She usually wanders to get to a preferred item or activity when she has been told to wait, such as waiting to go to the produce section to see this week’s selection of broccoli.Ī study in 2012 (conducted by Autism Speaks and the Interactive Autism Network) found that nearly half of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at some point attempt to wander or bolt from a safe place. At age 6 ½ and despite strategies and reminders, Grace continues to stray from the safety of her family from time to time. She would talk about the broccoli and touch it, becoming as excited as most children are about ice cream. Whenever we went to the grocery store, she would somehow find her way to the produce section and to the broccoli. However, we noticed this behavior in her early on, around age two. She was diagnosed with high functioning autism at age 3 ½. Case in point: our daughter “Amazing Grace”. In my observation, no matter where on the spectrum, children with a utism tend to stray from their caregivers some only occasionally and others quite often. Most parents of autism are all too familiar with elopement. However, as defined by the National Institute of Elopement Prevention and Resolution (NIEPR), elopement refers to an individual with cognitive challenges or special needs who wanders, runs away from or otherwise leaves a caregiving facility or environment. The original definition of elope is to run away and not return to the place of origin.
Wondering what “elopement” and autism have in common? Do individuals with autism often secretly run away to get married? Alas, that is not the case. This blog was originally posted on Sanford Autism Consulting. Crystal Sanford explains this phenomenon and what families can do to prevent this behavior. Wandering, or “running away” from a caregiver, is a common problem in children with autism.
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