how to keep asd son in bedroom

[Debs75]

My soon to be 10 year old son with autism and behavioural difficulties is an escape artist.
As such he has had to be locked in his room on a night for his own safety. First we used safety gates one on top of other then his door was chained so he could get light in.
For the last year he has had a panelled door with the top panel removed so we could see him and that had a thick wire mesh over the top. Before this we did think about using a tall metal garden gate type door with a lock.
He doesn't sleep through the night and is often awake in the early hours when we are asleep so we daren't leave his door unlocked.
He goes up to bed at 7.30, any later and he gets very agitagated, but doesn't go to sleep until at least 10.00. During this time he will poo his nappy so we have to change him.
The way he tells us this is by throwing things at his door or kicking it (uses signs and pecs but obviously they don't work if one person is downstairs)
All this is taking its toll on the door and we are getting to the point where we may need a new type of door to keep him safe.

We have been in touch with OT's and have had adaptations done. Their views are it is his behaviour which is why he destroys doors, he has destroyed a total of 7 doors(corrugated cardboard!) now, not his autism so they don't think they can do much more. They believe we can adapt his behaviour but since he has been like this for 8 years we are away off perfecting it.

We have also thought of them safe spaces you can have put in rooms but OT said she didn't think it was a good idea. I don't think it was cost that put her off as she has funded a £3000 bed for him.

Does anyone have any similar problems or any ideas we can put into practice that might help us?

Wow he keeps himself busy

Why did the OT not like the safe spaces idea - I would have thought that would be perfect?

Is there some sort of mega heavy weight door - like they have in residential homes perhaps with some sort of fancy locking system on it

I am thinking like Yurtgirl said and to have a heavy duty door which can't be broken and have the handle on the outside only. Rather than having a stable type door to see him, would having a one piece door and a one of those baby CCTV monitors with night vision to see him work?

Behaviour not his autism ...cos the two aren't linked?????

I would have thought the safespace was perfect and I think the 'behaviour not autism' sounds like a bit of a fobbing off. The two are intextricably linked - how can you separate out behaviour from autism from NT child????

The CCTV idea has worked for a child I know. An alarm was triggered if they got out of bed so the parents could wake.

When we did the adaptatios the joiner said a real heavy duty door would need a stronger door frame. The council guy (we rent a council house) said
'but when you move out the new tennants might not want a heavy duty door'.
He then said he would rather change a crap door every week then put decent quality doors on all doorways as
'when you move out and the new tennant needs a new door we will have to spend more money'
we are never moving out unless we win big on the lottery The stress of moving 4 times in 4 years has put me off for life. And autism and moving house is not a good match.

The handle on his door is like an american door knob, the key is on his side, he has no access to the key and the latch which is how we lock it is on the outside.

Would like to try a cctv but he is so nosy have visions of him breaking it. He has no light as he has pulled the fitting out and he is rapidly peeling the paint from the ceiling

Hi Debs. Hmmm. Not an easy one.

I'd agree that safespace is the obvious way to go. Not sure what your SS OT is on about there - am wondering if there is such a thing as an OT second opinion - is there an NHS OT he can see, maybe through school? OK it's not their budget but they could perhaps assess and recommend? And then you could eg take that recommendation to your MP and ask them to lean on SS OT?

Other than that, am racking my brains - is the problem with the door that throwing himself at it is the best way he sees to get your attention? Did you not have that problem with the baby gates, because you could hear him? In which case is it possible to get a dog gate (like a very tall baby gate) and then find a way of closing the gap above it, possibly with a cut-down standard door? You'd have to fill the space with something, but he can't kick it down if it's above head height.

The other thing - why are they giving you corrugated cardboard doors? You can get perfectly standard composite ones (made out of engineered wood) - OK they cost a couple of quid more and you need to use 3 hinges not 2 (they may warp a bit otherwise) but they are much more solid.

You may be able to get CCTV camera put behind a perspex screen/box screwed to the wall. I have heard of people having their TVs and stuff similarly protected.

And - a bit lateral, but - is there anything you can do to change the time he poos? I know that we've been advised to give DD1 her movicol (laxative) at bedtime to encourage poo first thing in the morning. I feel a bit uncomfortable suggesting something that would "medicalise" the problem, but if you can get a very small amount of laxative into him at lunchtime or before tea, that might encourage him to go before bedtime?

'Cardboard doors' these are council standard flush doors, when you take them apart they are a slim frame with what looks like corrugated cardboard in between the two thin panels of wood. they cost about 5 each.

When we moved on to 2 safety gates on top of each other he would climb up them. He is a bit heavier now so worried he would pull them off the hinges.

His sn bed they got him he tips up and climbs on so would stand on it to kick through door.

as for poos he tends to go quite often so could do with something to 'bung him up'

Will look into a box to put round a cctv.

thanks for the tips he is so complex that when we look at 1 problem it throws up dozens of others

there are loads of offers on vvtv now, this is the place DH uses most. I know you can get aluminium and such ike boxes in there that would do it also- shout if you need a hand (Dh could cut a box to fit CCTV camera i think, has jigsaws etc which he uses to modify them for work).

We have an alarm system which ds1 has modified a way past and haven't found any solutions ourselves yet- but daren't change doors etc as rented house.

Good luck!

Debs, have you been in contact with the Challenging Behaviour Foundation? They may be able to advise on safety in your son's room.
I think their website is www.cbf.org.uk but I'm not sure.
Your OT's appear to be letting you down dreadfully. Could you write a long account of your nights dealing with your son and send it higher up the chain in the council? You should ask for a clear explanation about why a Safe Space isn't suitable as I'd have thought it would be a godsend.

my son has adhd and has been 3 doors in 3 months i was given a sugestion by a helpful man at b&q who used to work in london he said get a hard wood door (front door,pannel door) and get a thin sheet of light metal from the metal yard we have in town and cover the door with it he might dent it but he wont get through it
hope this helps good luck

You might have some luck with the mini-spy camera type of CCTV rather than bigger security camera types. They can be so small that they're almost impossible to spot?

donkeyderby will check out this foundation thanks.

Mariaanne we have had this suggested to us before and are thinking about it. 2 q's is it noisy, ds throws things and tries to smash things when annoyed? and how do you limt the chance of cutting on the edges?