This Holiday Weekend, Autism Community Says Be AWAARE of Wandering Danger
Awaare.org is a collaboration of AUTISM ONE | AUTISM SPEAKS | DOUG FLUTIE JR. FOUNDATION | HOLLYROD FOUNDATION | NATIONAL AUTISM ASSOCIATION | TALK ABOUT CURING AUTISM dedicated to keeping our loved ones safe. From their site:
With little public understanding about autism-related wandering, coupled with a lack of resources to combat occurrences, drowning deaths associated with autism elopement remain a leading cause of fatalities among children and adults on the autism spectrum. Although no formal data exists about the number of wandering incidents per year, cases are becoming increasingly common and awareness alone can play a major role in reducing occurrences.
Please visit the site and forward the URL to friends and family.
thank god that wandering is finally being taken on ..my son, age 6, is a eloper- big time...he frequently bolts and sometimes runs into the street. He's oblivious to danger.
I get judgemental glares from neighbors when this happens. They just don't get it. They act like I'm a bad parent when I actualy bend over backward for my kid.
My son is an escape artist (he'll even climb out windows) and I normally watch him like a hawk. I just bought an Amber Alert GPS child locator system and a medic alert ID bracelet for when he goes to camp this summer.
I hope the awareness gets to all police and fire departments and schools across the country. Maybe even run public service announcements on TV and radio. Put ads on buses and subways.
Just because our kids wander doesn't make us bad parents. We want our kids to be safe. WE NEED HELP. WE NEED AWARENESS
Posted by: Sarah | July 03, 2010 at 11:11 AM