The above remark is from Susan J. Loring, Director, Autism Resource Center of Central Massachusetts quoted in Safe, not sorry Locators help find autistic children on the Worcester Telegram & Gazette page NEWS telegram.com. The article reports the happy outcome of a missing autistic child in Worcester found safe after wandering away and getting lost and provides and also reports generally on the tendency of autistic children to wander away:
"In addition to experiencing seizures, social behavior issues and learning disabilities, autistic children wander.
Ninety-two percent of children with autism are prone to wandering, according to the National Autism Association. According to a report by the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, elevated death rates among those with autism were in large part attributed to drownings, after they had wandered away."
Ninety-two percent of children with autism are prone to wandering, according to the National Autism Association. According to a report by the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, elevated death rates among those with autism were in large part attributed to drownings, after they had wandered away."
People who believe that autism is a joy, that autism deficits are simply the product of social intolerance, will not want to acknowledge the real life dangers posed by the real life deficits that often accompany autism disorders. It is hard to promote autism as a life style or superior way of thinking when autistic children routinely wander away, in some cases to great harm.
As the father of a boy with Autistic Disorder and profound developmental delays, (he is severely autistic), I have lived through the experience of having Conor wander away while I was preoccupied with a business phone call. Despite crossing a busy city street adjacent to our home at the time everything turned out OK, thanks in large part to a Good Samaritan who stopped his vehicle, took him to the convenience store on the other side of the street and remained at the store with him. After calling 911 I went to retrieve Conor. The Good Samaritan waited only until I arrived then immediately turned and left before I could thank him or find out who he was.
I usually repeat this story on this site each time I read of an autistic child wandering away. I am not a generally fearful person. I am a fairly big man who grew up on army bases where you learned to fend for yourself. As a lawyer I am used to speaking up and asserting myself. But the fear ... and the guilt ... that I felt while Conor was missing, and before I knew he was safe, were both extremely intense. After living through such an experience I have no time for the ideologies that deny the harsher realities of autism disorders.
autism
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