every 15 min and thinning to every 2 h plus praise and drinks potty-trained four delayed preschoolers in four weeks.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Four preschoolers with intellectual disability wore diapers all day.
The teacher started taking them to the toilet every 15 minutes.
Each dry check earned praise and a sip of juice.
Over four weeks the wait time slowly grew to two hours.
What they found
All four kids finished the month mostly accident-free.
They asked to go or held it until the next scheduled trip.
How this fits with other research
Smith et al. (2014) later used the same slow-stretch idea to teach hand-washing in older students with mild ID.
They added videos and star charts, showing the schedule-thinning trick works for other self-care skills.
Delamater et al. (1986) also shaped preschool habits with praise and cues, but their kids had no delays.
Together the papers say: start small, reward fast, then space the chances—whether it’s toilet trips, clean hands, or healthy snacks.
Why it matters
You can copy the 15-minute plan tomorrow. Set a timer, praise dry pants, and move the clock back five minutes every two days. No fancy tech needed—just juice, kind words, and steady timing.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
A program to improve bladder and bowel continence was evaluated in a preschool with four developmentally retarded children. During baseline, the children were taken to the toilet on a regular schedule, once an hour. The training program increased this frequency to once every 15 minutes for the 1st week, every 30 minutes the 2nd week, every hour the 3rd week, and every 2 hours in the 4th week. Using the toilet appropriately was reinforced with social praise and liquids. Accidents resulted in a brief verbal reprimand and simple correction (i.e., going to the bathroom, changing clothes, and sitting on the toilet). All four children showed improvement in their bladder and bowel continence. Results of the program are discussed in terms of improved efficiency of toilet training programs and their use with developmentally retarded preschool children.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1983 · doi:10.1007/BF01531819