Wrist harness for a teenager?

[D L and K's Mom]

Has anyone ever seen a wrist type harness for a teenager? We are taking DS to Disney World and I would hate for him to have to spend all of the day in his wheelchair. David can walk but loves to run!!! I am petrified he will run off he is 16 and is quite big. He likes to walk but then just breaks out into a run giggling and laughing. It is ok here at home as he cannot go far. I would love to find a wrist type or anyother type of harness (like a baby harness) for him so he can walk for a short time in the parks without me fearing him running away. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing. When I search for Adult harness I am finding harness for climbing mountains etc....any one else have this problem? Thanks in advance.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

What is your son's disability?

 

[D L and K's Mom]

David had a stroke at the age of 6 months. He has quite a few problems as a result. David suffers seizures, and is at the developmental age of about 6-12 months old. He has quite a few autistic tendencies. David does not talk or communicate he is able to walk short distances and has a smile and giggle that makes everything GREAT in the world. David is in diapers and he loves to run. I guess David is just DAvid...he has no other label except David He goes to a wonderful school during the day and we have a nurse who helps us out a few nights a week. I would love for him to be able to walk and run a bit in Disney but am fearful of him running off...he is quite quick. Thanks for asking about my little angel!

 

[darlingfamily]

Would he be able to take it off on his own? That would be the only concern I would have. I have a 13 year old with severe autism (waves hi to everyone since I am a lurker ) and up until he was 11 we used a wrist harness with him because of the "bolt" factor. At that time he learned how to take it off. What we did do in the mean time (before he figured that out) was train him to keep his hand on our shoulder at all times. It comes in VERY handy now because we feel comfortable enough to let him walk with us from time to time and we can circumvent anything before he is gone when we feel that hand leave our shoulder. But, that took years of "training". When we go to WDW we get a wheelchair because of that reason and because his weight is such that he can't walk for long periods of time.

I got mine at babies-r-us. It has a velcro wrist band and then the stretch band for you to hold onto.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

It sounds like you have a great system there. Unfortunatly David sounds like he is quite a bit less functioning than your son. I know he wouldnt be able to figure out the wrist or harness. I have seen them at Babies R Us but thought that the velcro would be too small. I guess I will have to check it out. Thanks for the info!!

 

[darlingfamily]

Oh, well, yes then, definately check out babies-r-us. I think that would be a good solution to your situation.

 

[muffyn]

Has anyone ever seen a wrist type harness for a teenager? We are taking DS to Disney World and I would hate for him to have to spend all of the day in his wheelchair. David can walk but loves to run!!! QUOTE]

I am a big advocate of harness for kids, ( when we used to take our son to amusement parks when he was under 8 we used the chest type harness,, we & he loved it as he didn't have to HOLD HANDS & we knew where he was,, poo poo on the others who gave us dirty looks < this was over 25 yrs ago>),,

anyway,, could you possibly use a loop of velcro on a strap hooked onto his belt? & you hold the other end? that way he might not get frustrated you are hanging onto his arm all the time, & you still have control on him. fabric stores sell wonderful pieces of braiding, etc you can put velcro ends on.

I have had mixed thoughts on the wrist ones, since kids sometimes take off sideways & then they can trip someone walking or someone else (usually not paying attention) will get caught in the cord between a child & parent. I just felt the harness was much easier ,, you had a 'shorter' leash, so to speak, & easier to tuck in the ends in the harness when they went on the rides by themselves. with a child waving their arms,, (you bet excited at WDW) the strap could be pulling on YOU,, lol ( I have visions of the slack in the strap whopping an unexpected parent or pedestrian in the face when child sees something "wonderful") a belt strap would give more control.

ok, my 2 cents...

 

[cymomtx]

You might check with a medical supply store. I have seen straps like that used in OT/PT services.

 

[D L and K's Mom]

Thank you for all the advice. I was able to find a great harness that I think will work out great. It is a chest harness type. It looks great. I found a great wonderful lady that will make it on ebay. She makes the harness for other purposes (I am not going into that) and she was so sweet and so nice. I think it is going to be just what we want!!! Thank you all for the advice.

 

[seashoreCM]

Wrist harnesses are actually hazardous because other people may run into them or pull on them.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

(from an old timer's book)
"To get a free ride we would hang on the back of the trolley car, crouched below the window so the motorman couldn't see us. When we wanted to get off we would pull the cord (attached to the trolley wheel overhead) and the car would stop ..."