15-Be Prepared

    Any good Boy Scout has learned that motto well. "Be prepared"! In case they get lost in the woods they should know how put up a tent, find food and start a fire. Well when you have a kid with Autism, they like to "elope" and they have a fascination with water,and I have learned to be prepared! Robbie wore an ID bracelet and he learned how to swim at an early age. (I talked about eloping in episode 9, when I took Robbie for a walk.)

    I was moved by a story in the news about Avonte Oquendo, a 14 year old boy in New York who had Autism, who ran out of his school and was missing for 4 months. They recently found his body 11 miles away in the river. If you're not familiar with the story, here it is.

http://nypost.com/2014/01/18/avonte-may-have-been-running-from-dog-drowned-police-theory/

    This was probably our number one fear throughout Robbie's life. One of the first times he ever ran away was during the fireworks on July 4th when he was 3 years old. I talk about all of this in this video.

                                                           Episode 22 "Be Prepared"

     Since shooting this video, I have read that they are trying to write an "Avonte's Law" and get funding for tracking devices to find "runners". Let me stress that I feel strongly this should be voluntary, and it should be a parent's choice to use a tracking device for their child. We don't need Big Brother to begin tracking everyone ;-) I know I would want one for Robbie, but it should not ever become a mandatory law.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/01/29/justice-department-to-fund-avontes-law-proposal-to-offer-tracking-devices-for-autistic-kids/


     Avonte's Law, from what I understand, would be that the government will fund the tracking device, rather than parents have to pay for it themselves. Here is an article that talks a little more about the device.

http://nycitylens.com/2014/02/parents-of-autistic-kids-look-to-tracking-devices-for-help/

 

     In case you missed Episode 9, where I talked about "eloping", here it is.