What is your child’s bedroom like? | Autism PDD
wow, in comparrison Cutis' room is over crowded! He has a Wiggles toddler bed a futon so I can stay with him if it's needed, an amoire for his clothes a train table, toy box, two bookcases and a small desk. We have dark navy curtains hanging and so far no problem. There is an overhead fan painted in primary colors as well. He sleeps in his bed most of the time. For Christmas he is getting a Thomas the Tank Engine bed wrapper that will enclose his bed to make it look like a train. He spends a lot of time in his room playing with the trains.
Staycie,
Chase is SUCH a cutie! All I can tell you about my son's room is that it is a mess!
Tiffany
Just wondering what your child's bedroom is like. Can you give me an idea? Chase's room has a bed, it has a rocker/recliner that is strapped so he can't recline, and some toys. We had to remove his dresser because he was dumping out all of his clothes and climbing in it. He had a full size bed in there when we moved him out of the crib, but he never slept in it. He only slept on the rocker. Early this year, we bought a Step 2 bed and he immediately loved it. So much so, he has slept in the bed every day since. But, remember that the bed enabled him to climb on the window as you can see in the pics below. We have since moved the bed and it is up against the wall to the right of the window. I am just wondering what you do? How do you keep your children that are older safe? We are in the process of looking at bars to put up since he mastered opening his window. This is always in the back of my mind, what do I do when he is older? Hopefully at that point he won't need bars and will understand the danger of it all. Oh, and FYI, he used to have curtains prior to the picture, but he was hanging on them as if he was Tarzan and tore them down. We have since put them back up with 50lb weighted anchors and so far, they are up still! I tried to put contact paper on the window to keep the sun out of his eyes in the am, but he tore that down too.
What he used to do before moving the dresser to his closet.
Keep trying
She has some toys in her room but I keep some of the toys like the ring stacker and others with multiple pcs in a box because my other kids always take them and lose the pcs. She would also eat just about anything and chew on toys so anything that was brittle had to be removed from her room. Things like pictures she could reach...no way. She had blinds but they're shot and I'm not sure what my next plan is window covering in her room...
In her room she has: her bed, tv, console, vcr, rocking horse, trampoline, beanbag chair, sit & spin, a box of misc toys like push button Vtech ABC, see and say, large cars, some FP little people. She doesn't have books in her room because she rips them even the board books. So I keep the books with some of her other toys that she uses with me or her dad.
Hi, my name is Heather, I don't have an autistic child (mine is ADHD) but I am doing research for school and I would like the opinions of the parents. I am attending school to get my degree in interior design and I am doing a project to make people more aware of barrier-free design. I am interested in knowing what parents would need in an entire house, anything from paint colors to furnishings, safety features, building materials, fabrics on furnishings, anything you can think of that would make your life a little easier and your child more comfortable in your home. If there is any special equipment associated with your child that would need to be integrated include that as well. I have looked at professional and company websites but I think the real knowledge would come from parents. Thanks so much for any information you can give me!! My daughter's room looks like a bag lady has taken up residence there. She puts everything into tons of little purses, bags, boxes and lines them up everywhereSo it sounds like storage that the kids would be interested in actually using but that would also appease a parents sense of neatness would be good. Thanks for the info.
Shelly,
Chase turned 4 in August, how old is Katy?
The locks on his windows are basic window locks, the ones you just turn 180 degrees to keep bad people out, not meant to keep good kids in. :)
I spoke with Chase's behavioralist (through the county today) and she said that the county has another service where I can have someone come out and make suggestions as to how to Chaseproof our house. I'm not sure I feel comfortable yet having someone come into my house and criticize everything we are doing, ya know? I should probably just get over it though and do it for him. Here is his room right now, he's actually sleeping in the bed, but you can't really see him at this angle. I'm just excited he still has curtains up! They are darkening too, can't put up blinds though because he will hang himself or chew on the string. I don't have any mini blinds available at all anywhere in the house (well, I do, but he doesn't really have access to those rooms) Don't mind the pink dress up center, I put it in there because he likes to look at himself in mirrors and well, I don't trust him with a real one. He can't hurt himself in this room! Oh, and when he pulled down the curtains the first time, he pulled out the screws and when I found him, he was chewing on the screws!!!!! Stuff you never would think about, he does. haha
Mary
Chase's bed allows him to be just high enough that he will hang on the ceiling fan and spin it while jumping down! Its insane. Thank you for the responses, he is so cute its difficult to be mad for long at him. He is into everything. We could never have all the stuff in there that Katy has! It would be all over the ground and one big mess pile. Simplicity is the word with Chase. I will try and get another pic of his room now, its not much different other than there are curtains now and a few more toys.It hasn't always been this way Staycie. We used to have to "Katy guard" EVERYTHING, even ( epsecially ) her own room. I promise you, if we had more room here all those things would be stored away where she has to ask for them rather than having them at her access 24/7, lol. I clean/straighten her mess every day.
About the windows, what kind of locks do you have that he is able to open? Katy's room is on the second floor - thank God she hasn't expressed an interest in them - YET. It looks to me like you've done a great job with making Chase's room cute and safe for him. The ceiling fan would concern me, lol. The poster who said that his understanding of dangers would improve as he gets older is probably right. Katy was alot like Chase at his age. If I were you I'd just keep that bed away from the windows, away from the middle of the room too so he can't get to the ceiling fan.......oh, and at one point ( I forgot this earlier ) we had to take Katy's mirror off of her dresser. It just stressed me out too much - I was always afraid she'd somehow pull it down on her or throw something and break it.
Ethan still sleeps in his pack and play in the living room or on the couch with me. He is so squishedI'm in the process of getting Katy either a Captains bed with the drawers underneath, or bunkbeds - can't make up my mind which. I'd like the bunk beds so Emma will have a place to sleep when she visits but we really could use the storage that comes with the Captains bed. They also have a really cute bunk bed that has a pull out futon on bottom.
Anyway, this is her room as it is. The only thing that has changed since this picture was taken is that she now has an armoire and computer in one corner - TV on top of the armoire. I'm also planning on getting her an art/therapy table. Still waiting on her SSI backpay to make that happen.
I had to pull up her carpet on account of her allergies and was SO pleased to find the most beautiful hard wood floor underneath!
That's my friend Betty in the mirror, playing air guitar with Katy, lol.
Kolby's room is bare it has his bed and 2 tubs for toys with a dresser in his closet and a TV mounted on the wall. Thats his room lol.
Kyle has a bed, dresser with a fish tank on top, two night stands, one with a snake tank on top and the other with a hermit crab tank on top and a little corner table with a lamp.
No toys allowed cause he will play them all night. He has books and a keyboard.
Nick shares a room with his older brother, so they share a dresser, they both have beds and since the closet rod broke ( their clothes are in my closet) the closet doors are off, and they use that space for their toybox... should they still have a toy box at 12 and 14? Under nick's bed is his train set and his marble run - its in an underbed tupperware. His window has an automatic lock on it. so, to open it you have to squeeze the lock and pull the window open..... I don't worry about him escaping. Of course, the room is a mess... He has a duffle bag of trains hanging on his bedpost. And his brother's legos are all over the floor at the moment.
~Wendy~
ps. most of the time, since its sooooo cold here, nick is in my queen bed with me.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE THE BED!!!!!!! WHERE DID YOU GET IT? HOW MUCH WAS IT AND CAN I GET ONE???? TOO COOL!!
The shutters are a good idea. I have them in the living room and kitchen but don't have them in Katy's room yet.
Ok, I found this link to it...its pretty hilarious the person describing how he was touched by the episode. I am laughing at him. Oh, and apparently it aired in Oct /Nov of 2004. Where the hell have I been? Have I lost THAT MUCH OF MY LIFE that I don't remember it was over 2 years ago?
http://youcantmakeitup.blogspot.com/2004/11/extreme-home-mak eover-with-cry.html
Another one. http://www.mediavillage.com/jmentr/2004/11/10/jmer-11-10-04/
I almost had an anxiety attack looking at Katy and Sharlet's rooms! We could NEVER have a room with so many things to tear up!Mason's room is ever evolving. We went from an ADORABLE primary colored room with a nice wood bed to eventually a twin matress on the floor, usually with the sheets and matress pad pulled off. (he climbed under the bed and kicked out the slats that held the box spring and ripped the quilting off of the box springs)
He tore the blinds down and managed to yank the wire shelving down from the closet. I moved his cloest into the spare room and got a Little Tykes race car toddler bed. He loves the bed and sleeps in it, which he never did with the other beds, he would always crash on the floor. He may fit in there for another year.
There are very few toys in his room, just whatever he carries in with him at night. He also used the toy bins to climb up and tear the art off of his walls. I only have a couple of colorful foam type picture frames nailed down alone the very top of the wall now. When he broke one of the the windows out last year I replaced it with plexiglass <sp?> and that has worked great.
I would suggest a pin type fixture at the top of his window for a quick fix. I had these installed in his room in Florida, I got the inspiration from my sliding glass doors. He didn't see it up there I don't think, but he certainly would have figured it out eventually.
I LOVE Chase's bed! Mason would too. I am going to go see if they have something similar in "big boy" style beds.......
Drew's room has a Thomas the tank engine bed and Harold the helicopter painted on the wall. He used to climb on his dresser so I put it in the closet. He also fell out his window about 2 years ago. (luckily it's only about 1 foot off the ground) Also my mother in law was watching him and heard him so she immediately went to get him otherwise he could have ended up wondering off or in the street. After that my husband put a lock that screws on the window so it only opens about 4 inches (just enough to get some air). I also have similar locks on my front windows in the main part of our house and extra latches up high on all doors leading outside. (in case he leaves his room at night and tries to get out) He has never done this -but I won't take any chances.
We have shutters in our living room since our windows are literally 5 feet tall. He bangs on them at times. That may be an answer for now, but I bet he would chew on them. Imagine that?
His dresser is an antique, made of real wood. You know those interlocking drawers? They do not have any wheels or gliders, just wood. We bought it from a friend's grandma for . It really is a great piece of furniture and I didn't freak that he would fall out, he doesn't weigh that much, but still. I'm just glad that it was that dresser and not some cheapy that is made nowadays. There was a mirror in the room too, but well, that wasn't a good idea anymore so we have that in the spare room now.
Non-breakable mirrors attached to the wall is a good idea too. If you think of any kind of sensory toys that can be mounted to the walls permanently that would be a good idea too. I saw an Extreme Home Makeover where Ty had a specialist come in and do a room for an autistic child. It was AWESOME! I cried watching his reactions to his new room... Oh, I would love to have some kind of security camera in there too, but where the cords are tucked away, like in the closet so that some children with chewing facinations won't chew the cords. That is why we had to take ours down. I need to have an electrician come in and put an outlet in the closet so I can lock him out of there but mount a camera up high enough he can't reach it. Oh and I want that in my dd's room too when she is a teenager!
Right now he has a crib, a youth dresser, a youth dresser with bookcase, and some toys, a rocker. I would post pictures but I don't know how to do that(anyone??) The "test phase" of him sleeping in a reg bed that we had a couple of months ago prepared us for what we will have to do when he is finally out of the crib, His closet doors will have to be latched and alot of the things on his dresser will have to be moved. His bookcase will also need to be anchored to the wall. I love the step2 bed!! I looked it up and you can get it at walmart.com for 8, not a bad deal it is good for ages 3-11. Pretty cool! Thanks Chasesmom!!
You REALLY brought back memories of when Tony was 2 or 3... nothing was safe around him. He too would crawl under the bed, somehow push the boxsprings and mattress off the frame, and knock the slats out. We went through a few years of he and Daniel (my youngest) sleeping on just the twin mattresses on the floor. Also, most of the time, no linens (not even pillowcases).
I remember when he was that young, I prayed every day that Social Services did not come out to investigate us!
Mary
I can't remember which poster said that her child was climbing on the dresser......Katy did this for the first time about two weeks ago. I was stunned - she hasn't 'pulled anything' like that for a long time! She was on top of her dresser, jumping to her bed, then to the floor.You would be able to use it for longer than age 11! Well, unless your child is longer than about 5'7" at 11. I am 5'3" and about 130 lbs, I fit on the bed just nicely. It only needs a twin mattress, no boxspring so it fits in the bed really well. Its a modified crib in a way, sunken in, I think that is why he likes it so much. What I like the most is that it is a thick plastic and well, he can't chew it.
Oh and if you are afraid of your child jumping off the bed? Yep, he does this, I swear 1 day he is going to go through the kitchen ceiling (below his room)! Did I tell you he jumps from it to swing the ceiling fan? Scares the crap outta me! haha
My friends joke that if social services ever came to my house and took Mason away, they would bring him back in a hour with apologies.......At least with the plastic bed his room may still be barren but it isn't as bad as that stained mattress on the floor surrounded by the contents of his comforter.
I bought a kids sleeping bag for him and he LOVES it. He can't seem to tear it apart at the seams (yet) like he does with the other blankets and it is thick and warm. I feel better about his room right now than I have in years.
Hi! I was so glad to see this! My son Zachary will be 3 in April. My husband and I just put his dresser in the closet, removed his toy box, hung the TV up on the wall, like a hospital room and hung many high shelves for all of his toys. He sleeps on a twin mattress on the floor. We had to remove the todler bed as he was pushing it around the room. He climbed out of the crib at 13 months! Climbed over baby gates- He was climbing on everything. Piling toys, pillows whatever to get on top of the dresser! We have cut his bedroom door in half, like a farm door(With a fence latch in the hallway)so that he can be safe while I am in the shower or cooking! Your son is adorable and I totally know what you are going through! Happy new year.
Chrissy
My daughter's room has a bed in it.
That's it.
I want to move it away from the window, but my hubby says no.
I can move the handle up high so she can't open the window. They're sliding windows. In the summer, we slide them so that the window not close to her bed has air coming through it, but it's not open (hard to explain).
We tried putting a lamp in there. She trashed it. There's no light in her room. We use the hallway light. We will get around to putting a light fixture in the ceiling.
My daughter (4) will not sleep in her bedroom, she always ends up in my bed. So the bedroom is now a play room. She is a climber too. While I was reading these posts my 10 year old said " Mom, Destinys on top of the fridge again". I just got her down. He asked me." Mom, how does she get up there?" I have no idea, I have not caught her in the act, she is quick as a bullet. She gets on top of everything. She loves to be high up.
My older son (16) has his own bedroom/treehouse. His bedroom is up in a tree 12 X 12, has power, his hammock, he didnt want a bed, weightset, computer, tv, ps2 and games, and of course his guitars and stereo.
My 10 year old son wont sleep in any bedroom, he is scared for some reason so he sleeps in the LR, his bedroom has all of his stuff in it but he does not play in there, he brings it to the LR to play with.
My 5 year old sleeps in his room (he is not asd) he has MR and an Anxiety disorder.
My 17 year old NT has already graduated and moved out.
Jers room is neat- and has a queen bed now as we got a new bed and gave him our bed.
LOTS of books. BIG books, LITTLE books- Thick books, etc, etc.
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