Is there such a thing as a helmet with a lock to keep it in place...?

Question

Is there any such thing as a helmet that comes with a lock, so that when you put it on a child's head, it can be locked, so the child cannot remove the helmet on his/her own? I am talking about for kids who are Autistic or have similar conditions, and have headbanging behavior, but would just take off their helmet if it didnt have a lock.

Answer 1

There are two thoughts I have.

One is that hockey helmets have the snap guards on the side that make it somewhat difficult to get off.

However, the other question that people fail to see is that some people will take the helmet off because it is either too tight, uncomfortable or they do not like helmets at all.

You can try getting a better fitting helmet instead of a one size fits all that has some cushion inside the helmet or you can try a light weight helmet such as a bicycle helmet with some extra cushioning inside.

Banging their heads is a "stimulation" for them. Slowly replace the stimulation with a positive stimulation and the behaviour will diminish significantly.

There are also others who bang their head because of not only the stimulation but the reaction they get from the people around them. Don't ignore them but don't make a big deal out of it either or they will become even more obstinate.

Gently redirect them to another activity and provide the stimulationi there.

The other thing is you might want to chart their head banging to see when it occurs more frequently. Something or someone or some activity might be triggering the head banging.

I hope this helps.

ps. To answer your question, I have not seen a helmet with a lock on it and it is not recommended.

Answer 2

i dont think they do because while the behavior in and of itself is dangerous, having a lock on the helmet could potentially be more dangerous, if they were to get it positioned right and not able to remove it they could suffocate or strangle themselves. they have ones that have clips on them with adjustable bands that strap under the chin, but even those are dangerous. I worked in a facility with a woman who needed a helmet for her safety and she tried to remove it constantly and there were countless times that she would end up with cuts in her throat and chin from trying to pull it off and when she got it pulled back enough to get stuck with the band at her throat causing her problems breathing. that is a tough one. there isn't a whole lot you can do about it really, except extra attention, and following them around, pillows work if you see them going to hit their head put a pillow in between them and the destination for their head banging. its hard and a lot of work, but that is about all you can do