Wandering and Bolting Common in Autism
The IAN Research Report: Elopement and Wandering, a project of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, reports that about half of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders between the ages of 4 and 10 years wander or run away from safe places (four times the rate of the same behavior in their unaffected siblings). More than a third of the wandering children lack the ability to communicate personal and safety information, such as their names, phone numbers, and addresses. Many parents reported that their child’s wandering had resulted in a near drowning, close call with traffic, or calling the police. Sixty percent reported limiting enjoyable family activities due to the behavior, and forty percent stated that worrying about their child running away impacted their ability to sleep at night. Few families reported receiving help from physicians or other professionals. The survey, completed by more than 850 families, indicates that running away and wandering are common and that additional strategies for supporting families, such as tracking devices, should be investigated. Read more about this study at: http://www.iancommunity.org/cs/ian_research_reports/ian_research_report_elopement
