A study in
Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics journal, examined wandering, or “elopement,” behavior in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). (The authors define “elopement” as “a dependent person exposing him or herself to potential danger by leaving a supervised, safe space or the care of a responsible person.”) The study results were based on survey responses from 1,218 families registered with the
Interactive Autism Network (IAN), an online research database and autism registry. (To register with IAN, a family must live in the United States and have a child with professionally diagnosed ASD.)
According to the study:
- 49% of survey respondents reported their child with ASD had attempted to elope after age four, and of those children, 53% went missing long enough to cause their caregivers concern;
- between ages four and seven, 46% of children with ASD eloped at least once compared to 11% of siblings without ASD;
- on average, children with ASD who eloped went missing for 41.5 minutes;
- elopement resulted in close calls with traffic injury (65% reported) and drowning (24% reported);
- “greater autism severity was associated with increased elopement risk”; and
- 56% of respondents reported elopement as one of the most stressful behaviors they had to cope with as caregivers.
The study also revealed many parents and caregivers generally felt as if they had little if any guidance or instruction on effectively deterring such behavior.
