Stealing?

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I had the occasional problems with boys being boys and eating me out of house and home when they were teens but where I had the most problem with my fridge was when I was taking care of my mom. She had alzheimers and she was doing exactly what your son is doing...getting up in the night and going through my fridge and eating everything or just taking stuff out and making messes. I couldnt allow this to go on. Actually, we had to completely toddler proof my house again for her.

You say you have the two door fridge with the freezer on top and the fridge on bottom right? So the handles are in alignment with two handles. Thats what we had. We ran a chain around the fridge and looped it through the freezer handle and then snapped a padlock on the chain. you could do that with the dog tie out thing you are talking about. It just has to be the correct length so you dont have room for the door to open enough for the hands to get in.

We had those toddler doorknob grippers on all doors and the magnetic locks on all cabinets. I swear she was a pain! My toddlers were never as bad as she was...lol.
 

DS3

New Member
Well the dog chain worked for a little bit... until my son broke the handle off of the door of the fridge. ~sigh~ Where there is a will, there is a way... isn't that how the saying goes? At least it's still under warranty and they'll send a replacement at no charge. Still proves to be a problem since he'll just keep doing it.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Well... looks like you are going to have to fight both sides of the issue at the same time.
Yes, you have to keep him out... for now. But obviously, that isn't going to be a long-term solution.
So... somehow, you have to get to the bottom of "why".

Mine? His metabolism was reving so high, that he actually desperately needed the calories. On top of that, so many other needs were not being met that he was also self-medicating with food, to handle the depression. Given the calories that I now know he was eating... I have no idea why he doesn't way 300 lbs... except that, his metabolism must have been reving so high he burned it all off.

Now that we've gotten to the bottom of the base underlying issues, AND gone through more medications adjustments and got his metabolism running closer to normal... no more stealing, no more sugar cravings...
 
L

Liahona

Guest
Mine get into the fridge because they would rather have yogurt for dinner than what is on the table. With the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) they don't always see the difference between Mommy getting stuff out of the fridge and them getting stuff out of the fridge. There are also some sensory issues (difficult child 2 would love to get the yogurt out and smear it.)

What about the alarm idea? Then the fridge would open so he wouldn't have to take off the handle. I know there are alarms for windows and doors. I don't know if they would work for the fridge.

Also I still like the alarm you showed us. I just thought you'd have to find a way to attach it to the inside of the door like with an adhesive backed hook. I didn't know how well the adhesive would work in the cold of the fridge.
 

DS3

New Member
That's my next option. The alarm.

More or less, he gets into the fridge to eat what he wants. Which is fine if it wasn't all of the yogurt I just bought, or all of the fruit, et cetera. He doesn't know limitation and tends to eat things in excess. Not too mention that some things in there he just likes to destroy. For example, I have now lost about 12 dozen eggs because he likes to take them outside to throw them against the wall (he likes to see them break). Or the chocolate syrup that he thinks is fun to put all over the yard (because the ants need to be fed). I have tried to explain that I need the eggs for the dog, and that ants don't need to be fed, but it doesn't seem to help.

It is looking like he has a sensory processing disorder, but there are no specialists in the area to be able to diagnosis him with it, and no one to turn to for help. I was told that it's a 'relatively new concept' for this area. Closest area that does have stuff like that is two states away.

And I will type more later, but right now it's time to get ready for school and all of my running around today.
 

DS3

New Member
Well, I guess I don't have much to add to that. LOL. don't know why I put I would type more later. Probably because I know I want to post that IEP info I received. Hopefully will have that up later today/tomorrow (look for it in the school section).
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Sensory processing disorder... have you tried an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation? OTs are usually "everywhere". Not that you would get the diagnosis, but... the Occupational Therapist (OT) can run most of the testing - and other specialists would be looking for the Occupational Therapist (OT) results anyway. Plus, the Occupational Therapist (OT) has therapies that help...

Can you start with Occupational Therapist (OT)?
 

DS3

New Member
Just got the referral for Occupational Therapist (OT). Have to call tomorrow and set up the appointment as well as cancel the speech therapy until the IEP is set up. Insurance won't cover it until the IEP is in place to make sure that he's not getting double the help he needs.
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Make sure, when you book the Occupational Therapist (OT), that you specifically ask that they test for both "sensory issues" and "motor skills issues" - even if you don't think there are motor skills issues, the testing may pick up stuff that you wouldn't catch for a few more years (i.e. grade 2 or 3)
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Just a note... J had speech therapy as the only item on his IEP for a while. SD had to cover it, not insurance... Just a thought. I know it will take a bit of time, but it could be worth it...
 
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