My oldest two of my three kids are neurotypical, so I have an easier yardstick for what “normal kid stuff” looks like. I still have to constantly remind myself that if you took the autism away, you’d still be left with a child who is sometimes bratty, whiny or mischievous. I try to look at my daughter and think, “Did her brothers do this? How would I react if she weren’t autistic? How close to that can I realistically go?” Because I think I tend to let her away with too much, feeling as though she can’t help it, or that she deserves a break because she’s got a really tough life. But in reality, she CAN manage with being held to a higher standard than she has been, and her life and future (and frankly, the rest of the family) will be MUCH better off if we don’t coddle her, and we DO push her to do better. If I know she’s capable but isn’t completing a task for some reason, I push her hard. If she gets frustrated enough, sometimes it helps her to force words out, and then I may get some insight into her reluctance. If it’s clear she just can’t do it, I’ll offer support, but I try to make sure it’s the barest minimum needed to get past the roadblock. A little bit of regression tends to happen even with NT kids, but autistic kids tend to dig in more, and be more stubborn. When my NT boys tried that, I’d remind them that being a big boy has not only responsibilities, but privileges too, and that being too little to go potty alone means you’re also too little to watch certain movies, play certain computer games, and means an earlier bedtime. It usually works. It’s hard for me to know if it would work with Emmett, since I don’t know if his communication skills are adequate to explain this to him.