Our autistic son just turned 8 years old. He’s happy, playful, and very inquisitive. And by inquisitive, I mean seriously interested in every item you don’t want him to touch. If he comes across a drawer, he’ll empty it to examine the contents. If he finds a faucet, he’ll spend hours to see how he can dissemble it. And when he finds a small object that just might fit inside of a toilet, it is his duty as a little scientist to test the hypothesis. Needless to say I’ve become quite adept at repairing, replacing, and troubleshooting every toilet in our house.
I have to admit my role as part-time plumber in the house is getting a little old. You can only splash yourself in the face with toilet water as you de-clog the toilet so many times before you lose your love of the job. So here is my list of autistic parent must-haves, when it comes to securing the doors of your house.
Bathroom Doors
If you love unclogging toilets in your spare time, skip this section. Otherwise, read on my friends. Read on.
The Knob Cover
This one here is a classic! Cheap, quick to install, and it doesn’t require making a hole in your wood. It will snap in place over your existing door knob so little hands can’t turn it. Its only drawback is that its also simple to remove, if your little rugrat has the hand strength and size to grip and squeeze it. I recommend this for 1-5 yr years old. At around 6 years old, your child will probably have enough brute strength to just force it open. It can be easily snapped back together when this happens.
Master Bedroom or Electrical Room
Your cheapest option here is obviously a lock and key door set. I’ve tried it on several doors. It drove us insane. If you think finding the remote control is tough, try finding a small metal object that an autistic kid mistakes for secret treasure.
My frustration with the lost keys led me to the concept of a digital lock. It takes 4 AAA batteries – which I don’t love – but it illuminates in the dark, which is a nice feature. Mechanical versions exist which are battery-free, but they don’t illuminate so I skipped them. I settled on this battery powered digital lock, and its working out great. Best of all, your kid will never crack it. (if he does, the CIA might be interested)
Outside or External Doors
This all depends on the height of your autistic child. We started out with gate latches, which are essentially age-proof if you put them at the 5 or 6 foot level. They are also very cheap. If install them high on the door, they will outlast your child’s need to escape. The issue is that they leave holes in your door if you ever want to remove them so they are basically permanent. The other big issue with these is that your children can lock you out of the house from the inside, so make sure you always have a backup door that doesn’t have one of these. I may or may not know this from personal experience.
I think the best solution, at least for children 5 and under, are these door knob lever handle locks. They are ideal for front doors, because front doors usually have a weird lever for opening the door that is directly under the deadbolt. There is also a fake button on it, to further confuse and misdirect your child. It also confused some adults, too.
Bedroom for Autistic Child
The reality is, you will need to lock your child in his or her room when it is time for bed. This is for their own safety, as well as others in the same house. If you don’t, you’ll be asleep while they are trying to open an outside door or attempting to turn on the oven. We’ve found that an app-connected camera really helps in this situation to check that everything is OK. Check out my post on smart home technology to learn more.
This Amazon door knob lock works well for our child’s room. All you have to do it reverse it so the lock mechanism is on the outside of the room.
