An “Autism Alert” For When a Child is Missing?
November 20, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Just as there is the Amber Alert for abducted children, should there be an “Autism Alert” when an autistic child is missing? The parents of Kaitlyn Bacile—-who, in September, was found drowned in a canal near her home —-think so, as reported in today’s WSVN (Florida):
While it’s too late for Kaitlyn, her parents hope some good can come from their tragedy.
Jay Bacile: “We want Kaitlyn’s life not to go in vain, at the very minimum we want to raise awareness. We just want her memory to live on and do good because that’s what Kaitlyn was, was pure goodness.
WSVN notes that current programs designed to report that autistic children are missing are “not being used consistently”:
The “Take Me Home” program supplies police with pictures and information of at-risk kids.
But of the 271 law enforcement agencies in Florida, only 41 use it. “A Child is Missing” is a national emergency system which can put out 1000 alert calls in one minute to a neighborhood where a child goes missing.
Claudia Corrigan, ACIM. “It’s important to get these calls out there immediately, and we can do it. You have a small window of time it’s a two to three hour and even then, if there’s water nearby it’s very very tough.”
The service is free to police, but they don’t always use it. Finally, only 37 police departments in Florida have picked up a program called project lifesaver.
Wristbands allow rescuers to track the person wearing it, but it puts the burden on parents to pay for a $300 bracelet. And most autistic children have sensory issues and won’t wear them.
Tina Brea: “This is a child that cannot communicate, that cannot understand the simple commands that others their age can. So any attention that can be brought to this the better.”
What would be the best way to spread the word, as quickly as possible, that a child is missing?
My son has a Project Lifesaver wristband. Its $20 a month and you can pay it monthly, quarterly, as you can, or however. I also know families that pay nothing for it (based on income). We had a lot of problems with my son getting out .. so scary. I’m glad as he has gotten older it has gotten better but I’m keeping him enrolled in PL. We’ve thankfully had no problems at all with him wearing the wristband. We call it his magic watch.
Did you read about the father who killed his 12 yr old autistic son and then himself. Left suicide note
http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/314867
I can see that it would be helpful to have an alert system similar to the Amber Alert- I wasn’t aware that Amber Alerts were just for abducted children.
One of the big benefits that I can see to an “autism alert”, (although I would hope that it wouldn’t be restricted to only autistic children), would be that it could alert police not only that a child was missing, but also set information protocols to cover things like “if you’re looking for the child chances are they may not respond if they hear you” etc.
My son’s a runner (not so much in the past few years), and although we have Project Lifesaver up here we could never get him to wear a bracelet.
I think that one of the most proactive things that parents can do is to regularly maintain an “information sheet”…recent picture, vital statistics, and habits or obsessions (water, grocery stores etc), that can help police quickly if a child goes missing. And if you live in a city where you can, go and introduce yourself to the police so that they are already aware that they have an at-risk child in their community.
Short version is…yes.
I have read too many stories of autistic children drowning lately to make me feel comfortable about not having some kind of public community alert.
One thing that I like about the Take Me Home program is that it also applies to other emergency missing person situations–example, also those with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, other developmental disabilities, who might also need quick response and have atypical reactions. Project Lifesaver is also great, but in the case of preserving life and need for fast response, I really don’t see this as necessarily an either/or situation.
We too use Project Lifesaver, with the band around our 4-year-old’s ankle. It’s quite new to our county and is still running on grants and donations here, with no income-qualifying paperwork — if you want to pay/donate, you do, otherwise it’s free. For now. I blogged about it, with photos, when she was first “tagged”.
The deputy who changes the battery for us every month has been telling us stories, though, of other clients who’ve tried to use the system these past few months and couldn’t tolerate the bracelet. Also, even if Project Lifesaver were adopted in every county nationwide, and were free across the board, you’d still never get every potential “runner/wanderer” enrolled.
A parallel to Amber Alert would be great, but I too would like to see it broader than Autism Alert. What’s a good name that would encompass runner/wanderers who might have, as Regan says, atypical reactions? Pick another color — maybe Aqua Alert, which would encompass a reminder of the danger of drowning?
Our local police department has a system where they take picture, and will keep a person on file, so that if they go missing, they automatically have their info, but no bracelets. Last year, one of the boys I work with, who isn’t a wanderer, was signed up for the program, and his mom sent it to everyone at school. I think they even took a trip to the police department, where, if the parents had filled out the form, they would have taken the pictures while on the trip. Not all the kids live in that township, but I think he was the only one signed up.
This is a very good question. M refused to wear any of the bracelets I bought her for more than a few days. We still don’t have a good plan and our community certainly does not have any answers either.