The Potty Training Adventure - Take Three

Our two oldest (a boy and a girl) were very easy to potty train! We waited until they consistently woke up with dry diapers in the morning, at the age of three. We had them spend a week strictly at home, naked. It worked well, too. Day time training was complete within a week, and night time training began the following week. Again, one week was all it took to train them at night. Since then there have been few accidents. However, our newly turned three year old boy has begun the process. We've been dreading the training with him because there are so many more variables this time around.
I guess it's just better to give a quick history of our son first, so you understand. He started out developing early; rolling over early, talking early, using utensils early. Unfortunately, all that stopped at about 18 months. Then in the months following we saw regression in his development. After finding the Regional Center, and going through the long process, we had an answer. Our son has Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified, or PDD-NOS. It was scary, but not the end of the world. His odd behaviors were not frequent or severe enough to fit into any of the Autism Spectrum Disorders, which is why they gave him the NOS diagnosis. His speech is delayed and limited, he walks and runs on his tip-toes, and it takes longer for certain physiological concepts to sink in; thus our concern for potty training. Our son's speech therapist and Occupational Therapist (OT) have suggested that though he may not seem ready, it would help him in other areas of development to begin trying to potty train him. So, the fight has begun!
We started last month by taking him with us to the bathroom every time we went, just to show and prepare him for what was to come; a suggestion from the OT. Then a week or so later he was pointing to the little training potty we kept in the bathroom. So, then we had him sit on the potty each time he was with us in the bathroom, first thing in the morning, just before bed, as well as before and after bathes. Though he wasn't actually doing anything on the potty, it was great practice.  He loved the attention and praise he received from cooperating. As of two weeks ago, official potty training had begun and it was a rough start. From watching the kids at daycare, I had learned that kids who were in pull-ups all day struggled the most and seemed confused by the whole thing. The kids that were put in underwear during the day (though there was clearly more work and laundry involved, not to mention the inconvenience of the extra clothes that had to be brought to school) learned at a faster pace and had fewer accidents later. I tried explaining this to Hubby, but he had heard that it was easier to use pull-ups and insisted we try it out since we knew it would be a long road this time around. Well, it didn't work. All that week we tried to encourage him to go in the potty. We continued to have him sit on the training potty when we went to the restroom, we reminded him to try every hour, and even offered candy (gummy bears were used at daycare, but our Halloween candy was a great way to get rid of those leftovers). Still, no progress. It was frustrating to say the least, and we were worried that he would be struggling with this for the next year, like many children with PDD do, if something didn't change. Finally, I convinced Hubby that trying the old technique could work again, just alittle more time and effort would be needed. This week was the start of nakedness! The first two days he had no trouble having BMs on the potty, but urinating......that was a whole other story. He was inconsistent and seemed uncomfortable sitting. Hubby suggested that maybe having him stand would be easier and help him to understand the difference; smart Hubby! It worked! Though he was still inconsistent at first, he was beginning to understand. Four days in, I moved the little potty to the living room for faster, easier access. That has helped too! All day yesterday he had not one accident, and needed reminding only once. Today is day five (day one was Sunday) and so far he has had another great day! We are still using attention, praise, and candy as positive rewards for reinforcement; though now we're using the Christmas stocking candy.
While we are thrilled with his progress, we still have quite a way to go. We worry the transition from naked to underwear will be a difficult one as he learns to hold off the urges and use the big toilet. Let the adventure and learning continue!