Your Advice Requested: How to Keep an Autistic Child from Climbing?

Sounds like your child is seeking a lot of proprioceptive input (muscles and joints). She needs to fulfill that need on a daily basis in a safe, fun, and appropriate manner. Are you working with an OT to provide a sensory diet for home and or school? Seek out an OT who is well versed in working with kids who seek a lot of movement. Think about safe ways to give her the opportunity to climb, swing, jump, etc. Good luck!
Vicky
Occupational Therapist

You have just described my 4 year old. He craves & needs intense activity to satisfy his vestibular system and once that is satisfied, it has to be followed up with proprioceptive input (as Vicky mentioned).

We use a sensory diet schedule and the “diet” focuses on 6 things…movement, pressure & touch, heavy work, suck chew & breathe, routine & planning and finally retreat. Following the schedule really helps settle my son down. It allows him to focus on an activity & also prevents meltdowns when we’re out in public (library, grocery store, etc). Hope this helps.

My daughter is also loves to climb. She is high functioning, and does talk, uses PECS, but jsut had the need to climb. I measured my bookcases and went to the hardware store and had them cut to size plexi glass. I used velcro (when you have a child with autism..velcro is your best friend) to attatch the plexi glass. She can still see the pretty tings on the shelf, however can not climb it.

I have three boys on the spectrum who all were and are climbers. I agree with the other Mom’s about the Sensory diet, it’s all about the sensory issues. I had to take all chairs out of the kitchen so he could stop climbing on the table. Once you fulfill that need it does get better. To calm my boys, rollig them like a hot dog in a soft blanket helped, they love that! Good luck!
Pam

I strongly agree with the above comments. It’s rather pointless to assign consequences or expect a child to understand “no” if her sensory needs are not being met.

Pick your battles. At home, I would let my sons climb over the furniture and entertainment center. I would keep them safe…and then let them do whatever their bodies needed to do at the time. (I obviously didn’t allow that at other people’s homes.)

My older son would literally climb the walls at the doctor’s office. It was far more effective to set up a quick in-and-out procedure with the nursing staff and otherwise protect him from sensory overload than to tell him “no” over and over.

I also agree with the above. Be sure to have a safe place to redirect the climing – no you can’t climb on the table but you can climb on the _________ (you may end up with something like a Little Tykes playscape in your living room). With my son it was jumping and we had a trampoline in our living room for years

We had our son climb the walls. Literally, we put climbing holds on the wall. We bolted them right into the studs. They come in different shapes and sizes, and you can order them online. They are strong enough to support a full-size adult.

As for not sleeping, have you tried melatonin? It was recommended by our dev. pediatrician, and it has changed our world. The less sleep they get, the more active they become.

Have you have your daugher evaluated for other issues such as ADD/ADHD? My daughter eleven-year old exhibited very similar behaviors between 2 and 5 years old. She is autistic and ADHD combined.

We found a developmental pediatrician who was very helpful in evaluating our daughter at four years old. She also provided advice and therapies.

Yes, we found it helpful to put locks on all doors, including the Entertainment Center and kitchen cupboards and drawers.

It was also helpful to take Jessica on a lot of “outings” to the park where she could run and climb more safely than in the home. Indoor playground areas where she run and jump when the weather was bad.

She loved the swings in particular at three and four years old. It was helpful to try build these “outings into the weekly schedule, even though Jessica was barely talking (50 words at three years old) she learned to expect them and want to go do them. She was usally much less intense after playing at the park for 45 mins or a long walk through the mall/or walk someplace new. Classical music was also very calming.

Hope this is helpful to you.

It wasn’t our autistic child that did the most dangerous climbing it was our younger child exploring. We actually connected bungie cords together around the chairs as they were pushed under the kitchen table. They didn’t have the strength to pull them out. We also covered the metal pieces with soft cloth (sox) so they wouldn’t harm the wood.

My husband built a very large train table both in width and height. My son is allowed to climb on it and often sits on it when connecting train tracks, putting puzzles together and even watching TV. Having a place where he CAN climb helps with keeping him from climbing in other areas.

This is going to be a very odd and strange answer but, as I meet people from all over the autism spectrum including some in their 80 and 90’s from my blog, They , simply laugh and say gee we were simply never allowed to do such nonsense and after a few whacks you figured that out. These whacks were never child abuse and I can see where some could see them as that in this day and age but in reality they gave Autism some tough standards to live up to.

Yes, there is a group of Older Autisitcs that has never been studied simply put our story and our success is an out right embarassment to modern Autism. Just how could they explain us and our thought process and our odd but strange life that somehow worked? How can they explain todays young autisitc that are growing up Amish, Orthordox and or simply in strict homes and coming out so well? Rich Shull

My sons are 6 years. They share a diagnosis of PDD/NOS ADHD. Only one twin is a climber. With him, it has become a game for attention. He laughs and runs when he hears me comming. It’s very trying. Usually he is trying to get hold of some paper to tear. He shreds it any chance he gets. Its his game, he pretends the strips of paper are different animal tails. A medication trial has helped somewhat. Its obsessive. The only other deterent is to keep him very busy. Scheduled first/then activities. Constant. He only climbs at home. I wonder, does your child climb outside of the home? Janice

I have never known another who tears paper like my 6 year old son with Autism!. My son is non verbal so I have no idea what hes thinking when doing this. Its so interesting that your boy pretends they are animals tails. makes me smile, although i Know the frustration too.

The question I have is how do you get your child to brush their teeth? My grandchild absolutely refuses to brush her teeth or to let anyone else do it for her. Help

I must say that when I read all the comments it gave me a good chuckle. My 8 yr. old son has Autism/PDD and he’s climbing from the time his feet hit the floor till he goes to bed. I’m just so use to it that I don’t let it bother me. When I have company over they are so amazed how that don’t drive me crazy. I just look at it like this… If he’s happy, so am I. You just gotta love these special children. I also tell people that God gave him to me because he knew that I had all the love and patience that he needs.

I have an 11 yr old son who is Autistic. I changed his behavior by changing his diet. I removed ALL wheat, gluten and dairy. Almost overnight he was more social he wasn’t doing bazarre things anymore. Along with my consistant parenting, OT and speech he has come along way. Feel free to email if you have any questions! Ranae

i would like to know more about your sons diet, i have a 6 yrs old son with severe autism who is very active loves climbing but can be a danger to himself. thanks lisa

Hi Lisa,
I removed wheat, gluten, dairy from my son’s diet. He’s now almost 17 and is doing well. Over the years since I’ve started this a lot has come out for people to eat. Coconut Milk is a BIG hit…they make yogurt and ice cream which is VERY good. I also do all organic…no processed garbage. No anti-biotics in meats I get grass fed. Someone once told me that when children with Autism eat wheat, gluten, dairy it’s like us on LSD. My son was very aggressive, had eczema, vomited a lot, I could go on and on…..and when I changed his diet it was so obvious he cant handle the wheat etc……he cannot break the wheat proteins down in his body. Please feel free to email me and ask whatever you’d like to know!!! Ranae

Here is a point to ponder?

Some of us missing the modern autism were never on diets of anytype. Interestingly we note when our families suffered from food posioining or even colds or flu we were rarely if ever effected in the same severe mannor. Our symptoms were not as severe. Other times we were feeling bad and might have been pretty sick and never knew it.

When I was 30 something I became lactose intolerant and for close to two years I was at the doctor all the time for stomach related trouble. As usual he pressed and pushed I never showed a reaction to cause him any concern. Tests resutls were fine to odd. Finally I figured it was the dairy food that was the issue and started takeing loctose pills with dairy meals and all is well.

Could it be we have something as simple as lactose intolerance or perhaps an adversion to wheat and all the real doctor can see are the symptoms and even despite exams we don’t give the vital clues of “oh that hurts”. Can you just imagiane just how out of proporation a simple condition might be if we don’t show any pain. Perhaps removing the wheat and glution is not solving the problem but rather taking the problem away by simply avoiding the offending food? If our pain goes away, we are then better able to do the things we are expected to do. We have a theory in our group that despite not feeling the pain as you would know it it does ‘nagg’ at us and thus we don’t preform well in real life.

I detailed a test for the pain tolerance in my Book, and suggested that aspies be presented with several bolts and given a wrench and then told to tighten those bolts tight. If you mixed all types of bolts and grades of bolts I predict we would break every bolt ,snap it like a candy cane that was grade 8 or below. I did this very experiement in Real life as a beginner auto mechanic. I have tried it on modern Aspie Friends and they too busted bolts left and right and never even strained doing it. When I set a torque wrench to 20 ft lbs and retightend more bolts none of us thought it was even close to tight.

Obviously no one in new Autism or even medicine even knows of this ideal and simply by ignorance ignores the “obvious” . Old Autism before Rain Man knew of this ideal and at least admitted to it. I spoke with a pre rain man researcher years ago that knew of it and he to had come up with a test like I describe. He could have been ran out of town on a rail as the modern autism took hold. He was told to get with the new program or quit.

We also note many new age aspie DO feel pain in a traditional way and I predict they would not break the bolts in my tests. This amazing ideal of autism needs to be investigated and figured out for the good of all of mankind but I don’t think modern Autism has enough insight to do it.

Rich Shull

“Life has a certain flavor for those who have fought and
risked all, that the sheltered and protected can never
experience”
John Stuat Mill-Philosopher-1806-1873

Thanks for all the good advice. Hope rich and his merry band of Older Autistics are donating their brains to science so we figure how they did it.

Our daughter 3 1/2 is our angel. But she is exhausting. She climbs on everything!! My house is blocked off with baby gates (which she is starting to climb now) my house looks like a maze, I have no chairs at my kitchen table, I can’t have toy bins or toys that are too large or she will pull them over to the kitchen counter to get up, she uses her feet on the cabinet handles to get up, she climbs on top of the TV stands, The TV’s, the window siles, dressers, you name it. I can’t even have a half way put together house because we keep having to take things out of the accessible rooms, screw cabinets closed etc. It’s costing me a fortune in rigging everything up to keep her safe. I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know what she needs to satify why she climbs. she doesn’t do it at school, only at home. She’s very petite and light weight and strong so she can get to almost anything and she puts such thought into getting it. None of the other kids in her class do this. I feel so alone and I need answers. She has all the therapy-ot,speech,aba,pre-k. I even got a “little tykes climbing cube” in my familyroom and a trampoline but still she climbs everything. When I think I have it under control and she can’t climb on anything else…she finds it. I can’t be with her every single second and I’m afraid she will get hurt.

my grandson climbs from the time he wakes up till he goes to sleep my daughter has at her home a trampolene in an outdoors an a swingset of which he climbs seems the more he climbs the more he does it an telling him no an sayin feet on floor all day evrytime does not work he has gotton hurt pull a grandfather clock over on hisself we were lucky some cuts an scrapes he will heal but he got up an went right back her house is locked an strape in like fort knocks he is taken an gaven places to climb afe places but when he gets in the house its like he cant stop hisself any advice we will try thank u

Some great ideas here..but the issue for these children is mult faceted. First of all.. all children..whether typical or autistic.. need boundaries. Sometimes we attribute all behaviors to a disorder, when in fact your child is, well, being a child! One must always look at the DEGREE to which something is occurring. Im surprised that no one is discussing occupational/and or physical therapy. Or behavior intervention plans??? Children on the spectrum should be receiving individual services to address their needs across all environments. If your child is receiving services at home.. perhaps an o/t can be part of his or her plan to address the sensory and physical needs of your child. This would be deemed a “related service” in the IEP and it can sometimes be crucial to effectively help these children access their curriculum.
Some children will climb for attention..so re directing may be the best thing to do. This is where an FBA (functional behavioral analysis) would be helpful. Talk to your school about this. It’s the law!!
I’m afraid there’s just too much to write about this in one small forum, but if I can add one more thing.. please don’t allow your child to “climb anywhere anytime” because it “makes him happy”. You cannot have eyes and ears all the time and he/she will attempt to climb on the bookshelf that’s NOT tethered to the wall.. and the results could be disastrous. Ignoring or condoning the behavior is not ultimately going to help your child learn and function appropriately.
My 8 year old broke his arm in two places because he climbed and fell .. he will regress because the cast is keeping him from receiving some services.
Good luck to everyone

I had the same problem, but my son climbed the hallway walls! You can’t stop it. It’s all about Damage Control. I found that if I gave him something else to do, I bought a noise button-it’s a kid’s toy, press one of 4 buttons and they each make a different noise-and that seemed to keep him busy all day. I also used it at night-”no speaking, no moving, but the noise button can make all the noise you want! He would fall asleep in 1 minute! This was a miracle! He used to get up in the middle of the night and eat everything out of the fridge, and not eat all day! He is 15 now, and his iPod is my answer! Hope this helps!

re number 18 cristine , your discription of your daughter sounds just like our son , we are pulling our hair out about his climbing on our window ledge , he is put on the naughty step about 100 times a day , we have tried everything we can think of . so dont feel alone , there’s a lot of parents with autistic children in this world that all feel the same as you and my wife and i , feel free to e mail us if you want at emmamorganlee@yahoo.com

Christine (comment number 18) I honestly could have written your entire post myself! We too have baby gates everywhere, (which she now hops with ease) no chairs around the dining room table, and every single little item becomes a “ladder” of sorts to help facilitate our daughters need to climb. For us, it is not as simple as a matter of allowing them to climb wherever they want while they are at home, it is seriously becoming an issue of safety, and like you, it would also feel pretty good to be able to have a functional and decorated house without the fear of our daughter navigating her way to the ceiling! Our daughter is also extremely destructive, so not only does she climb, but she seeks and destroys as well. She too is in all of the appropriate therapies to include OT, ST, PT and ABA 5 days a week. I am going to speak to her OT about the sensory diet on Monday morning because at this point, we are willing to do whatever we can to keep her safe and to make her more comfortable within her own skin. Thanks for your post.

our son oscar is the same he climbs the tv unit and climbs onto the window sills and trys to open the windows. he will climb furniture it doesnt matter how many times u say down down down stop stop finish he looks at us and carries on with the climbing. we cannot find a safe place for him he runs around the house pulling everything out and doesnt understand any dangers at all. we just dont know what to do. we did find a website http://www.safeplaces.co.uk which have a room inside a room which is safe for children with autism but they are so expensive – we need help he doesnt sleep and he doesnt eat properly only baby porridge

My son is autistic and not speaking or understanding and is 5yrs old. I too am going crazy with the climbing and he also is destroying anything that is plastic and paper . I also have now started to use Melentonin since we have not slept for a few years. We have just learned from a toxicology report that he is full of toxins and what we are doing is giving him epsom salt baths 5 days a week that draws some of the metals out of his system and we are now giving him vitamins which is also suppose to be drawing out the toxins. We also stopped dairy products and it has only been a few months and we have seen some difference in his speech but still a long way to go. but its a start. I will give you an update to see how these vitamins work in the future……