He was my challenging little "Houdini from Hell" whom no lock could keep in, or out, or even slow down.
Sleep deprivation, destructiveness, fixations and an inability to restrain themselves are common complaints with autistic kids. People who deal in children's services should know all about it. But they seldom do. So people like me, with children like them, get in trouble.
Of course I'd known this would happen, had seen it coming. That is why I had had the doctor prescribe a bed harness to keep Rye safe and make him stop sneaking out in the night and going into other people's houses looking for heaters.
He was only four years old. He needed to be contained somehow.
I knew how to prevent Rye from getting out at night but I also knew that whatever method I used needed to be approved of by a recognized professional. Otherwise I'd be called abusive and my son would be considered at risk. How ironic!
Because my son was at risk I had to keep him safe, which put my son at risk of my keeping him safe, which put me at risk, of getting in trouble for preventing him, from running the risk, of coming to harm.
So I had gone to the extra trouble to involve the doctor and make my parenting legal. The contraption he sold me was pathetically ineffective. However, it was medically prescribed, which made it superior to anything I could come up with in its ability to keep me out of jail.
So I bought the harness for my protection from accusations, and created my own device for Rye's safety from fires and falls. This type of social politicking wore me out even more than my kids did.
I felt that I should have been able to be honest and just do what was best for my son without fear of persecution.
But the undesirable world of "Woe Is Me" is papered in. "Should Be Able To's" so I just dealt with it by accepting the fact that such was not the life for the single Canadian mom of four special-needs sons.
So there it is ... I tied him up .... kept him safe .... and he got better!
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