Dangerous climbing

[lisa2701]

Hi everyone,

 

I keep catching my 4 year old autistic son standing on his window ledge. He's never done anything like this before, but i'm now worried sick when putting him to bed. I found him this evening stuck, unable to get down, tangled in his blinds. I'm terrifed that he's going to really get hurt. I plan on removing the blinds tomorrow so he doesn't get tangled in them, there are locks on the windows, but obviously he's still in great danger. My husband and i have tried talking to him about it and explaining how dangerous it is but i get the feeling that he doesn't understand. I'm at a complete loss at what to do. We've also removed everything he can use to get up there but he still managed. Wondering if anyone has had a similar experience that could offer some advice???

 

Thanks Lisa xxx

[puffin]

So real advice but given that my own DD1 managed to jump out of her bedroom window at the age of 2 - despite window locks - I can understand your worry. Luckily our hous was on the side of a hill so the drop was only around 6½ feet - but still scary - although DD1 was oblivious - mostly proud of her own cleverness.

 

We have also had other incidents like the time she fell off the top of the wardrobe having climbed up the shelf side like a ladder; the time a bookcase fell on top her aged 6 when she tried to do the same thing and the time I saw her over 40 feet up a tree.

 

What is your main fear? That he will fall of the ledge or fall through the window?

[Mandapanda]

Hi lisa2701

 

What a stressful time this must be. <'> <'> <'>

 

Someone more knowledgeable will hopefully post later, but I would talk to GP, Health Visitor, anyone else who will listen, so they are aware this is happening.

 

I imagine Social Stories could be useful here (I've never really understood these myself, but other people say they are really helpful). You could look into that, they should help explain the dangers in a way he can understand.

 

Just a radical thought, could you use a cuddly toy to act out and explain what could happen and why he shouldn't do it? You could have teddy fall off the windowsill and need his head bandaged, and talk about how he would feel about that. Being indirect may work better - he is not intending to fall so may not believe he will, and may better understand the concept of slipping or accidentally falling off if he sees teddy do it. Just be careful though, I wouldn't want to be responsible for your son going on to do something he hadn't yet thought of. It is possible with asd to say too much!!

 

Good luck.

[Frizz]

Hi lisa2701. We had similar problems when our DD was 4! Trying to explain the danger was just a waste of time with her,she found it funny & did 'scary' things repeatedly. She just didnt(& still doesnt) link cause & effect. The penny dropped with the climbing on the windowsill on the day that she pulled a roller blind down on top of her head. The cord had been round her neck! As we waited in casualty to have her head stitched up,the 'rope' mark became more & more visable-looked like we'd tried to strangle her!!!

5yrs on & you still wont find a set of blinds at any of our windows & its only in the last 12 months that we have allowed her bedroom windows to be un locked. I know your DS is young but could a social story help to explain the dangers? When DD was 4 we didnt have an AS diagnosis & knew nothing of social stories, if we had I would have given one a go, in a bid to try to get through somehow. Good luck.

[lisa2701]

hi,

 

Thanks for your replies. My main fear is that he will fall off the window ledge and really hurt himself. There is a radiator directly under it and i have visions of him slipping, getting his foot caught and breaking his ankle. I have spoken to my HV but her only advice was to tell him off for it. I'm not sure what i was hoping for, but i was hoping for better advice than that. lol. I'm not worried about him falling through the window as its double glazing, and the windows are locked, and have safety catches on them even if he did open them. I'm pretty new to autism so i'm not entirely sure how i would create a social story relevant to my ds??

 

Thanks again

 

Lisa xx

[Mandapanda]

hi,

 

Thanks for your replies. My main fear is that he will fall off the window ledge and really hurt himself. There is a radiator directly under it and i have visions of him slipping, getting his foot caught and breaking his ankle. I have spoken to my HV but her only advice was to tell him off for it. I'm not sure what i was hoping for, but i was hoping for better advice than that. lol. I'm not worried about him falling through the window as its double glazing, and the windows are locked, and have safety catches on them even if he did open them. I'm pretty new to autism so i'm not entirely sure how i would create a social story relevant to my ds??

 

Thanks again

 

Lisa xx

 

Try my teddy suggestion straight away, it is a visual representation and it might help a bit. You may find you have to treat him like a younger child for the purposes of situations like this. Ask your son why teddy might climb up there (this may reveal why he does it). Ask him what he thinks might happen if teddy climbs up and discuss it all in an indirect way. It might also show up whether your son can understand that if that happened to someone else it would hurt. Then you can talk about how you would feel if it happened to him, and how it would hurt him. You might want to talk about how teddy/he does not plan or want to fall but could slip accidentally. In my experience, saying "if you do this, this will happen" does not work with an asd child.

 

You could put a picture of somebody (stick boy?) falling on the window with a big red cross on it?!

 

I have found discussing situations at a quiet time works much better than 'telling them off'. It is time consuming but they can learn this way (though it may take many discussions).

 

Good luck.

 

Good luck.

Edited August 9, 2009 by Mandapanda

[lisa2701]

hi mandapapa,

 

Thank you for your reply. I will definatly try the teddy technique with my son tomorrow, when i can get time just the two of us. Its a very good idea, and i think it will work with my son as he's extremely visual. He is normally very aware of dangers, always telling adults to watch the road as there are dangerous cars, and becarefull when your working with hot water etc, but he just doesn't seem to understand how dangerous this new found climbing skill is. I will be sure to update you on how our discussion with teddy goes.

 

Lisa xx

[concernedmummy]

I was just about to start a new thread and saw this one!!! My 2 year old ds has started climbing onto the window ledge in the conservatory, I nearly had a heart attack when he first did this. There is no way at his age I can explain how dangerous this is, he level of understanding is very poor at the best of times. What surprises me is that he is so careful most of the time, he grabs hold of the spindles on the stairs when he comes down them and will only take them one at a time holding the spindles with both hands. When he shuts doors he really carefully has his hands flat so he doesn't trap them. So this climbing onto the windowledge seems really out of character for him. I have no idea how the hell I am going to get him to understand that it is dangerous!! :o

[Mandapanda]

Hi concernedmummy

 

How verbal is your son? Could you/someone else draw some pictures showing a favourite toy doing the same thing, with 2 or 3 endings showing different outcomes.

 

Asd children can be very rule-led but they can also act impulsively, but you may find there is a 'good' reason for him doing this, eg. a different view of the room/outside.

 

I would suggest talking to the NAS to see what they suggest. It strikes me that the NAS should perhaps develop some cartoon type leaflets to help parents explain dangers like this to their children.

 

 

[concernedmummy]

Hi Mandapanda, he's not very verbal at all and his understanding is very limited indeed, I know that he wants to look out of the window which will be why he is getting up there. He reacts very badly if he is told 'no' and it makes no difference to what he does anyway, we are obviously not taking our eyes off him but it is frustrating working out how to explain dangers to him when he doesn't seem to understand even basic sentences and he only understands a limited amount of words!!!

[Mandapanda]

Hi Mandapanda, he's not very verbal at all and his understanding is very limited indeed, I know that he wants to look out of the window which will be why he is getting up there. He reacts very badly if he is told 'no' and it makes no difference to what he does anyway, we are obviously not taking our eyes off him but it is frustrating working out how to explain dangers to him when he doesn't seem to understand even basic sentences and he only understands a limited amount of words!!!

 

Hi concernedmummy

 

You might assume he wants to see out of the window, but things aren't always as obvious and straightforward as that. My son was forever 'calling' the cat with a little noise we make. One day when he was older I said "why do you keep calling the cat when your are walking away?". He said "Oh, I thought it was comforting him." (I felt really guilty questioning his action then !)

 

Could you possibly put a step near the window with some cushions around, so he can look in a more relatively safe place? Or could you perhaps lift him up to look out of the window, perhaps first thing in the morning and last thing at night and talk about what you can see. Maybe when it becomes a more normal activity it won't seem so attractive.

 

Saying no may not mean anything to him. Relating the word no to the action he is carrying out is actually quite a complex process. It might be worth trying to just calmly (if you can!) lift him down each time, without making a fuss. We managed to stop our eldest pulling all the CDs out of the rack by doing this. It took about 3 months and was exhausting, but eventually he gave up and realised it was more fun doing something else as we wouldn't keep taking him away.

 

I do think you would be best getting some more knowledgeable advice from the NAS, due to your son's difficulties with understanding.