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

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

#31

Post by anonomousename »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #24
ethagknight wrote: post #10

Would applying a bitterant to both fake and real AA batteries help? I don’t have experience working with people on the autistic spectrum but seems like the first priority would be to strongly discourage a habit that could seriously poison / burn the child’s stomach?

I think the bitterant is a pretty good idea, have any suggestions? Unfortunately he is very autistic, and instead of being sensory inputs avoiding he is very much into heavy sensory stimulation. I remember once he ate some of my extremely spicy thai food, he hated it, was crying and rubbing his tongue. Walked around the room, walked back and tried to eat some more.

Would not recommend using this on real batteries, but if you end up finding fake ones - spraying compressed air upside down (so it comes out as a liquid) and coating an object in it will make it very bitter, as compressed air commonly has bitterant in it to prevent huffing it. I used it myself to prevent myself from biting my nails.

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

#33

Post by Auracle »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #24
ethagknight wrote: post #10

Would applying a bitterant to both fake and real AA batteries help? I don’t have experience working with people on the autistic spectrum but seems like the first priority would be to strongly discourage a habit that could seriously poison / burn the child’s stomach?

I think the bitterant is a pretty good idea, have any suggestions? Unfortunately he is very autistic, and instead of being sensory inputs avoiding he is very much into heavy sensory stimulation. I remember once he ate some of my extremely spicy thai food, he hated it, was crying and rubbing his tongue. Walked around the room, walked back and tried to eat some more.

I bought some in a spray can years back because our (young) rescue dog was chewing on cables and I didn’t want her to chew on a power cable.

If you touch something with bitterant on it and then eat food with your hands, it’ll taste bitter. Washing your hands doesn’t help much. Just thought I’d warn you - maybe the brand I bought was too good.

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

#34

Post by bryanrasmussen »

CobaltFire wrote: post #23

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…

thanks, we're looking to get chewable necklace also but I worry he has a particular attraction for batteries. Part of the battery problem is he wants to put them in line with some magnets. So if the batteries aren't there but the magnets are he goes looking for batteries, no batteries found = meltdown, no special magnets found he likes putting in line = meltdown. So I think probably the bitterant and fake batteries is the best solution for short term results now, and talk his therapists to try to figure out a way to get him to stop interest in batteries long term.

Where the lack of empathy is concerned, obviously people just don't understand how difficult something can be on an extreme end of the spectrum, and that's why we often get the uninformed suggestions that some sort of discipline will help solve the problem. Which I can't be too upset about it, as I labored under similar misconceptions until I had direct experience.

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

#35

Post by CobaltFire »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #34
CobaltFire wrote: post #23

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…

thanks, we're looking to get chewable necklace also but I worry he has a particular attraction for batteries. Part of the battery problem is he wants to put them in line with some magnets. So if the batteries aren't there but the magnets are he goes looking for batteries, no batteries found = meltdown, no special magnets found he likes putting in line = meltdown. So I think probably the bitterant and fake batteries i…

We deal with the exact same issue regarding meltdowns when certain things aren't available.

I may suggest one thing we did to start removing certain things so the lack of the target item is less critical:

Find more things your child likes to line up. We have PlusPlus [0], LEGO, Tegu [1], and wooden train track [2] available. Once you have a variety of options removing one of them is less likely to cause a meltdown if they've started using the others. This dilution of the importance of something they are attached to has been amazingly helpful.

Note that for TEGU and PlusPlus they can occasionally be found (typically after Christmas) in the discount stores (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.) for huge discounts if you are in the USA. Otherwise shop around.

[0]: https://tegu.com/

[1]: https://plus-plus.com/

[2]: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/lillabo-50-piece-track-set-1032...

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

#36

Post by ethagknight »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #24
ethagknight wrote: post #10

Would applying a bitterant to both fake and real AA batteries help? I don’t have experience working with people on the autistic spectrum but seems like the first priority would be to strongly discourage a habit that could seriously poison / burn the child’s stomach?

I think the bitterant is a pretty good idea, have any suggestions? Unfortunately he is very autistic, and instead of being sensory inputs avoiding he is very much into heavy sensory stimulation. I remember once he ate some of my extremely spicy thai food, he hated it, was crying and rubbing his tongue. Walked around the room, walked back and tried to eat some more.

I think I’d start with getting some “chew stopping” spray from a pet store. Not ideal to use a pet product, but way way better than eating a battery.

My suggestion with real and fake batteries was to train with a fake bitter battery (leave some lying around), and then thoroughly dousing any batteries in use around your house, inside remote controls, etc.

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