Advocacy in Action: 9 Ways to Prevent and Respond to Autism Wandering

Almost half of all children with autism wander or elope - they run away from their home, school or other safe place. Wandering is particularly dangerous for children with autism because of poor communication and social skills as well as low safety awareness.

Because of their difficulties with communication and social skills, children with autism may not respond if their names are called during a search. They may be unable to ask for help if needed. Some children with autism don't recognize the dangers posed by traffic, bodies of water, abandoned buildings, etc. because of a lack of safety awareness.

There are some steps parents can take to try to prevent wandering and minimize the danger if their children do wander.

1. Triggers

If your child wanders, keep track of the circumstances leading up to his running away. See if there is any pattern or trigger you can identify.

Clover Autrey on Flickr

2. Stop signs

You can try to teach your child boundaries by putting pictures of stop signs or do not enter signs on doors and windows. You can ask your child’s school to do something similar.

3. Alarms

At home, you can install an alarm system that covers all doors and windows. If you cannot afford a full alarm system, you could purchase individual motion detectors and place them on exits your child has access too. Consider putting bells or wind chimes on doors so you immediately hear that the door was opened.

4. Educate

Teach your child about dangers such as traffic and water. Social stories are a great way to do this. One Place for Special Needs has free social stories on safety issues. Picto Selector and ConnectAbility are two websites that you use to write your own social story. More information and resources for writing social stories is available on PBIS World.

5. Get to know your neighbors and neighborhood

Chris Dlugosz on Flickr

Explore your neighborhood to look for potential dangers that you need to teach your children about. Provide your neighbors with a short information sheet on your child. Include your child’s picture, her diagnosis and what it means in practical terms, your contact information and how they should approach your child. You should convey this information to your local police and other first responders. L.E.A.N. and Autism Services have free child safety cards you can download and complete.

6. Make a wandering response plan

If you think your child has wandered, it is very easy to panic and not think clearly. Therefore, take the time to develop a wandering response plan before it happens. The plan is a list of things you need to do including contacting emergency services, faxing or emailing your child’s photos, getting a search group together, etc. AWAARE has a response plan template you can use to make your own emergency plan.

7. Swimming lessons

Lotzman Katzman on Flickr

Teaching your child to swim could save his life. Many children with autism are attracted to water and not aware of any potential dangers. Enrol your child in swimming lessons.

8. Consider a tracking device

There are varieties of devices on the market that can track your child. Friendship Circle and AWAARE have information about the different devices available.

9. Get identification for your child

Identification will help if your child gets lost or wanders off. You can include her name, your contact information, her condition and more information depending on the type of ID you choose. There are

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9 Ways to Prevent and Respond to Autism Wandering

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