Posted by Rosie Reeves · 3 Comments
The search for 9 year-old Mikaela Lynch ended in tragedy when her body was found in a creek near her family’s vacation home in Northern California. Mikaela had autism and tended to wander off. She loved water but was unable to swim.
According to The National Autism Association, in cases of children with autism who died after wandering off, accidental drowning was the cause of death for 71%, followed by traffic injuries at 18%
Any child may wander off, but The Interactive Autism Network’s 2011 study of more than 800 families, showed that children with autism were four times more likely to wander (or elope) from a safe setting than their siblings who were unaffected by autism.
And while the reasons for wandering tended to vary, AWAARE has downloadable resources available to help keep all children safe. Download their Autism & Wandering brochure here. Autism Speaks also has links to resources. You can also find a wonderful PBS video called “Understanding Autism” I’ve included here.
Six Tips to Prevent Wandering and Related Tragedies (from AWAARE: Autism Wandering Awareness Alerts Response Education Coalition)
Secure your home
- Consider a locating device
- Consider an ID bracelet
- Teach your child to swim
- Alert your neighbors
- Alert first responders
We relied on our home security system to alert us to a door that had opened in our house. We also have a small alarm that attaches to our sliding glass door, which my husband found in a pool supply store. While some preventive techniques are simple and relatively inexpensive, some people say that insurance should pay for other methods to keep these children safe.
What do you think? Should there be laws about this issue? How do you prevent wandering in your family?
I don’t have any experience with this but I helped get the word out by tweeting this article!
Thanks very much!!
Thanks so much for raising awareness about the dangers of drowning and autistic and other special needs children. Water is so incredibly soothing, such a wonderful form of therapy for those children that it is no wonder that they seek out water on their own. I strongly advise anyone with an autistic or special needs child to get them into swim lessons EARLY!