Mom seeks strong belt buckle to help son with medical predicament

Nick Lemoine

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By Dale Huffman, Staff Writer 12:05 AM Thursday, October 8, 2009

A West Carrollton mother says her life would be easier if she could locate a strong belt buckle, of the kind that used to be included on Maclaren child strollers.

In her plea for help, Gayle Lemoine, 52, shared the story of her son’s medical predicament. Nick Lemoine is 21, 6 feet tall, 140 pounds and according to his mother has the mental capacity of a 2-year-old.

“Nick has had a developmental disability since he was born,” she said. “He suffers from seizures and has communication and behavioral problems. He takes medication to control his situation. Every day around Nick is an adventure. And every day is different. We never know what to expect.”

The mother said that Nick needs to be monitored around the clock to protect him from destructive behavior. “Just for example, one evening after bedtime I heard a crash in Nick’s room. His father Mark and I rushed to his room to find that he had thrown the hutch off of his desk across the room. We removed it and got him settled and soon we heard another crash, and he had thrown the entire desk across the room.

“I stayed up with him until he settled down. At no time did he seem angry or upset. He was just a little boy, in a grown body, on a temper tantrum. The following morning Nick went to school, a special class for handicapped and developmentally disabled students at West Carrollton High, and the school nurse soon called me. She said he was walking around knocking things off of desks.”

The mother picked up her son and took him to the doctor’s office. “At the medical complex,” she said, “Nick knocked a vase off a table in the doctor’s waiting room. I stood in front of him from that time on, to keep him settled down. We didn’t want him to tear up the doctor’s office.”

That afternoon, in the bathroom of his home, she said, “Nick knocked the lid off the toilet tank and broke it. When I put him in his room he took off his shirt, and then his trousers, and tossed things around the room,”

Lemoine said she does not know why, along the way, Nick began discarding his clothes, but thinks perhaps it is because “he is more comfortable without the clothing. He has been doing that now for several years.”

She added, “I tell you this, because Nick is having more good days than bad now. He is doing so much better. But given the chance, he will still remove his clothing. And he is shirtless most of the time.”

Necessity is the mother of invention, and Nick’s mother became an inventor when she came up with a way to keep Nick from removing his pants. “We had an old stroller and had kept it because Nick likes to push it around with his stuffed animals in it,” she said. “It occurred to me that Nick could not work the buckle on the stroller. So I removed the buckle and made a belt. I sewed belt loops in all his trousers and pajamas and used the homemade belt with the strong lock on Nick’s clothing since he was unable to unlock the buckle.”

She added, “It seems like such a simple thing, but it is so important.”

The Maclaren company manufactured the old stroller and the buckle she used to help her son keep his clothing in place and his dignity checked.

“I have gone on the Internet and I have called the Maclaren folks,” she said. “They have not been able to help me to date. Because this buckle came from an old stroller, it is outdated, is not used any longer, and is hard to find. I could not find one on eBay or Craigslist. None of our friends have found an old stroller stored away. I just hope there might be one in an attic or a basement somewhere in the Miami Valley that is no longer being used.”

Lemoine has also checked with social service organizations, without success.

“You are my last chance,” she said. “If any of your readers have one of these strollers with the buckle that is hard to open, I would be extremely pleased to purchase it.”

She added, “I love my son very much. He is a wonderful person, even though he has all these behavioral challenges. A little thing like a belt buckle will help us make life a lot easier for Nick.”

If you are in a position to help, please be in touch and I will pass the information along.

Dale Huffman can be reached at  dhuffman@DaytonDailyNews.com or  1611 S. Main St. Dayton, OH 45409.

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Hey,
You could have the buckle patened again. You would need someone to draw up the plan. Make a minor change ie. like a small whole, or extra loops. Then submit it to paten as your own. There are many parents who are in your situation and have not found this solution.

I bet there is a market for your invention. There is propably a sponser willing to back this much needed adaptive equipment.

Stephanie
12:22 PM, 10/9/2009

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JoAnn Fabrics sells several types of buckles that are similar to those found in strollers and other child equipment. Some require the center push to unbuckle, and others require squeezing both sides to release. You can pick these up in nearly any JoAnn Fabrics store, and also purchase as much of the 1" wide strap you need to make the belts. I recently bought some to make a seatbelt for an old wooden high chair and used these parts. They are relatively inexpensive as well. I hope this helps!

Finding Buckles
6:46 PM, 10/8/2009

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