Stop - Danger!

You may recall that Ben had an accident a couple of months ago - he pulled a TV and table down on himself. Luckily, he was fine - cannot say the same for the TV though. Since then, we have made changes in the house and researched ideas on how to make areas safer for Ben.

Our biggest concerns are the stove top and TV areas. After discussing with the OT and Speech Therapist, they came up with a plan to show Ben that he is not to touch the stove and TV. Ben's speech therapist made the sign above based on a Boardmaker picture. During their co-treatment sessions, they work on helping him to understand that he may not touch the area near the sign. Ideally, as we feel more comfortable with his understanding, we will move to a smaller sign. (Or I get tired of the huge sign hanging in front of my oven - whichever happens first.)

The sign works if we are in the room with Ben and able to say, "No touching!" He actually listens and moves away. I do not trust that it works if he is unsupervised. In other words, I do not think the sign keeps him honest, or safe for that matter.

For now, if we cannot be in the room with him, then he is strapped into his chair. I am too nervous about him putting his hand on a hot stove top or pulling something down on himself. I wonder about his ability to understand danger and if he is capable of fear. Until we know more or come up with another idea, I see big red stop signs in our future.