By Jan Randall

When my son Andrew was 3, I experienced the sheer terror of him wandering off. It took me almost 15, heart pounding, feeling like I couldn’t breathe minutes to find him. He couldn’t talk, but it was clear that he had gone to visit the 18-wheel rig that he was fascinated by. He had walked down our street, took a right at the end, walked down that street, and took another right to get to the house where the truck was parked.

Around the same time, he also became a bolter/runner, especially in parking lots. He always ran to get to the storm drains, so he could kneel and look down inside. He also thought that me running after him yelling stop was a great game of chase. After too many scary chases in parking lots, my best friend and I taught him to “STOP”, and to “TURN AROUND” to look at me, so I would be able to get to him without him running off. We taught him this skill the summer before he turned 4, just by practicing out in the yard for about 10 minutes a day over the period of a few weeks.

Andrew the summer before he turned 4.

When Andrew was about 9 when he wandered off again. This time he was playing in the yard, while his dad was watching him. Our neighbor 3 houses down called to tell his dad that our son was standing on their pool deck. It was April and their pool was still covered. It took a long time to stop thinking about what would have happened if he had tried to walk on to the pool cover.

Our family has been very lucky to avert tragedy more than twice.

Other families have not been so fortunate. Over the last few months at least 5 individuals with Autism between the ages of 3 and 15, have wandered off and died. These children wandered from home, a playground, a vacation rental, and a church event. Three of the deaths were the result of drowning, two from traffic fatalities.

As of this writing (July16) there is a young autistic man missing in Massachusetts. On July 8th 29-year-old Ilya Protasov went missing from a Roslindale (Boston) group home. According to his mother, Ilya “left/ran away and never returned”. Learn more here about the search and see Ilya’s photo (facebook.com).

According to a 2012 study published in the journal Pediatrics almost 50% of children with (ASD) are reported to wander or “bolt,” and more than half of these children go missing. (Read the full article here (kennedykrieger.org).)

A study published in 2017 by the National Autism Association (nationalautismassociation.org) found “accidental drowning accounted for 71% of lethal outcomes, followed by 18% caused by traffic injury.”

When my son was young there were no resources for wandering. When he was a preschooler we used a hook and eye bolt on our door, latched higher than he could reach, even if he used a chair. Later we used visuals, like a stop sign on the door. After the wandering incident to the pool, we practiced with him where our yard ended. With visuals and practice he learned “don’t go past the yard”!

Today there are so many resources that are essential to help us keep our loved ones safe.

It’s also important to remember that while safety may begin at home, we also must consider safety at grandparents/family members’ homes, while we are out in the community, while vacation and of course at school!!

And, while many of us may think about tracking devices when thinking of safety, preventing wandering in the first place is key, and there are many items and tools available.

What follows is a list of just some of the safety resources that can be found online:

The Big Red Safety Box program (nationalautismassociation.org) from the National Autism Association (NAA) is a free resource for individuals with Autism at risk of wandering/elopement. The boxes (with a retail value of over $65.00) are provided at no charge ($8.00 shipping for those who can afford it). This kit is a is a MUST HAVE for every family!

NAA also provides a lot of great preventative tools and ideas for parents and family members to keep their child safe! I love their 5 pack of STOP Signs/Visual Aids (nationalautismassociation.org) to use on doors and windows. They also offer a Big Red Safety Tool Kit for Teachers (nationalautismassociation.org)!

On Amazon you can find a list of “door & window alarms for autistic child” (amazon.com). Many are fairly inexpensive and simple to use.

The following are links to tracking devices:

Safety Net Tracking Systems (safetynettracking.com)

Angel Sense (angelsense.com)

Jiobit (jiobit.com)

Care Trak (caretrak.com)

Family1st (family1st.io)

Verizon Gizmo Watch 3 Review | PCMag (pcmag.com)

This article from TACA on Water Safety (tacanow.org) has important information for families and includes a special section on “Essential Swimming Skills…for every child, especially if they have autism.”

To see a wide variety of safety information, tools and devices see this website from the AAP (kidsclinic.pediatricweb.com) and also see the ACES website. (acesaba.com)

I hope these resources will give you a great start for keeping your son or daughter safe this summer and all year round!

Special thanks to my colleague Lindsay Stonkus for researching places to find tracking devices!