Teaching toilet skills in a public school setting to a child with pervasive developmental disorder

An 8-year old boy with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) was taught toileting skills within a public elementary school. During baseline, he never urinated successfully in the toilet and wore a disposable diaper throughout the day. The training program included scheduling a toileting opportunity at a time that increased the likelihood of urination and providing positive reinforcement when voiding in the toilet occurred. Toileting skills were established rapidly and were maintained when another bathroom visit was added to the toileting schedule, primary reinforcement was eliminated, and the boy no longer wore a disposable diaper. Issues related to behavioral support programming within inclusive educational settings are discussed.