Autistic child wandering

[AnnR]

My 7 year old non-verbal nephew has figured out how to open all the locks on the doors. We are taking him to WDW in May with other family members, anyone have any ideas how to keep track of him? I was looking at something called ionkids (www.ionkids.com) has anyone used this? What about securing the doors? We will be in a Fort Wilderness cabin. He will have a medic alert.

 

[welovedis]

Hi Ann from another Rochesterian!
I'm not sure what product you are referring to on the website, it is taking me to a home page and there are a few different products there but nothing that appears to be something to keep track of a child.

I personally have not been to FW so I don't know how the door locks work on their doors. On the regular resort room doors there is that higher flip-lock, type of thing-is he tall enough to reach that? We have always blocked our door with a chair at night in case of wanderings and our DS (with ASD) has always been so tired at the end of the night that it really was never an issue. I had big concerns on our last trip with the slider at BWV but he never awoke during the night at all.

Where will he be sleeping within the cabin? Perhaps the bedroom would be best so that he'd have to get past a few others in order to get to the door.

Does he need a stroller to get around the parks at all or not? Strollers can be a god-send for wanderers, but if he's like my DS he wouldn't use one. Fortunately for us, DS has always been a hand-holder, especially in crowds since he gets overwhelmed. Even as recently as yesterday he was holding my hand in the parking lot at the local post office so that may be something to reinforce now before you hit the parks.

For DS we use these:
http://www.awareabouts.com/
They slide onto a shoelace and look kind of cute, but DS knows to point the tag out if he is ever separated from us. We have always traveled alot with him and have prepped him on what to do.

Good luck with your trip-planning!

 

[ducklite]

You might also want to hang some larger (ie LOUD) jingle bells off the doorknob. Might not actually stop him, but it will alert you that he's trying to open the door, giving you time to catch him before he gets more than a few steps out the door.

Anne

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Last week I saw these lock/alarms at our local hardware store....(Chase-Pitkin) I have also seen them at Target and Walmart. They are in a set of 3 for $19.99. They are little alarms. One piece sticks (Double sided tape) to the door and and one side sticks on the wall and when the door is opened a alarm rings.......they are battery operated. I was thinking of buying them for our trip for DS. The tape wont hurt the woodwork..so it says. I am sure for he samll amount of time they would be ok. you cna turn them off when you want to so you wont scare Mousekeeping..hee hee. We have a "Buzzer" on our door here at home that lets us know when the door is opened so these might be the best option.. This won't help DS not open the door but it will let you know when it is opened....hope it helps.
I know you said he will have a medic alert on but make sure you have your hotel info and your cell # on him somewhere. We make a tag at Walmart (it is actully a pet tag and you can personalize it. DS's is a flag) for $5.00 with hotel and our cell # on it just in case DS gets away from us. We have never had to use it but better safe than sorry. I know in the Disney Pet shop in Down Town Disney they have cute mickey and Pluto tags you can personalize. The Mickey one is adorable.

 

[welovedis]

Anne & D,L & K's mom-thank you both for those tips! Both were new to me and Anne, what a simple one!

 

[kdtwiss]

My 7 year old non-verbal nephew has figured out how to open all the locks on the doors. We are taking him to WDW in May with other family members, anyone have any ideas how to keep track of him? I was looking at something called ionkids (www.ionkids.com) has anyone used this? What about securing the doors? We will be in a Fort Wilderness cabin. He will have a medic alert.

Hi Ann,
I am the mom of a little wanderer/houdini myself so I have been researching this quite bit. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any ideal answers.
For the door at your cabin I would say definitely invest in a door alarm that goes off if moved. If that would be too loud and disturb the rest of the family, there are lots of different types of devices to make a door nearly impossible to open usually made for toddlers.

As far as in the parks, or out and about, I have looked into all kinds of various devices. The one problem I have found is none are waterproof. For me this is a big problem as my ds loves the water. I don't have a problem if a unit costs $20 and we go through a few but at the price of the Ion kids unit - it is just to much.Here are links to different products I have found:

http://www.nsclocators.com/images/pdf/Gotcha!_2005.pdf


http://www.safe-tots.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=0900-23-0001
This site has many alarms including doordtop,doorknob and child locator alarms:


http://www.ddsp.com/alarmcat.pdf

This one not so great as locator only works within safety range (20 - 50 ft) and does not tell you which direction you should search.

http://www.itave.com/smart_guard.html


http://www.cctvwholesalers.com/catalog/customer/product03f2.html?productid=16359&cat=0&page=

http://store.yahoo.com/cirrushealthcare/angelalert.html

 

[HopperFan]

We used to have several alarms on all out doors, but when we traveled or DS slept elsewhere we had an alarm that hung on a loop of string that you put on door knob. If it were disturbed an alarm went off.

Please note when shopping for alarms........ we have stayed at the cabins and there were TWO doors on our cabin. One was in the living room and one was in the bedroom. Both went out onto deck. I would take double of whatever you decide on.

 

[AnnR]

Thank you all for the great suggestions. Great to hear from a couple of other Rochesterians!

Sorry the link I gave was wrong. I forgot the - ! www.ion-kids.com

Ann

 

[madhug]

I have an autistic 4 year old and own the ion kids monitoring device for both she and her 2 year old sibling and it has saved us many times. They recently came out with a clip on attachment that we have used to clip the device onto shoes and event he tag on her pants (undetected by her). Most children I have met do not tolerate the wristband well. The device has a parent remote. When she wanders the alarm on the remote and on her will both go off. Then, the remote tells me where she is. It was worth every penny!!!!! As for the hotel, there should be a top latch. Attach a jingle or cow bell to that latch and you will know when it is being tempered with before it is opened. Also, notify the hotel MANAGER of the situation. They will be thoughtful and can red flag your reservation. This will let staff know what to do if a child is wandering near your room or in the hotel.

 

[AnnR]

I looked in Target but could not find the door alarms. Can you tell me what section they are in? I will try Chase Pitkin but there isn't one right near me.

Thanks
Ann

 

[Odie]

We have a 6 y/o Autistic escapee also. All the tips are great and just an extra one for other vacations. When staying at a place with sliding glass doors, either take or buy there an adjustable shower curtain rod. They're about 18 to 24 inches long, but extend far enough to put at the top or bottom of sliding doors to at least slow down and escape. Don't leave home without one anymore. Of course, all our tricks only work until they figure them out, but a few nights of sleep on vacation is like a slice of heaven.

 

[Talking Hands]

Just a note. You will need 2 alarms. There is a door in the bedroom as well as the living area in the cabins.

 

[campingcorgi]

Madhug--I am glad to hear that the ion kids works well for you. We ordered one just from the info online. I couldn't find any reviews about it on the net but it looked so helpful I took a chance. It is backordered right now--can't wait till it comes!

 

[slcmom]

My 15 year old Ds is a real wanderer. He escapes from me when we are out and about, as well as taking off from home and school. I'll try the various alarms you all have suggested, but I have found one foolproof solution while in the parks. I go to our local sporting goods repair place and have them sew me a leash system that goes around my waist and has a 10' length before it goes around his waist. Invaluable. He has never objected to it, because he knows that it is the price he pays for being in WDW. We get some funny looks, but surprisingly few. The last trip, in March, I took 2 grandkids as well, and had a second leash added for the 3 year old. They had a lot of fun pulling me along, and I didn't need to worry about losing anyone.
Good luck!

 

[AnnR]

Found the 1st Alert door alarms at Bed Bath and Beyond -4 in a package for 9.99. You caon use them on chime,alarm or off.

 

[Densgirl]

Thank you all for these tips. I have a Developmentaly Delayed, epileptic,15 yr old DS who has just started to wander both on foot and in his wheelchair. I was at a loss to do while traveling b/c he and I both love to travel and have since he was an infant. These are awesome links I'm gonna check out. 2 weekends ago he woke at 5:15 and tried to let himself out of our hotel room. He is 5' 9" tall and had gotten the swing lock undone!!! We had stopped driving somewhere between Virginia and Maryland coming home from Busch Gardens. If my DH had not woken up DS would have actually made it out of the room and to god knows where. He is partially ambulatory and can walk a little distance when he is motivated and lately escaping seems to be motivating him quite a bit. It is sooooo scary though. Thanks again for the links.