Fake AA batteries, or drain acid from current ones

I hate to give this kind of advice cause I don't know how hard you might have it :(

But I don't think you want to train your child that it's ok to chew batteries, the moment you don't look he'll turn to the real stuff with no distinction.

Ours is leaking and chewing everything he finds, including bus railings and the likes. A year ago we started giving him those necklaces with rubber pieces that we tell him are ok to chew. That didn't fix the issue entirely, but noticeably improved things, and now he's asking for these every morning.

Would applying a bitterant to both fake and real AA batteries help?

I don’t have experience working with people on the autistic spectrum but seems like the first priority would be to strongly discourage a habit that could seriously poison / burn the child’s stomach?

Addressing the issue by faking the look of an AA battery is probably not ideal for your child. Have you consulted with your team of professional providers? They likely can suggest a better approach, possibly involving a plan to transition to an alternative, substitute behavior rather than substitute batteries.

Cut sections of wood dowel to the right length: then they can be cooked / soaked in flavored water. Recall "cinnamon toothpicks?" Like that but bigger and we have an array of awesome artificial flavors now.

If its the finish texture and the weight that's appealing, perhaps you could find a flashlight or "stash case" jewelry item that could serve the purpose. Somewhere, someone has a "drug safe" that look very much like an AA battery but the top unscrews and its a hollow chamber inside.

If you think its the flavor of copper; then they sell copper pipe in a variety of sizes; you can cut lengths of that and have no worries. I can't think of a battery that actually shows copper on the outside tho.

I often try to come up with "solutions" when dealing with my kids behavior problems. Like: if they aren't listening and want to stay up late, maybe I should get smart bulbs that I can turn off with my phone.

But I know that this is not actually a solution to the right problem.

Your question has that same "smell". You need to find a way to discourage this behavior, not a workaround for it.

Though I agree with the overall drive of the comments here (the child needs to be taught that batteries aren’t safe to chew) the lack of empathy for the parent of an autistic child who is has been pushed so far as to ask for this help is astounding.

As a parent of an autistic child who fights similar battles I feel for this person. I can’t put words in peoples mouths, so here’s my own interpretation:

This person more than likely knows this isn’t the right answer but is at their wits end and looking for the least damaging option. Rather than berating them for something they likely know is bad please realize this is the tip of an iceberg and they are quite possibly in damage control mode. Some of the comments here (like the chewable necklace) are great. Others (the many who are berating the parent for even considering this) missed the larger issue at play.

OP: We deal with similar things and we’ve found wooden toys to be the best alternative. Our son used to love the silicone chew toys but now wants something better so we seek out US/EU made and well regarded (from a chemical perspective) wooden toys so that if he does chew it doesn’t hurt him. There are some things that are just a forever fight to keep away from him. Specifically for batteries he doesn’t touch them now because he associates them with being needed for his Leap Pad so that’s a higher priority for him, so creating a higher need like that is a possible way as well.

Maybe see if he likes sour candies? Or bitter things like grapefruit? You could make grapefruit candies. I think the best thing to do would be to find a substitute because continuing with "battery fakes" isn't a long-term solution.

Could try this https://www.amazon.com/Dummy-Battery-Placeholder-Cylinder-Co...

Take the batteries, get a safe, lock them up, and then put security screws or McDonalds toy triangle-head screws onto any device with removable batteries. For remotes, use superglue, and dissolve it with acetone every time you need to change them out. (Superglue the cover, not the batteries themselves.)

Make sure there is no way for your child to gain access to batteries of any kind. If upset, teaching boundaries is important or it will move on to running with scissors. Get something else safe to chew on.

Swallowing a battery can cause devastating internal injuries including death. I would try to find a way to strongly discourage the behavior and not encourage it for that reason.

There are thingies called "battery placeholder", you will be able to find them easily[0], but I strongly doubt they are "safe" to lick/chew, probably safer than real batteries, still not advised for this purpose.

They are used in some cases to lower the total voltage of batteries in series, when one or two are replaced with higher voltage rechargeable ones, they are simply a straight connector.

[0] example:

https://www.sears.com/hisonde-5w9bpp9-4-pack-aa-battery-plac...

Batteries dont typically have exposed copper, but if thats the route you want to go just buy some 1/2 inch copper rod off ebay, its like $12 for 6 inches. Super soft metal, you can work it by hand with a hacksaw and file/sander.

I wonder if your child can taste that subtle electric effect from the battery (ever lick a 9v?)

What he probably likes is the tingling sensation on his tongue. Hard to mimic.

My first thought is that you might want to make some rubber or silicon duplicate batteries to spare his teeth. You can mix in metallic pigments to replicate the color.

There are tutorials on YouTube for prop replica making.

3D print some? Should be relatively easy to design and cheap enough to print...

Would a fully discharged rechargeable battery be safe?

no acid - alkaline is base. As for the main question: What if he liked handguns instead of batteries? Talk to child psychologists, not HN.

Good lord!

This is behaviour you need to stop, not encourage!

Frankly, the child's autism has no bearing on the matter. You would not encourage any young child to play with empty packets of drugs or dangerous machinery (even if you have made it safe).

Coat the batteries with a bittering agent. Problem solved.

Don’t leave AA batteries lying around.

Put the battery in this: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/keystone-electron...

I’m guessing he enjoys the voltage.