Before the Potty Party: Preparing Practitioners for Toilet Training
Prep work—medical clearance, risk form, consent, data sheet, and caregiver plan—makes or breaks an intensive toilet-training program.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hollins et al. (2025) wrote a how-to guide for BCBAs. It lists the steps you must finish before you start an intensive toilet-training program.
The paper is a position piece, not an experiment. It tells you to get medical clearance, run a risk check, sign consent, build data sheets, and lock in caregiver help.
What they found
The authors found that most training fails when teams skip the prep work. They give a checklist so you do not miss a step.
No new data are shown. The value is the roadmap itself.
How this fits with other research
Rinald et al. (2012) ran the actual toilet-training workshop and got most kids trained in a week. Hollins et al. (2025) sit one step earlier: they tell you how to get ready for that workshop.
Gauert et al. (2022) and Zyga et al. (2018) show parents can learn skills through telehealth. Hollins adds the warning: secure medical clearance and caregiver buy-in first, even for remote programs.
King et al. (2020) and Reinert et al. (2020) hand you free remote tools. Hollins says pick those tools only after you finish the risk and consent forms.
Why it matters
Before you print a single data sheet, run the Hollins checklist. One call to the pediatrician can rule out UTIs, constipation, or fluid restrictions that would sink your protocol. One signed consent form protects you if a child has a meltdown on the potty. One shared data sheet keeps mom and dad on the same page. Do these five steps and your next potty party starts on solid ground.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Abstract There are limited resources specific to preparing for and developing individualized, intensive toilet-training programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. This has resulted in practitioners omitting critical steps within the program-development phase and hastily including unnecessarily intrusive training components, leading to unfavorable training contexts and variable caregiver buy-in. The purpose of this article is to discuss ethical and practical considerations for developing intensive toilet training programs. We do not provide guidance on toilet-training protocols, as this has been extensively described elsewhere. Instead, we offer recommendations to bridge the existing gap in the literature for toilet training planning that is focused on medical considerations, risk assessment, choice to participate, data collection systems, and caregiver collaboration.
Behavior Analysis in Practice, 2025 · doi:10.1007/s40617-025-01105-5