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Name: vavster [ Original Post ] I have 2 moderated mentally handicaped children, they are both very active, I have problems with my 6 year old and 2 year old not going to bed at night, they have been taking cold medicine, and it has not been working. My 6 year old will at all times, even 3 am go outside without telling no one and wander, nothing has happened to her yet. I have even put a movable piece of wood at the top right corner of the door and she got a stool from the kitchen and moved it, I now have the door knobs turned around to lock people in not out, this works except during the day when we are up and it is not good for security or fire safety. Can someone help me. ↓

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Name: Rachel | Date: Aug 6th, 2006 10:03 PM

My daughter is a wanderer and she is 12. It's very scarey. What I have done is to put several bolts on all doors going to the outside that can only be opened by specific keys. I also put a large heavy chair in front of each outside door before going to bed at night. Both of these things have helped. Another suggestion is to put in an alarm system that you can set at night that will go off if anyone opens a door going to the outside. That way you will be awakened if one of your children tries to take a midnight walk. Most special needs children suffer from some sort of insomnia and need medication to stay asleep all night. You might want to speak with your doctor about this. I live in a safe neighborhood, but I recently searched on the internet for registered sex offenders living in or close to my neighborhood. There are several within a half mile radius. They may be people who just made a mistake at some point in their lives or they may be dangerous. But the fact is that I don't know. I don't mean to sound alarmist, but special children cannot defend themselves at all. ↑

Name: kristen1313 | Date: Aug 8th, 2006 12:05 PM

get a pool alarm!!! it works when the door is seperated from the doorjam and it is LOUD!!! 98 decibles. my son is autistic(high functioning) and he hates loud noises and he kept taking off an it worked.it takes 30 seconds for the alarm to go off so when you answwer the door you have the ability to push the button and shut it off although you do have to hold the button down until you close the door. it is kind of a pain but the kids will figure out eventually the connection between opening the door and the loud noise and wont try to open it anymore and if they dont...you still have that loud noise you can tell your nieghbors if they hear it can they please look outside and make sure the child doesnt wander far from the house. an interception if you will.hope this helps you.it did help us when my son was 5 and we just found them again after the move(2 years ago) but he hasn't really had that much of a problem wandering and we have been working all this time on crossing the street with an adult. the pool alarm i think wqas like 30 bucks..cheap when consider the possible outcome from not having one. take care kris ↑