Keeping your autistic child safe: Practical tips for parents

Jun 01, 2010 1:11 AM by Mary Fetzer

Posted in Parenting / Parenting Tips & Advice / Autism Spectrum Disorders

Keeping Your
Autistic Child Safe

For most people, home is their castle. As a parent of a child with autism, your home more often becomes your fortress. And carefree trips to the zoo or the park? They're not going to happen -- not without major planning and precautions, anyhow. But that doesn't mean you have to live in a constant state of stress and fear. Find out what some other parents have done to keep their autistic children safe -- and what you can do, too.

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"Oh no - where did he go?!"

Eight-year-old Hamza Rehman has ASD, and his mom, Riffat Rehman, constantly worries about him getting lost. Hamza's inability to speak compounds this problem.

Autistic boy with ID bracelet

Since many children with ASD cannot communicate effectively, it is important that they have proper identification in the event that they run away or get lost in the crowd. The risk of elopement is a major concern as soon as your child with autism becomes mobile. If your child leaves home without supervision, he or she is then vulnerable and may be unable to return home or tell a stranger where he or she lives.

Some children can be taught to carry an identification card in a wallet or fanny pack and can learn to show their identification cards if they are not able to verbalize the information. But if your child lacks verbal skills or is afraid of strangers, there are many options still available.

For example, a medical ID bracelet or necklace can work well -- as long as your child can tolerate wearing it. Start by choosing a comfortable sport-band style ID (as seeon on the boy at right) or a silicone wristband in your child's favorite color personalized with your name and emergency contact information -- see details on both types below. Persist as much as possible to encourage your little runner to keep it on. (Is the wrist simply a no-go? Try his ankle.) Another option is to use iron-on labels on his clothes.

Tip: To make it less likely to lose your child in a crowd, dress him or her in a brightly-colored t-shirt

Autism safety resources: Where to get what you need

So where do you begin with this all? Here are links to several safety devices and tools to help you and your child:

Identification equipment for kids with autism

Surveillance/monitoring a child with autism

Keeping your autistic child close & safe

Emergency locators/GPS tracking for autistic kids

Of course, there's nothing that will feel as good as holding your child safe in your arms. And while none of these tools and techniques can ever replace adult supervision, they can help you sleep a little better at night, stress out less during the day... and maybe even give you more sweet chances to hold your little one in your arms.

For more on autism, see:

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Tags: autism safety special needs

Comments

Comments on "Keeping your autistic child safe: Practical tips for parents"

My daughter is 3. She is driving me crazy. Ive put child locks on everything in the house. she has still figured out how to open the doors and refrigerator door. she pulls out all of the food and breaks eggs all over the place. Last week she opened the front door and took off running. I pray every day for her safety. Im losing my mind.

I tried every baby gate for the bottom stair's and my son either break's it climbs over it or rips it down. he constantly runs upstair's. I have to keep running up and down the stairs all day. does anyone have any other solutions on blocking the stair's. thank you

I think its sad and unfortunate that they allowed McCormick to advertise their Shamrock Shake recipe, which includes MCCormick green food coloring in them, right next to an article on autistic kids. Am I the only one who noticed this?

I hear you all. I have an 9 year autistic son. We have mettle latch lock w/combination lock on frig. And key lock on all doors. It feels some times like a prison. But we all know what's more important, our children. I''m also an EA for special needs. I believe I have got my best problem solving solutions there. I now face the windows pen window gazer. I have latch pin locks on that don't stop my lock smith. Kellie

I have a 3year old that although we have not had a official test done yet but her pedestrian is pretty sure she has AS. I'm nervous all the time she doesn't sleep (she will finally fall asleep around 3 in the morning and sleep till 10 am),she doesn't like other people other than dad myself sister (sometimes LOL) and grandpa so family events are really hard loud nosies send into hiding. We have a safety door knob on the inside of her room so she can't wonder the house at night her dad stays awake till she falls asleep to make sure she stays safe. We can not afford any special safety needs for her so we find little things bathroom: for now we have an eyehook lock up high that everyone knows to lock when exiting (she does try to get chairs to climb up to get it. Closest we use duck tape up high as well.Drawer and cuboards have locks in the kitchen. I'm glad she is little so these things work for us for now. She did figure out the safety door handle things so we used tape to secure it and put locks on the other bedroom doors. I also have a 14 old daughter so she needs space to be her own and has stuff that Chloe should not get at. Oh yeah I have fridge and freezer locks as well she loves the feel of the textures and coldness of different foods.....I'm so tried all the time and I get frustrated. I cry myself to sleep often wondering what I did wrong or what can I do to help her.

The price you charge for NOAH's BED should be against the law!!

They do have different types, They have different types of mild restraints, if it is a matter of there safty, you have to protect them, I dont like any type of restraints.. There are also alarms to aleart you when he or she gets up..

My grandson, age 7 years and severely autistic, drowned recently. We are grief stricken but I need to turn this devestating sadness into action. How do we keep out children safe? How can the government assist parents? How do we provide to all families with autistic children the best technology to keep out children safe? What works best? so much more must be done and the government needs to do more.

Really interesting blog, keep up the good work!

i am 11 years old and i have 2 autistic brothers and they wacth movies and they copy every word like 2 months ago my 4 year old brother elijah. he can talk but he will right the words down in his brain! there was a U.F.O crashed in to a truck and the guy said my god***** truck and he said that word he goes "oh this is my god**** truck" then my mom turns her head streight 180 degrees "WHAT" she said eligah goes " oh momy this in my god**** truck" and isaiah age 6 i was wacthing a spiderman game walkthrough " a charicter goes "the swicth turn off the swicth" and he isaiah has ben saying that over and over for the past 2 months and me not to mention i have a little of autisim but the only thing is asburgers and when i was like 7 i would talk to some one then stay quit for like 5 minniuts then be chatter but i all cool now your favrot preeteen in amarican Noah rhoden :)

Keeping them in the house: Deadbolt, double key. Keep key around your neck during day, hidden by your bed at night. Keeping them from getting at the windows: Solid wooden shutters INSIDE with two locks - one school combonation type, the other a regular latch with keylock. Keeping them from getting out a sliding glass door - bar lock, key lock, add a whistle alarm. The whistle alarm is very high pitched, and if your child dislikes loud noises, this will do the trick. Bedroom at night: Half door (I made ours), with lock on the outside. Then increase it to a 3/4 door as they get taller. Get a Nickel Bed for traveling. Once they figure out how to get out the 3/4 door - and they will - full door with a cute little window cut into it thats too big for them to get out of, too hight up to reach the lock on the outside, but always open to of course be able to hear them and be availble for them - and they will feel secure being able to see/hear you and be seen/heard.

i need help with an alarm system that my 4 yr old wont rip off/push the alarm button ...high functioning autism/very brilliant and he knows how to trick and pull off the alarms i was wondering if anyone has had good luck with a company or knows any type of alarm that will work that he cant trick..i dont want to go with adt or a normal high security system due to i cant afford a monthly fee...need door alarms and window alarms for indoors... i want my bed back i cant put him in his own room until i find something due to him getting up and getting into stuff or going outside naked...anyone have a system that will alert you when a door is opened or alarm is tricked..lookin over the net not having allot of luck

Can anyone tell me what to do to preven my 5 year old daughter from breaking her bed? I had 2 set of matresses in her room and she broken both of the set. Can somebody has a sujestion in this matter I will apresiate alot for the info. Thanks, desprerate mom

I agree-I wish, too, that they had mentioned service dogs. We applied for and raised money and received a service dog for our twin boys who are 7 and who both have autism. He has enabled us to go and do and experience life as a family and for me to take the boys out alone for brief periods, too. This is vital when parents work opposite shifts or one is not always available to help.

I trained my dog to sleep outside my son's bedroom. When he got up to wander, she herded him back to bed. Woman's best friend, her dog.

Hi,I liked the toilet lock info,but, is there anything to secure the water tank ,you know, the top part over the toilet seat where the flusher is? My autistic son literally picks it up and breaks it plus he also tries to yank the rest of it out.Is there anything to secure practicaly the entire toilet? Thanks for any ideas.

Hi, I got a call a half hour ago that one of my students, Megan aged 13 (turning 14 tomorrow) never got home, the police were called, the mother was frantic. The bus driver went over to look in the area....He found her she was sitting on the stairs in the building next door,for the last 6 hours... looking really sad (and in Megan fashion, said "grandmother was not home..."). I just went through nothing compared to the mom, but have decided to do everything possible to teach my 10 students to retrieve the information needed in such an eventuality...and also found a website where they sell these rubber bands which you can personalize with their names, phone number, and anything else which you would deem important...at www.wherebands. Thank GOD she was safe....(Leslee who is thankful that all is well)!!

Thank you for sharing these articles! They are very helpful. My 13 yr. old Autistic son escaped from our house yesterday and was missing for over an hour!! It felt like time stood still and I went into a full-blown panic attack! The police responded very quickly...10 officers, 5-6 police cars and a dog! We found him playing at the beach near our house, having a blast!! I never want to feel that way again! We are going to invest in a GPS Locator for him to wear at all times, even if I have to sew pockets in all of his clothes. It also seems that we will be graduating to using keyed deadbolts on everything in our house...now that he has figured out all of the other locks that we have been using! Thanks again :)

safety bedroom

We designed a bed tent specifically for autistic children. It's called the Nickel bed tent...named after our autistic son, Nick. It's designed so you can simply drop a twin sized mattress inside. The bed tent is sturdy design with safety straps to keep from tipping! Itâ€™s mobile and can easily be taken anywhere. The bed tent has 3 points of access so itâ€™s easy to get to your child or change the sheets. It does not have any zippers inside and all poles are covered. Our son loves his bed tent and now sleeps very well throughout the night. My wife and I can now finally get some sleep at night and most of all, feel a little more secure knowing heâ€™s much safer in the bed tent. Finally, we designed this with parents of special needs children in mind. We made it very affordable at only $124.99. We know first hand how tight money can be raising a special needs child. Now, with our homegrown company, Ready, Set, Bloom, LLC., our hope is to help special needs children and their parents/families rest comfortably and peacefully throughout the night using our bed tent. Please check out our website, www.myreadysetbloom for more information and to order. Feel free to email me with any questions.