Slamming doors

ClareC

Does anyone have a solution to prevent damage to doors and frames as a result of being slammed?
Thanks

BusyOT

Hi Clare, welcome to Netbuddy! We should probably confess that we know each other and you should confess to being an OT! Hope someone can help with this ...

Emma

Just put this out on Twitter and Swindon Advocacy suggested you can get metal kick plates to protect doors. Try googling kick plates. Good luck!

ClareC

Thanks for that suggestion. We also thought about trying door closers to make it difficult to slam the door but wondered if the door closers would break if the door was forced shut. Also we thought that if the client didn't get the feedback from slamming the door this might help stop the behaviour. Has anyone tried this?

JaneyK

My son used to love the door slamming. We fixed it with u-shaped door stoppers that were made of foam - if you put them at the top edge of the door they could not be removed, His little face fell when he didnt get the slam he wanted ! He lost interest soon after. No harm to the door either

stubrit2

It would help to understand why he's slamming the door. Is he doing it because he likes the noise? Is it an attention-seeking behaviour? With any behaviour issue it the best way to work around it is to address the cause of the behaviour. For example, if he likes making loud noises, maybe a drum kit would be more appropriate! If it's attention-seeking, then maybe find an activity to do with them to replace it, but that said don't do this straight after he does the slamming as he'll see it as a reward for slamming the door. Develop the patience of a saint and ignore it if it's attention seeking. Eventually he'll realise it doesn't get him any attention. Might drive you mad though!

ClareC

Thanks for your replies. We have tried the u shaped door stoppers but they pinged off even with Velcro attached. We are currently trying carpet tacked round the door.
I think the behaviour usually occurs when he is agitated or anxious so an alternative which replaces the door slamming would be good.

NatashaBrowne

My daughter went through a door slamming, and punch walls stage when she was very upset or anxious and couldn't express herself. We just kept reinforcing to her that the behavior was NOT appropriate, BUT ALSO that what she was feeling WAS appropriate. Eventually she learnt to recognise in herself when she was reaching breaking point and would go off to her room and jump up and down in the middle of the floor (same type of noise and physical release without any damage). Once she had 'vented' we then tried again to talk through what was bothering her and/or why she had been told off earlier. I learnt very quickly that once she was struggling to understand something, continuing to try and explain did not help until she had calmed down again.