Flat Out Good Autism News

The word autism has almost become a synonym for controversy.

Parents are routinely mocked and demonized for seeking to cure or treat their own children. ABA, well documented as an effective intervention for autism by decades of study and numerous credible professional reviews is labeled as "unproven" by anti-ABA advocates. Terms such as low functioning/high functioning used in the professional literature are disparaged. Mentioning possible environmental contributors to autism rates is dismissed by some even though studies show that autism can sometimes occur in one but not both identical twins. Even referencing autistic disorders as .... disorders... generates controversy.

But surely there is one point on which we can all agree; that everyone wishes for the safety and well being of all autistic persons. And surely we can all be thankful when news reports tell us that that two autistic persons are now safe and sound after wandering away from their homes in Utah and Boston.

The Deseret News reports that a 22-year-old severely autistic woman, described as having the mental capacity of a 5 year old, who wandered away from home in Provo Utah Sunday night was found safe Tuesday morning in Salt Lake City. In Boston, earlier this week, the Herald reported that a 3-year-old autistic child was rescued from danger by police after drivers saw him riding his tricycle amid speeding traffic on a busy thoroughfare.

As a parent who has experienced the fear and guilt of realizing that my autistic son had wandered away from the safety of home while I was distracted those feelings are revived every time I learn of another autistic person who has wandered away or is missing. The feeling of relief I experienced when, after calling 911, I learned my son was safe at a nearby convenience store where I quickly retrieved him, also resurfaces when the stories have good endings as they did this week in Utah and Boston.

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7 Year Old Autistic Boy Wanders Away From Camp And Into Traffic

Not long after autistic adult Keith Kennedy wandered away from a camp in Wisconsin 7 year old autistic boy Colin Hays wandered away from camp in Maryland - where he was spotted by his mother a short time after she had dropped him off for the day wandering the shoulder of a busy highway. As reported by myfox washington d.c.:

"he ... crossed over busy Montgomery Road and walked over a highway bridge. Then, he climbed down and wound up walking on a highway on ramp shoulder .... The posted speed limit on the ramp is 40 miles an hour, but traffic routinely travels at speeds of 50 or faster.

Colin's mother says she was walking about four feet from the whizzing cars when she happened to drive by. "My heart stopped, I slammed on the brakes," said Kristen Detwiler, the boy's mom. "I stopped my car, left the car on the middle of 100. I ran out in a skirt and heels and started chasing him screaming, "Colin, stop! It's Mommy! Stop!'" Detwiler was able to successfully rescue her son from the dangerous situation. "

I can imagine the fear felt by Kristen Detwiler when she saw her son in danger.

I admire her courageous action in rescuing him.

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Autism and Wandering, Missing Autistic Girl Found Safe

It is sometimes difficult to listen to, or read, statements by a few celebrity, high functioning autistic persons, and others who embrace their ideology, who claim that autism is just another natural variation of the human condition, a difference to be embraced, a joy in itself. I have never pretended to accept this view. At least not for those, like my son, for whom autism presents serious life restrictions and risks. One of those dangerous, even life threatening risks, is the tendency of some autistics to wander off, to get lost ... or worse. In some cases things end well ..... in others they do not. This story has a good ending:

Missing Autistic Girl, 13, Found Safe, ... Janelle Halbrook had last been seen near Lake Center Middle School at Clarkman Street and Pioneer Boulevard around 4 p.m. Wednesday, Whittier police Officer Jason Zuhlke said. ... The mother told police that Halbrook has a tendency to wander whenever her routine is interrupted, as she did in a similar "walk-away" incident several months ago.

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Autism Reality - Two Autistic Men Go Missing in Chicago Area

The reality of autism is much more than heart warming feel good stories. The reality of autism is not a culture, or a life style choice, for many severely affected persons with autism and their families. The news is often filled with such stories of autistic persons, children and adults, who wander off, and get lost, unable to look out for their own safety and well being. Sometimes such stories have happy conclusions. Other times ... they do not. I have commented in the past of a terrifying personal experience when my son left our home while I was talking on the phone. In the Chicago area TWO autistic men wandered off, went missing, in the last week alone.

In Family searches for missing man abc7chicago reports on 21 year old Jamaris Collins, who has the mental capacity of a young child, who had not returned several days after telling his aunt he was going for a walk to a nearby store. In Autistic man missing in Lyons the Chicago Tribune reported on John Valle, a 21 year old autistic man, who had no money, did not know his way around the Chicago area, cannot read or write and does not speak very often, who wandered away from his apartment in a Chicago suburb.

Hopefully, John Valle and Jamaris Collins will be found, or turn up, safe and sound.

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