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SN children

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Original poster

OMG he's started climbing.

18 replies

Jimjams · 11/09/2004 18:24

Everything. Not sure whether to be pleased (after all for someone supposedly dyspraxic he has pretty good balance/coordination) or terrified. I can cope with the tables and the windowsills etc but today he has climbed up onto the bannisters several times. He just stands on them looking ahead like he's looking out to sea. Attempting to give no reinforcement- so very calmly getting him down. Any ideas?

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edam · 11/09/2004 19:36

Jimjams, as you know I've no experience of SN but very impressed with ds1's agility. He's suddenly doing loads of new things all at once, isn't he? Well done to him ... but I'm sure it is terrifying too. Gulp

earlygirl · 11/09/2004 19:39

no i am theproudmother ofa budding chris bonnington too theres not much you can do other thanobvious common sense thinggs

earlygirl · 11/09/2004 19:40

is it ds 1
how old is ds 2? btw

Original poster

Jimjams · 11/09/2004 19:43

But what common sense things? He's 5 and non-verbal. All I've done so far is give no reaction- but he thinks its funny anyway.

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Original poster

Jimjams · 11/09/2004 19:44

sorry ds2 is 2, but this is ds1. DS2 is pretty cack handed but also has a normal fear of heights which helps keep him sensible!

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earlygirl · 11/09/2004 19:47

sorry jimjams i thought it was ds 2

Original poster

Jimjams · 11/09/2004 19:52

ah no he's easy- I just tell hom not to! I'd dread to see him standing on the bannisters though (actually its the stair handrail iykwim- he looks like a gymnast - or a circus act!)

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Dingle · 11/09/2004 19:58

Oh, Jimjams!!!
It amazes me- all this help supposedly on offer for mums with newborn babes, clinics to advise & sell safety equipment, visits from HV to discuss safety in the home. But what happens from then on for some of us? We seem well and truely on our own and no-one seems to want to take the issue seriously. The amount of times I have mentioned the fact that dd has climbed over certain stair gates, and it just gets shrugged off.
Last weekend I removed all the pictures from the wall in our lounge!! DD climbs onto the back of the settees and was swinging them from side to side & one fell down, thankfully nowhere near her. We are going for the minimalist look now.
What will it take before the safety of children with SN is taken seriously??? I dread to think!!
I can get new, bigger gates. (thinking of trying the dog gates... but I'm so sorry- I have no help to offer you.

meea · 11/09/2004 20:13

I think they must get something from climbing as my ds2 who is only 2 likes to climb on anything.The worst has been the double height rabbit hutch.They seem to have no fear and getting people to take your safety concerns seriously is hopeless.We all have to leave them for a few minutes.The only advice I can give is to remain calm, easier said then done I know.
Just a thought can you make the bannister solid so he can't get a foot hold.

earlygirl · 11/09/2004 20:15

my little ds just defies me when i say no
maybe i should start a thread ?
sorry i cant help jj

Original poster

Jimjams · 11/09/2004 21:47

Th bannisters are already solid- well covered with cardboard (after we found him wriggling through on the first floor). He climbs up the newel post (is that what it's called?).

I know Dingle- I think the problem is that often there isn't much that can be done. I could ask for an appointment with the clinical psych, but ime she doesn't really have any suggestions. And of course as soon as we sort out something another problem comes along. At least school has started again (for him- not you I know ) so he has less time to get into mischief. We had to swap his bedroom with his brother a while ago as he kept climbing onto the tiny ledge and leaning against his very flimsy windows (new room has double glazing). All large windows have to be shut whenever he is in now. He's become a lot more exploratory recently which is good, but dangerous. MInd you I'm lucky really, my friend's dd can scale her 8 ft fences and has often been found in neighbours gardens or wandering out on the road. On holiday she escaped in the early hours of the morning and was eventually found meandering down a country lane.

And what is it with picture swinging- we get that as well!

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Dingle · 11/09/2004 22:10

I can remember when our portage worker first started visiting, she warned that children with DS were born climbers and to try to nip it in the bud!! She is quite often found sitting on the coffee table, or on her little plastic, work table. Even more worrying is that she has taken to furniture removals- dragging a piece of furniture accross the room so that she can climb over the gates more easily!! Little madam!
Apart from being with her every second of the day, what are you suppose to do?
We are on the look out for the type of picture hangers that screw into the wall...oh well.
Let us know if you find the magic answer.

Original poster

Jimjams · 11/09/2004 22:19

Dragging the chair is clever though- problem solving! It really hasn't been a problem for us until recently as ds1 was just too dyspraxic to do anything (when he was 3 he couldn't even walk whilst holding onto a PECS card- we actually had to train him to do that). We went to BIBIC - he was given a sensory and motor programme and his motor skills have suddenly got to the stage where he can get himself into trouble. Lots of autis are climbers as well. I think partly it comes from lack of awareness of danger. DS2 has far more common sense than ds1.

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misdee · 12/09/2004 09:27

safety netting??

i have no idea what to suggest. dd2 is a climber, has no fear, caught her jumping from the top of the small slide the other day. when i was at the masionette we had to board the rails on the 2nd floor as dd2 would try and leap over the top. We have also had to remove the grab rails in the garden as dd2 was swinging on them and climibing on them and has visions of her cracking her head open. She is now the size of a 4/5yr old so am finding it harder to see what she can and will do.

If i find anything thats a climbing deterrant (aprt from that anti-vanadal paint they put on garage roofs here) i'll let you know.

Davros · 12/09/2004 10:27

No comfort, but its extremely typical! We had this for years and, most of the time, there was little danger as he is SO well co-ordinated. We had to take most of the furniture out of his room so for a couple of years it was like a cell! He also enjoyed climbing in order to jump down hard and get the sensory feedback through his body. I think a child with such good co-ordination is not usually dyspraxic, at least maybe only orally. We've had some terrible scares (climbing from one windowsill to another 3 floors up, decorator left window open!). He is able to open all sort of containers, door handles, locks etc. He has stopped doing it so much since he has got bigger, he is still able to, its just less of a compulsion and I think is getting some of the sensory feedback in other ways (frog jumping stim!). I'm sure you've got one but a kids' trampoline definitely worth having, although DS jumped from the mantlepiece, to the bed, to the trampoline and back round again! Physical activities didn't reduce the amount of climbing/jumping at home but provided a more appropriate way of doing it, less time at home doing it and he enjoys it plus we get to go out and enjoy ourselves together.
It is one of the major reasons we haven't taken holidays over the years as you just can't be sure how safe somewhere will be. We also had to shut him in his room at night for safety once he could get over the stair gate, which I hated doing at first, but he was fine about it and seemed to quite like it. It was one of the best things we ever did. Many people can't understand this though so I usually hold back on telling people. I think a LOT of people whose children have SN do this but keep quiet.

Original poster

Jimjams · 12/09/2004 20:54

He's shut in his room at the moment with the stair gate (a travel barrier one- he just opens the others) so I know where you are coming from! HIs fine motor skills are still appalling, his gross motor skills have always been OK individually (able to jump, walk up and down stais, pedal) but he's never been able to co-ordinate sequences of movements before iyswim. So he couldn't lie down on his back from standing a year ago. Suddenly his motor planning seems better and he's putting it t good use. I don't trust him though as he's still quite clumsy (especially when I compare him to my friend's dd who is amazing- she sounds like your ds!)

Mum and Dad had him today and they have open plan stairs he tries to climb over. He really can't go upstairs by himself there now. Luckily mum is pretty switched on, and doesn't dismiss it iykwim.

OP posts:

misdee · 12/09/2004 20:56

is it the top or bottom of the stairs he is climbing on?

Davros · 12/09/2004 21:31

Typical eh JJ? Although scary there's quite a few benefits like motor planning and improved co-ordination. We had terrible walking, sliding down the bannisters (on the front, head first, on the back etc). As we realised he was pretty safe (can't remember an accident) we became immune but other people would be wetting themselves while we looked on casually!

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