Autism ID Cards Proposed for New York

ALBANY — Cases of autism can vary in severity, and in more pronounced cases, communication is difficult if not impossible.

To help autistic people who may find themselves in situations where an inability to communicate could jeopardize health and safety, Democratic Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, of District 111, is proposing autism identification cards for New York residents that would help them interact with law enforcement and rescue personnel.

Clothing To Keep Tabs on Wanderers

Many children with autism are prone to wandering away from their home or supervised space. While parents of these children face the daunting task of keeping tabs on them at all times, a GPS-equipped clothing line designed specifically for these families aims to help.

Nearly half the parents of children with autism said their youngster had tried to wander off or run away at least once after age 4, and most said the child was gone for "long enough to cause worry," according to a 2012 study. Former CNN correspondent Lauren Thierry -- whose teenage son, Liam, has autism -- is stepping up to change these statistics.

The Boy Who Ran Away: In-Depth Look at Life and Death of Avonte Oquendo

The doctor told the mother not to worry, that the baby was only a little developmentally delayed. Some kids just do it on their own time, he said. So she brought him home and waited.

Vanessa Fontaine had the background, as a nurse and an experienced mother, to understand that something was different about Avonte. He was one year old and still not making eye contact. He’d started talking, saying “Mommy” and “Daddy,” but then just as suddenly he’d stopped saying anything at all. There were other symptoms, too. “He’d watch TV, but he wouldn’t play with toys,” she remembers. “He didn’t like any toy that I would buy him, no toy at all.”

Half of All Autistic Kids Will Run Away; Tragedy Often Follows

Within hours one day in April, two children went missing hundreds of miles apart from each other.On the surface they appear to have little in common.

Savannah Martin, 7, died in 2011 after
she drowned in a pond near her home.

Angelo Messineo is a 16-year-old from Georgia. He was found alive on a horse farm four days after he disappeared from school on April 16. Alyvia Navarro, 3, of Wareham, Mass., was pronounced dead hours after she was reported missing, drowned in a pond near her grandmother's home, on the same day.

They are just two of the thousands of children who went missing last month.But Angelo and Alyvia have one thing in common, and it's a trait shared with at least one child who goes missing every day in America. They are autistic.

Indianapolis Teen with Autism Found

INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis teen with autism is found cold and wet, but safe after disappearing for nearly 27 hours.
Hunter Valant was found on Old Oaklandon Boulevard North Drive just before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. His friends and family are now celebrating, thankful he's alive.

Study Shows Autistic Children Tend to Stray

When Patrick Murphy was 6, he became obsessed with vacuum cleaners. The boy, who has autism, used to slip out of his house near Buffalo without telling his parents, running to a nearby appliance store or into strangers’ homes to marvel at vacuum cleaners.

Patrick is now 14, and his parents have double bolts on the doors in their home and brackets on their windows. Still, Patrick — who is now focused on dogs — manages to sneak out. Two weeks ago, he crept from the house after his mother went to bed. When his father came home, he alerted the police. They found Patrick running barefoot in his pajamas at 2 a.m., three miles from his home.

“That was very scary,” said Patrick’s father, Brian Murphy, who has now added an alarm system to the house to keep his son safe. “He has broken through brackets, windows, picked locks, you name it. It’s absolutely the most stressful part of parenting a child with autism.”

Ind. Mandates Autism Training For First Responders

INDIANAPOLIS -- Policy changes are taking place among Indiana's first responders.

It's now mandatory for first responders to receive autism training so they will know how to interpret an autistic child's behavior in the event of an emergency.

Officials said that although it's common for autistic children to wander away from home, each child's behavior may vary, 6News' Stacia Matthews reported.

Police Launch Program for Wanderers

BOSTON -- Boston police unveiled a program Saturday to help responders find those with special needs who tend to wander off.
The program, dubbed North Star Personal Alert and developed by an officer whose son is autistic, allows parents and guardians to provide police with photos of their loved ones and information that will help authorities find them if they go missing.
North Star is geared toward children with autism and adults with Alzheimer’s disease, police said, though it is not limited to those groups.

'Wandering' Diagnosis Gains Approval

Starting this fall, wandering will be added to the list of descriptors doctors can use to diagnose individuals with autism, intellectual disability and other conditions.
The addition comes after a federal committee gave the final go-ahead on a proposal to make wandering a secondary classification that could be applied to individuals with developmental disabilities or other diagnoses.

New Technology Tracks Wanderers

BALTIMORE -- Corinne Young's son was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 months old. But even after his years of consistent therapy and in-home support, she fears he might one day wander away and not return.
"I think that's every parent's nightmare whose child is autistic," Young said. "They're vulnerable, they're very easy prey."
Her son, Garret Young, now 18, has wandered off before, once finding his way into the creek on a vacant 27-acre farm when the family lived in New Jersey. Recently, he wandered away and was found hiding behind patio furniture at a local department store when he was out shopping with his mother.
Though neighbors will call Young to tell her if Garret is walking down the street or has found his way into their kitchen, she now has another tool to reassure her — the Rapid Return program run by the Howard County Police Department.

Update: Missing Autistic Teen Found

A terrifying story has a happy ending for the Garza family!

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A 13-year-old San Jose boy who has autism and went missing Monday morning was located by Los Angeles police Monday afternoon after the boy arrived at a Greyhound bus station, police said.

Jesus Garza went to bed at his home in the 300 block of North Eighth Street around 12:30 a.m. Monday, but when his parents checked on him at about 6:30 a.m., he wasn't there, police said.

Jesus is autistic and has the mental capacity of a 6- or 7-year-old, according to police.

Police Searching for Missing Autistic Teen

Our hearts go out to the Garza family during this stressful time.


SAN JOSE, Calif. -- San Jose police are seeking help in finding a 13-year-old autistic boy who was last seen going to sleep in his parents' home early this morning.

The parents of Jesus Garza woke up this morning at about 6:30 a.m. and found that their son was not inside the family's home in the 300 block of North 8th Street, according to San Jose police.

Jesus is autistic and has the mental capacity of a 6- or 7-year-old child, according to police. His speech is slow and deliberate and might be difficult to understand.

Wandering Children with Autism

Creve Coeur, Mo -- A 10-year-old boy with special needs is safe after running away from school on Monday. Doctors say so-called "autism-related wandering" is common for people with developmental issues including autism.
"Parker is five and a half. He was diagnosed with autism when he was two," said Amy Lim of Creve Coeur.
Lim says in the past two weeks, her son, Parker, ran away from home twice.
"It is really difficult going out in public or even just at home. If he chooses to leave the yard he will find a way to do it," said Lim.

'Eye on the Door:' Life with Autism

Whether it's to a swimming pool or a doughnut store, Michael Browne knows where he wants to go -- and since he doesn't have the words to say so, he'll just dart off.
Michael, who's about to turn 10, has a severe form of autism. People with the developmental disorder typically have difficulty communicating and socializing. But another sometimes dangerous aspect of autism has received less scientific attention and causes endless stress for parents: A tendency to run away from home or adult supervision.
"We constantly have our eye on the door and on Michael, and it's a hard way to live," said Melanie Browne of Katy, Texas. "I think that's the hardest part of raising him, is just the wandering issue."

Seeking Data on Autism and Wandering

Though wandering has long been a concern within the autism community, no one knows exactly how many people are affected by the issue. Now, a handful of autism organizations are banding together to find out.
The Interactive Autism Network, or IAN, is launching a survey Wednesday asking parents of those with autism whether or not their children have a tendency to bolt from home or school.
Researchers say the survey is designed to answer a number of key questions including who is most at risk for wandering, how often it occurs and what can be done to help families dealing with the issue.