Ask HN: Fake AA batteries, or drain acid from current ones

Don’t leave AA batteries lying around.

Put the battery in this: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/keystone-electron...

I’m guessing he enjoys the voltage.

Though I agree with the overall drive of the comments here (the child needs to be taught that batteries aren’t safe to chew) the lack of empathy for the parent of an autistic child who is has been pushed so far as to ask for this help is astounding.

As a parent of an autistic child who fights similar battles I feel for this person. I can’t put words in peoples mouths, so here’s my own interpretation:

This person more than likely knows this isn’t the right answer but is at their wits end and looking for the least damaging option. Rather than berating them for something they likely know is bad please realize this is the tip of an iceberg and they are quite possibly in damage control mode. Some of the comments here (like the chewable necklace) are great. Others (the many who are berating the parent for even considering this) missed the larger issue at play.

OP: We deal with similar things and we’ve found wooden toys to be the best alternative. Our son used to love the silicone chew toys but now wants something better so we seek out US/EU made and well regarded (from a chemical perspective) wooden toys so that if he does chew it doesn’t hurt him. There are some things that are just a forever fight to keep away from him. Specifically for batteries he doesn’t touch them now because he associates them with being needed for his Leap Pad so that’s a higher priority for him, so creating a higher need like that is a possible way as well.

Take the batteries, get a safe, lock them up, and then put security screws or McDonalds toy triangle-head screws onto any device with removable batteries. For remotes, use superglue, and dissolve it with acetone every time you need to change them out. (Superglue the cover, not the batteries themselves.)

Make sure there is no way for your child to gain access to batteries of any kind. If upset, teaching boundaries is important or it will move on to running with scissors. Get something else safe to chew on.

Agreed. In which case, the parent just needs to say, “No, we do not chew on batteries, they are dangerous.” And lock them up tightly and doing whatever necessary to ensure the child has absolutely no access to them.

Sure - the child will be upset, but that’s part of parenting. It will be running with scissors next week. This parent might as well come back with questions on how to rubberize the scissors rather than prevent the behavior. Putting your foot down is just necessary.

I have no experience with them but people biting their nails is a common enough problem that I know there are bitter tasting products out there designed to be applied to your nails to stop the behavior, so consider googling for those.