How to Prepare for an Autism Emergency

My son with autism used to wander.  Actually, he used to escape first and then wander! In one particular situation I had to call the police to help me find him and, upon their arrival, it was clear that they did not understand the implications of autism on search and rescue. After my son was found (safe & sound), I realized I could have been better prepared myself.

I now train fire, emergency medical, juvenile justice and law enforcement professionals as to the implications of autism and their respective professional duties.  The other half of this equation is educating care-givers, so they have the most important information ready to disperse.  No matter the emergency, time is of the essence and the right information can expedite response.

In addition to the standard information of: medications, diagnosis, medical history, and other personal information, you should be prepared to exemplify how autism affects your child and offer strategies to help overcome the challenges it may present.

Since so many parents contact me about their child wandering, I’m going to use that scenario as the basis for the following suggestions.

1. Disclosure - make sure you disclose your child’s developmental disability, even if your child is very high-functioning. Without knowing about your child’s autism, symptoms and behaviors can be easily mis-understood.

2. Affinity for certain areas/objects - is your child attracted to water, train-tracks or traffic?  Notifying professionals of this allows them to zero in on where to search first.

3. Sensory issues - explain if your child has increased or decreased sensitivity to pain, temperature, sounds or visual stimuli.  These are critical, as your child may avoid loud areas or not seek shelter if it’s cold outside – search and rescue teams will take this information into account.

4. Language - Does your child use pictures to communicate and do you have some for the teams to use? Will calling your child’s name normally elicit a response?  Will your child call out for help?  If not, the teams need to know this, as most children would reply or call for help – they consider this when searching and will rely on other tactics to find your child.

5. Offer Strategies - with my son, this meant yelling out “We have M& M’s”. While my son was non-verbal and could not respond, I knew he would do anything for M&M’s, so that’s what we were yelling!  Provide the team whatever prompts your child will respond to, if you think your child may resist being rescued, and any other information that is immediately applicable.

The suggestions above are very general in nature and your individual circumstances should always be taken into consideration.  Take the time to write up a one or two sheet description of your child that you can pull out and share should you find yourself in an emergency situation.  Be even more pro-active and provide your local departments the information about your child now.

The implications of autism on other scenarios is quite different, so if you are dealing with law enforcement or child protective services, the information you need to provide will be different.  However, providing the above information is recommended no matter the situation.

For more information, to share your story, ask questions or more – post your comments below or start a new conversation in the forum!