My toddler has ASD. He likes to trash everything in the house but especially the laptop, usually by body slamming the monitor.
I thought about getting a Panasonic tough book but the protections don't seem suited to a toddler, more concerned with heat and surviving falls.
I would like a laptop with an all metal chassis but especially one where the hinge with the monitor is super durable.
Agree. Manufacturers don't 'toddler proof' laptops. That's the parent's job, no offense..
And where did he learn to body slam from? =\
Thanks for the tip.
Now a tip for you. If a parent of an autistic child says "I experience problem x" and you say or imply "isnt it a problem with your parenting skills?" you can probably expect to get punched in the face.
Alternatively, on a message board, you can expect a tart response, like the one I've just given you.
I wish I could give you a 100 positive votes for your comment, used to think teaching kids was easy till I had my own!
I'll help. :)
+1, raising kids with ASD (and other disorders, I expect) is different to raising kids without. You can't compare… And even within ASD there is a broad rage of manifestation of the disorder and therefore what is normal for one ASD kid might be totally different for another.
I don't know what to do about the laptop though.. I've dealt with a couple of military laptops in my work, and they all have relatively similar hinges… The robustness is built in other areas more prone to impact & ingress damage.
Wow, negative votes for this comment. I guess indicative of society's knowledge (or lack thereof) of dealing with ASD. Sorry I can't help with advice on the laptop, but good luck
Huge thanks for the supportive comments and votes. The negs don't worry me too much, you'll find d***heads anywhere, the important thing is that there are still good people in this world.
Shouldn't you be more concerned with either keeping your kid away from the laptop
but that may take some actual parenting and theres no time for that with such important things as facebook, twitter and pokie machines….
i mean lets face it, if the parent cant even take seconds out of there hectic schedule of day long social networking to put the laptop away in a top cupboard or something when not attended i think it says a lot. i mean its a laptop ffs, you dont even need to turn the damn thing off. just unplug the power cord and put it away somewhere.
true story, when i was in my early 20's i had a girlfriend who was 19ish and her much younger (13-14ish) brother used to regularly beat up on her leaving bruises etc "becaus he was "ADHD".." i warned him not to touch her again or he would be dealing with me. sure enough a little time later he did it again so i went over there, picked the little f@@&er off the ground by the throat and screamed into his face for 5 minutes till he ran off crying. the parents came out and threatened to call the cops on me (but not the son for assault?) and once again defended his actions "caus hes got ADHD"…. i think this was the first time the kid has been held responsible for his own actions and disciplined for them (by a much bigger much angrier guy)… point to the story from that day on for years later the kid never laid a hand on my girlfriend again…
tl;dr discipline your kids and be a parent rather than just a sperm/egg donors to your own kids, making excuses for there poor behaviour.. you may be amazed at the outcome
That's just plain damned rude! You don't know OP, nor their circumstances, so don't make assumptions.
Sure, there are some kids that are just naughty, and there are some 'parents' who are slack, but there are also kids out there with extreme behaviours, often with parents who are barely hanging in there by the skin of their teeth.
sorry, a parent that is to lazy to even put there laptop on a shelf to keep it away from its poorly behaving child (be that child simply a poorly raised or one with a "disability") is not excusable. its simply poor parenting. if you cant take an "assumption" from that maybe you need to look at yourself and your own actions/lives?
maybe the "parent" shouldnt even be giving all its attention to the internet during the times when this child is awake and should be devoting that time to the child instead? keeping there online time for when the child is asleep etc?
i have zero sympathy for people who breed then choose not to look after there spawn. if you dont want the inconvenience of kids then dont breed, it really is that simple. how do i know? caus i made that decision and 40 years on (after a couple of close calls) i remain demon spawn free.
Nosdan: In other words, you don't know what you are talking about.
There's a range of outcomes available when you use brute force and violence to solve problems. It's not always positive, and it's not always negative.
So let's consider the negatives then:
This isn't something the OP can risk, on account of the fact that violence as a disciplinary measure has not been a clinically proven option and discouraged by modern medical and societal thinking.
hihi, consider an ipad with the iguy case from speck. You can get some good educational apps to put into it for autism kids
so what do you do with all the other breakables in the house?
let them be trashed too, or put them up high/remove them?
I think realistically this is the best point here. I don't think you're going to find a laptop that will stand up to this kind of treatment. Just don't leave it (or anything else valuable/fragile) within reach/unattended.I have a couple of friends with autistic kids and it's pretty much the only solution they have managed with similar issues.
Laptops will still break if handled roughly. Particularly the hinge and the screen.
A slate device will be more durable.
The really tough Panasonics are pretty good, but crazy expensive. And even then you have the risk of him dropping it on his foot - or yours. Seems to me the easier option is to keep the technology away from the child. Could you consider a HTPC with wireless keyboard and use the TV for the screen?
What about a desktop and monitor,failing that the HP 6930p has the strongest hinges I have ever seen,also has metal frame and lid.
I repair laptops as a hobbie so I have seen the -insides of a few
The Dell latitude range are very good as well ie Dell e6400
Macbooks are fairly tough, and a good choice if you don't mind Mac OS.
Highly portable too.
Would it be possible for you to get a cheap old decoy laptop that you don't mind them trashing? Possibly even sticking a picture on the screen to pretend its powered on (depending on your child)?
perhaps ditch the laptop and go for a tablet. some of the aftermarket cases i'v seen advertised claim to be "military grade" and survive a truck driving over them.
team this with a bluetooth keyboard if you need to do real typing on it. I don't know if the keyboard will survive a bodyslam, but (1) without the hinge it stands a better chance, (2) the keyboard can be put away and only used when your son is in an emotional place that he can appreciate the consequences of his actions (assumming his behaviour has a predictable drift between impulsive and self-controlled), and (3) keyboards are cheaper to replace than laptops when the inevitable happens
strength to you and your sons. don't listen to the @#$#@$ here who confuse biological challenges with learnt offensiveness
thanks mate, appreciate it
OK, here is one you could consider. It is military spec for toughness, on the small side, and above all cheap just in case the worst happens.
http://www.graysonline.com/lot/0001-191775/computers-and-it-…
Just don't expect a retina screen or Haswell style battery life. An SSD would work wonders for performance, and also make it more resilient.
2540p is rali not that tough… I used to fixed some and there are less different in structure and toughness compare with dell latitude series.
There really seems to be no solution apart from the common-sense ones and I find myself agreeing with nosdan's comments more than not.
I think it's:
* fruitless buying a military-grade anything considering the statement about body-slamming
* fruitless expecting your gear to last given the statement about body-slamming
* fruitless to keep expensive electronics around given the statement about body-slamming
* interesting to learn how the TV and other things are protected.
I think I'd be handing out death if my laptop were broken. As you can see, I'd make a great, loving parent.
I think what you rali need to have is a safe……
I bought a Lenovo Thinkpad X130e from Graysonline last week. My brother tells me it's military spec- had no idea at the time of purchase.
But, pardon my gratuitous advice, you've obviously considered this and there is obviously a good reason why it won't work: wouldn't it be easier to fit a military spec lock to one of your rooms and keep the laptop in there?
Shouldn't you be more concerned with either keeping your kid away from the laptop or (if possible) teaching him not to trash your computers?