Providing Security and Safety for an Autistic Child?

JHDrexler asks: "I have read Slashdot for several years and often find topics/posts about security to be especially interesting, enlightening, educational, and sometimes entertaining. I consider myself to be fairly well educated and experienced when dealing with and enforcing security. But the situation that I am forced to deal with is, at its core, the basic fundamental reason for the requirement of security, but at such an unbelievable extreme that it has perplexed everyone that I have asked for assistance. While most security systems are designed to keep the un-trusted out. My application requires keeping the un-trusted out, while also keeping the un-trusted in and robust enough that the trusted users cannot break it." JHDrexler has three children, one of whom is autistic and tends to get into trouble. Could some form of system be developed (on a budget) that would be easy to use for the non-autistic children, yet restrictive enough to keep the autistic child from getting out, and possibly harming himself?

"Here is the issue. I have three children and a very loving, hard-working wife at home. My oldest child is a nine-year-old girl, and then I have my eight-year-old Autistic son, and then my five-year-old son. The eight-year-old presents the challenge. If you can imagine a two-year-old mentality in an eight-year-old body then you will begin to understand the issues that we face. This child is intelligent and determined, but he doesn't talk and he doesn't understand us when we talk to him. He doesn't understand fear and he doesn't understand pain. I have seen him play in the snow for twenty minutes, barefoot before we realized he had gotten out of the house. His only complaint was that we made him come back into the house to warm him up. The security in my house needs to be done in such a way that my nine and five-year-old can get in and out, without compromising the security in such a way that the eight-year-old can get out. I also need to do this on my own. Our efforts to get assistance from our local government agencies have failed.

We have tried chains, but he just unlatches them. We have tried keys but the kids (nine- and five-year-olds) either leave them where he can reach them, or they lose them when they need to use them. We have tried keypads, but he ate the buttons off of the first one that we bought. The new one had plastic buttons but after two weeks we found that he would look over the five-year-old's shoulder and read the code as he punched it in. The other two kids mean well and they understand, but let's face it, they are typical users. If the security is too hard to deal with, they won't. They won't close the door if they have to find a key to open it again. Besides, these kids need a life too and I cannot put the responsibility of the Autistic child's safety on these kids. It's too great of a burden and they are just kids. I need a solution that is transparent enough that they can live with it and robust enough that he can't break it. The keypads worked great but are just too easy for the Autistic kid to defeat.

I have looked into biometrics but everything that I have found only locks one direction and was expensive. I need something that will lock in both directions and can be done with less then two weeks pay. I am really hoping that someone here will have a creative, effective, and realistic solution that I can get running in a reasonable amount of time. My wife is pulling her hair out and will have a nervous breakdown soon if something doesn't happen.

I sincerely thank you for your time, your efforts and your ideas."

Comments

A dog

[Anonymous Coward]

A dog might be trainable to watch the kid and bark if there's a problem.

Reading Ability

[Tolchz]

Find a task that one child cannot do, such as (I would assume, read) This after all I believe what you are searching for, some method to tell a difference between the children, either with posession of a key or a certain fingerprint.

Get one of those rollup "indestructible" keyboards that they sell (I think tiger.com still has them)

Use a monitor to ask an easy question known to someone who could read.
(What color is the sky ? , How many fingers do you have ?, etc)

Without the ability to read one could not answer the question on the keyboard and could not unlock the door.

The only downfalls that I can see are the possible costs of interfacing the software with the locking door and the computer/monitor/keyboards.

It would probably be much cheaper then a biometric system but would be a little less fault tolerant as it is homebuilt.

Magnetic keys for pet doors

[ip_vjl]

I've seen variations of this selling in the stores for automated locks for pet doors. There's a little magnetic key that goes in the collar that triggers the locking mechanism so that your pet can activate the door, but other things do not.

The reason I bring this up is not to compare your kids to animals ;) - but that this might be a set of equipment that can be easily hacked apart to make bracelets or something similar for your kids.
Not sure what they cost, but I'd imagine it is easily within the "two weeks pay" limit.

Since kids are bigger than your average cat, I'd imagine they'd have to hold the bracelet to the sensor as opposed to just being in proximity to the door, but should still be workable nonetheless. My guess is that the circuitry isn't incredibly advanced, as it is designed for pet-size doors, therefore the security is probably pretty light (ie. limited number of codes - if any "codes" at all) which trigger the lock. You're not worried about a person getting through that 6"x10" hole, and raccoons aren't very good with electronics.

Should be worth a look as a starting point, though.

Good luck.

Check out some iButton-based solutions

[MarkGriz]

Dallas Semiconductor has a database with a whole range of solutions based on their iButton product line. You can browse it here

In particular, this looks like it might be an ideal solution.

Sensors?

[Lochin Rabbar]

You have my sympathy, my wife is a professional in the field of autism and I realise how wearing it can be for the parents of children with autism. However I'm not sure that locks are the answer. While I can see the attraction, and probably the need for such a system, I worry that the authorities and social services might not. A possible alternative might be the type of sensor system that they use for store security. If you could get your son to wear a tag then you would be alerted when he leaves the house, and be able to take action accordingly.

Re:Sensors?

[cybermace5]

I agree completely, you can't just lock the kid inside the house.

Imagine the huge risk you face, if the rest of your family has to use keys, or pass biometric testing, to exit the house.

If there is an emergency and the system works, the autistic kid won't be able to get out. If he was following you, and the door shut behind you and was locked from the outside, that's a huge problem.

If the system failed, no one can get out. At the very least, you have delayed your exit while you break a window, each family member crawls out, etc.,.

All I can see working here is a "house arrest" type of solution. An ankle bracelet will sound an alarm if the wearer wanders too far away, or if the bracelet is tampered with. Commercial solutions exist, obviously. They do usually call the police department in an alarm situation; the best solution would involve some kind of pager your wife would wear. If a ready-made solution is not available, a local consulting engineer may be able to provide a one-off solution for a reasonable (considering the risk) price. You may even be able to find a senior project group at a nearby engineering school, who may be able to get funding in other ways (grants, Lemelson funding).

Re:Check ebay and liquidations.....

[aridhol]

My guess is that he can learn over time if he can watch numbers entered in a keypad

My wife's lab has a keypad with sunken keys and LEDs under the keys. To open the door, you press the "reset" button, which will put all ten digits on the keypad in random order. This ensures that someone shoulder surfing can't get the code, as you need to be directly above the keypad in order to read the LEDs.

Are you underestimating his abilities?

[dacarr]

IANADoctor.

If he can think enough to read over the shoulder of your other kids to learn the codes, he is just going to break any sort of fence you put up for him.

In short, follow the RFID lock suggestions given here. That should help out, but it may be only a matter of time before he picks up a carelessly left bracelet.

Gate Mechanisms and RFID

[Rentasmo]

I worked for four years in a group home for children with developmental disabilities. Several of our children had issues with elopement and I understand how stressful it can be monitoring children who like to run off but don't understand that traffic is dangerous etc...

At the group home in which I worked we had a gate which required a semi-complex procedure to open, one had to lift a ring, turn a knob, and slide the handle of the gate all the way to the left in order to open the latch. I could possibly diagram the mechanism for you if you were interested. This would probably not work for your child if he is able to observe and remember keypad sequences.

As for the RFID devices, what about attaching or implanting them in the shoes of your children? Most children only have a few pairs of shoes and they aren't likely to be leaving the house without them. Nor is it obviously apparent to your other child what is unlocking the door (especially if you can get your children to be nonchalant about the device)