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NAA has created two new
safety toolkits that can be downloaded here:
Caregiver Toolkit |
First Responder Toolkit
Take Action in Your Home & Community:
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Download and begin using your Big Red Safety Toolkit
today.
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Provide a copy of the First Responder Toolkit to
your local police department. Ask them to implement
Reverse 911 in your county and read the included
Directive from the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children.
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Remember: Search Water First!
BECOME
AWAARE
Similar to wandering*
behaviors in seniors with dementia or Alzheimer’s,
children and adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
are prone to wandering away from a safe environment.
Typically they will leave to get to something of
interest, such as water, the park, or train tracks -- or
to get away from something, such as loud noises,
commotion, or bright lights.
Dangers associated with
wandering include drowning, getting struck by a vehicle,
falling from a high place, dehydration, hyperthermia,
abduction, victimization and assault.
Because children with
autism are challenged in areas of language and cognitive
function, it can be difficult to teach them about
dangers and ways to stay safe.
*Wandering may
also be referred to as elopement, running, bolting,
fleeing. To learn
more, click here.
RESEARCH
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that an average
of 1 in 88 individuals in the U.S. have an ASD that can
cause significant social, communication and behavioral
challenges. These challenges often present unique safety
risks, including those associated with a person’s
tendency to wander or elope from a safe environment.
According to data
released in April 2011 by the Interactive Autism Network
(IAN) through the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI):
- Roughly half, or
49%, of children with a autism attempt to elope from
a safe environment, a rate nearly four times higher
than their unaffected siblings
- More than one
third of children with autism who wander/elope are
never or rarely able to communicate their name,
address, or phone number
- Two in three
parents of elopers reported their missing children
had a “close call” with a traffic injury
- 32% of parents
reported a “close call” with a possible drowning
- Children with ASD
are eight times more likely to elope between the
ages of 7 and 10 than their typically-developing
siblings
- Half of families
with elopers report they had never received advice
or guidance about elopement from a professional
In 2012, the National
Autism Association found that from 2009 to 2011,
accidental drowning accounted for 91% total U.S. deaths
reported in children with autism subsequent to
wandering, and that 23% of total wandering-related
deaths occurred while the child was in the care of
someone other than a parent.
DOWNLOAD & SHARE
There are many precautions
that can be taken to prevent wandering, but proper
response in an emergency situation is critical. AWAARE
has created materials that focus on both. They include:
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