Preparing for Autism Emergencies | Autism PDD
The following was posted on Autism Speak's web site following the tragic death of Benjy Heil:
http://www.autismspeaks.org/inthenews/wisconsin_missing.php
This is going to save lives. Thank You.It's sad that so many people who have autism lack the ability to see danger when they wander off. I bet they wander when they get overstimulated, as a way to regroup without the interference from other people. I will wander off when I get stressed or uncomfortable as a way of stabilizing my thoughts. I usually will walk to a place that I find soothing, or sometimes I will climb trees. A few times I have climbed on top of houses. But I always memorize my path so I have always been able to get back home by retracing my steps in the reverse order that I took them. I also have a pretty good sense of north, south, east and west as long as it's daylight. If I wander at night I stick to roads or streets. As for the water issue, I am a strong swimmer in still water, and I'm scared to get into moving water, so I don't think you have to worry about me drowning unless there's foul play involved.But since wandering only seems to occur when my mind is overstimulated, that's probably what causes wandering for the most part, so those wanderers who are can't exactly consider themselves walking GPS units would conceivably have a hard time knowing where they are once they came back to earth. Especially children. It's kind of sad, but it's good that there are some precautions available that arent too restrictive. It should save a lot of grief on the part of caregivers as well as those being cared for.
[QUOTE=stickboy26]
I remember when I was little (before kindergarten) I used to build models of my block, my grandmother's block, or city blocks that I found interesting. I would often beg to be driven around certain blocks or into certain back ways on the block that we normally wouldn't go on so that I could see what was there. Then I would go home and adjust my model.
I would say let your son have some road maps to help with his sense of direction. But be warned -- he may never want to put them down.
Nick.... you remind me SOOOO MUCH of my boy.... he also likes to be driven round a certain route even though it's out of the way. Actually he doesn't beg...but he INSISTS... like a repetitive compulsive need...
Then there are certain times where he'll build models of blocks using simple tissue boxes... Structures fascinate him... maybe that's how autistics recognize landmarks... Ahh!! But I like the adjusting part... Autistics really have a superb eye on details!!!
I'm coming into this discussion a bit late because of my vacation at the lake. Thanks for the links, WIMom, and for your insight, Nick. My son is like you, Nick, in that he has a tendency to wander off when overstimulated at school.
Luckily it doesn't happen so much anymore -- one big reason is that he had an extra adult assigned to him at the end of the day this year, whereas in previous years his classroom teacher had responsibility for him and the rest of the mainstream class at that point in the day.
Helping a child find alternative ways of dealing with overstimulation and preventing/identifying overstimulation should probably be in every kid's IEP.
Thank you so much for sharing this information!!
Nick, I too thank you for your insight, its nice to be able to hear first hand what makes these little one tick.
Nick,
Thanks for sharing that - that helps me gain perspective. I've always considered my son to be better than a GPS unit. However, since we have recently moved - he is still getting his bearings. Did you always have a good sense of direction? Did someone teach you how to figure out north, south, east and west? Were you in Cub/Boy Scouts? Sorry for all the questions - I'm just trying to figure out how I can help nurture this quality in my son. He is generally very rules-oriented about things like danger. But, I'm not letting my guard down as he is only 6 years old.
Thanks so much for giving that perspective - it gives me even more incentive to try to get my son to be a strong swimmer and nurture that awesome sense of direction that he has...
Nick, I am exactly like that about maps and directionality! My father used to get furious b/c my older brothers who were scouts could not read maps ... well, I sure could.
I go nuts if I do not know what direction I am heading, on a cloudy day, too. I sued to think it was "natural," to know!
I married a geographer ... but he is not as good with maps, as I am!
This is definitely going to help save lives.
I'm a map freak too lol. I am always the map person when going on trips. I don't know if it this started because I get carsick when riding in the backseat and the map reader gets to ride shotgun, or if it was a genuine interest that started it all. When we moved a few months ago, I went to rent the uhaul. When they asked for the mileage, I just said about 120. The man asked where we were moving from and too. He said that 120 was wrong and he was going to put down 175 and he charged me for 175 miles. When we started, I reset the mileage counter. When I turned it in, it said 120 on the nose. I didn't look at a map to figure this out. I just used my memory to recall all of the street signs that tell you how many miles it is to the next town.
[quote]My ds directed my mil and sil to Target and our mall when they came to take care of him while I was giving birth to my dd (ds was not quite 3). He could tell them which way to turn and everything - they were completely amazed. I had told them he could do that - but I don't think they believed me until they actually drove with him in the car.[/quote]That reminds me of when I was about 4 or 5, I was in the car with my aunt and we were on the freeway, coming home. We were supposed to get off at exit 19 and take highway 89 home but she missed the exit and got all upset. I remember I calmly said "It's OK. Just take exit 22 and then follow hghway 367 back to where it hits highway 89." She seemed really weirded out by that, but she did as I said and we made it home.
I was in boy scouts for a short time, but I think I got my sense of direction through my obsession with maps. I used to draw maps all the time, and I had a road atlas with maps of all 50 states. I was forever studying the layout of the roads and interstates. It was kind of funny because when we would go on vacation I would sometimes know the interstates better than my parents because I would study the route to wherever we were going for days before we actually left.
When I go on road trips with friends I usually become the designated map reader or navigator if we're going somewhere far off.
I think once you know how the roads and streets are laid out, it's not too hard to remember north, south, east, and west because you remember how they lookerd on the map and you can sort of picture the little compass needle from the map and line it up with any nort-south road you come to. However, like you described with your son, when I come to a new place I take a while to get my bearings. A lot of times I will walk or drive around just to get a sense of the layout. And of course if I can get my hands on a city map I will study it as well.
I remember when I was little (before kindergarten) I used to build models of my block, my grandmother's block, or city blocks that I found interesting. I would often beg to be driven around certain blocks or into certain back ways on the block that we normally wouldn't go on so that I could see what was there. Then I would go home and adjust my model.
I would say let your son have some troad maps to help with his sense of direction. But be warned -- he may never want to put them down.
Well, that's okay. I am okay with obsessions that are somewhat useful! He did like maps for a while but I'm thinking now with moving to a new town that might be really helpful for him. I know I am poring over them constantly right now. We live in a small town with a lot of country roads and I want to get to know them well - especially in case of emergency. We have done a lot of driving around and ds is just starting to remember which way to go for some places. There are lots of towns around and we are taking the summer and exploring. He enjoys doing this and so does my dd - particularly if some kind of treat is in store at the end!
My ds directed my mil and sil to Target and our mall when they came to take care of him while I was giving birth to my dd (ds was not quite 3). He could tell them which way to turn and everything - they were completely amazed. I had told them he could do that - but I don't think they believed me until they actually drove with him in the car.
About 2 years ago one of my preschoolers (3 yr old autistic) wandered away from his house and got killed by a car when he wandered onto the highway. That was tough on me because I was the only teacher in the school that he had bonded to. I still have his obituary picture in my car console.
There was another child close to us in BLaine that dies yesterday. A little girl -- same thing wandered and drown in a pond.
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