New member looing for advice and support

[Guest guest]

Tina,

Our son occasionally does this. He used to a lot. We takehim to the track or

football field almost every day and let him run. It's safe and it meets that

need.

Sent from my iPhone

On Mar 27, 2011, at 12:04 PM, " Tina Arbogast " <tina_arbogast@...> wrote:

Are there any parents that deal with their autistic children that bolt or take

off? I need some serious help, advice & Support involving the issue of taking

off. Thank you in advance for the help. I am a new member with a 9 yr old son

that is severely autistic. He has many medically issues in addition to autism.

Tina

[Guest guest]

Do any parents have problems with their children bolting or taking off? I am

facing a very difficult time in the month of April from my son getting outside &

not being able to get back in. Thank you in advance for any help you may offer.

I live in North Central PA & Logan is 9 yrs old

[Guest guest]

Hi Tina, I started to reply to you the other day and got pulled away by

something (probably had to locate my kid!). I really can relate to anyone who

has a kid that takes off. Our son used to take off A LOT, and bolt from us in

public places. One time he got on his scooter and rode it all the way to his

music therapist's office. It's not that far away, but it is in a business

district with traffic. He was 7 when that happened. The wandering/bolting

tendency is so scary, and the constant vigilance it demands is exhausting.

Our son still doesn't have much regard for the danger of wandering off, but he

seems to do it less since he's been on for a while. He's 8 now and has been

on for a year making nice progress. Still, I am nervous about spring coming

because the opportunities for him to wander will be much greater. Being

housebound in the winter does have its advantages

We bought a GPS for him, which was fully submerged in Lake Michigan within 2

days of acquiring it! However, we did a lot of research and thought the unit was

the best value for the money. If you think you could keep it on your kid and

keep it out of bodies of water, it might be worth considering. The one we bought

was called Amber Alert. It sends you messages on your web enabled cell phone so

you can track the wanderer. It has breadcrumbing, where you can see the path the

child is taking on a map so you can catch up with him. It also has an alarm that

will alert you if your child leaves a specified safe zone, like your yard or his

school.

Our Verizon cell phones will do some of this stuff too, for an extra $9.99 a

month. It might be something to consider if you think your 9-year-old would

think it's cool to carry a cell phone clipped at his waist. He might tolerate it

better because it's nifty like the grown ups. He doesn't even need to know the

phone does these things.

Something that helped us with the actual behavior was advice from our behavioral

therapist. He watched our son for many hours and told us to stop attributing all

of his " out there " behaviors to autism. In many cases, he was simply being a

naughty boy, just like any other kid (the same thing Dr. G is telling us now).

So one thing we did last summer which had a good effect was to " set him up " for

an effective time-out. We basically made a plan to be hanging around and " let

him " take off down the sidewalk on his scooter thinking we weren't paying

attention. Then one of us jumped in the car and raced to where he was (just

around the corner) and put him in the car telling him that taking off alone was

not OK and he was going home to have a time out. And we took him straight home

and put him in his time out spot. We tried to do it very quickly, so there

wouldn't be a disconnect for him about why he was in time-out. We did this a

couple times. I think it gave him the message that no place is exempt from the

same kind of consequences he would get for being naughty at home. This has

worked in stores too. If he even begins to try to wander off (or grab

merchandise off the shelves when told not to), I immediately park my cart and

march him out to the car for a time out in his seat. Once I sat him right down

on the store floor for a time-out. I'll do it more than once in a single

shopping trip, if need be. Zero tolerance is key. It really has worked wonders.

I just had to resolve that for those trips I might not even get the damn

shopping done at all, the point was to work on this behavior. Thankfully, I

didn't have to do it but on a couple trips and he got the message. He stays

nearby and is much better behaved in stores now.

Not knowing your child, it may or may not be applicable. But I hope it helps to

know that you are absolutely not alone. I have an acquaintance who got up one

morning—at 5 AM—to go for a jog. The doorbell rang and it was the police

saying they had her kid (in his Sponge Bob pajamas) in the squad car. He had

left the house and taken the free campus bus to a location a few miles away from

their house. Apparently, he had always wanted to ride one and decided it would

be just fine at 4 AM to do it. She had no idea he was even up, muchless had left

the house. He was 10 at the time. Believe it or not she was able to relate this

story to us with some humor, albeit weary humor, that same morning. For us,

that's what it takes to stay sane. We are dealing with extra-ordinary

circumstances.

Tammy K

New member looing for advice and support

Do any parents have problems with their children bolting or taking off? I am

facing a very difficult time in the month of April from my son getting outside &

not being able to get back in. Thank you in advance for any help you may offer.

I live in North Central PA & Logan is 9 yrs old

[Guest guest]

As I was reading this just now our 7-year old ran out the door with his older

sister chasing him around the block. His sister just went out the front door for

one minute and he is so quiet when he runs away no one can hear him. We have our

doors locked constantly because he will run to his grandma's house around the

corner if he finds an unlocked door.

He is non-verbal and I do not believe he would tolerate a cell phone or any

device attached to him without prying it off of himself.

Does anyone have any advice for this type of issue? At this point I would

consider having a chip implanted in him for his safety if we could track him

even though I am against any type of chip implants in people generally speaking.

I like the advice about trying to figure out why he is running away and then

having consequences if he does although I am not sure if he will understand

this

method. We are going to try this and hopefully it will work. Otherwise I do not

know what to do, I don't want to make him feel confined but I fear for his

safety that he would run into traffic in our neighborhood or go to grandma's

when she is not home and not come back home and go somewhere else where we can't

find him.

Thanks,

________________________________

From: Tammy Koupal <tamkoupal@...>

Sent: Tue, March 29, 2011 10:13:55 PM

Subject: Re: New member looing for advice and support

 

Hi Tina, I started to reply to you the other day and got pulled away by

something (probably had to locate my kid!). I really can relate to anyone who

has a kid that takes off. Our son used to take off A LOT, and bolt from us in

public places. One time he got on his scooter and rode it all the way to his

music therapist's office. It's not that far away, but it is in a business

district with traffic. He was 7 when that happened. The wandering/bolting

tendency is so scary, and the constant vigilance it demands is exhausting.

Our son still doesn't have much regard for the danger of wandering off, but he

seems to do it less since he's been on for a while. He's 8 now and has been

on for a year making nice progress. Still, I am nervous about spring coming

because the opportunities for him to wander will be much greater. Being

housebound in the winter does have its advantages

We bought a GPS for him, which was fully submerged in Lake Michigan within 2

days of acquiring it! However, we did a lot of research and thought the unit was

the best value for the money. If you think you could keep it on your kid and

keep it out of bodies of water, it might be worth considering. The one we bought

was called Amber Alert. It sends you messages on your web enabled cell phone so

you can track the wanderer. It has breadcrumbing, where you can see the path the

child is taking on a map so you can catch up with him. It also has an alarm that

will alert you if your child leaves a specified safe zone, like your yard or his

school.

Our Verizon cell phones will do some of this stuff too, for an extra $9.99 a

month. It might be something to consider if you think your 9-year-old would

think it's cool to carry a cell phone clipped at his waist. He might tolerate it

better because it's nifty like the grown ups. He doesn't even need to know the

phone does these things.

Something that helped us with the actual behavior was advice from our behavioral

therapist. He watched our son for many hours and told us to stop attributing all

of his " out there " behaviors to autism. In many cases, he was simply being a

naughty boy, just like any other kid (the same thing Dr. G is telling us now).

So one thing we did last summer which had a good effect was to " set him up " for

an effective time-out. We basically made a plan to be hanging around and " let

him " take off down the sidewalk on his scooter thinking we weren't paying

attention. Then one of us jumped in the car and raced to where he was (just

around the corner) and put him in the car telling him that taking off alone was

not OK and he was going home to have a time out. And we took him straight home

and put him in his time out spot. We tried to do it very quickly, so there

wouldn't be a disconnect for him about why he was in time-out. We did this a

couple times. I think it gave him the message that no place is exempt from the

same kind of consequences he would get for being naughty at home. This has

worked in stores too. If he even begins to try to wander off (or grab

merchandise off the shelves when told not to), I immediately park my cart and

march him out to the car for a time out in his seat. Once I sat him right down

on the store floor for a time-out. I'll do it more than once in a single

shopping trip, if need be. Zero tolerance is key. It really has worked wonders.

I just had to resolve that for those trips I might not even get the damn

shopping done at all, the point was to work on this behavior. Thankfully, I

didn't have to do it but on a couple trips and he got the message. He stays

nearby and is much better behaved in stores now.

Not knowing your child, it may or may not be applicable. But I hope it helps to

know that you are absolutely not alone. I have an acquaintance who got up one

morning—at 5 AM—to go for a jog. The doorbell rang and it was the police

saying

they had her kid (in his Sponge Bob pajamas) in the squad car. He had left the

house and taken the free campus bus to a location a few miles away from their

house. Apparently, he had always wanted to ride one and decided it would be just

fine at 4 AM to do it. She had no idea he was even up, muchless had left the

house. He was 10 at the time. Believe it or not she was able to relate this

story to us with some humor, albeit weary humor, that same morning. For us,

that's what it takes to stay sane. We are dealing with extra-ordinary

circumstances.

Tammy K

New member looing for advice and support

Do any parents have problems with their children bolting or taking off? I am

facing a very difficult time in the month of April from my son getting outside &

not being able to get back in. Thank you in advance for any help you may offer.

I live in North Central PA & Logan is 9 yrs old

[Guest guest]

Now that is is warming up here in MN, and my other kids are going in and out we

are having to watch my 10 year old autistic son VERY closely. He runs outside

whenever he wants to, clothes or no clothes...

We have 2 doors...the back door is a patio door with a lock that he can unlock.

We put a board in the bottom of the door so when he tries to open it, it won't

open far enough for him to get out. He hasn't figured out yet that he needs to

move the board in order to get the door open. I also have a FIRST ALERT alarm

on both doors. You can set it to chime like a doorbell, or alarm sound that

sounds when the door is opened. We also have a fenced in back yard with a gate

that he cannot open, so if he somehow gets through the locks and alarm to the

backyard, he won't be able to get out of the yard. That has brought us a sense

of peace.

The front door is more dangerous...so I really try to keep it locked at all

times with the alarm on so if someone (my other kids) open it, it will ring a

doorbell sound and I have trained them to say " it's Me! " so I can hear who is

coming in/out if I am not in sight of the door when it opens. If no one says

" its Me! " then I have to run for the door to make sure it isn't my autistic son.

We also use a Lifesaver bracelet so the police can track him if he does get out

and away from us without us knowing. It has happened a few times, and is so

scary. But at least with the lifesaver bracelet, I know they will be able to

find him in 20 minutes or less.

We just do the best we can keeping the doors locked and having someone watch him

closely so we know where he is at all times. I also use a video camera in the

playroom and his bedroom where he likes to be alone so I can always keep an eye

on him with the camera. We have to know where he is at all times or he might

sneak away.

TammyK

[Guest guest]

,

 

I share your concern regarding your son's quick exit from home since my soon to

be 7 year old grandson also has this behavior.  He started this about 3 years

ago.  My daughter had to replace the deadbolt locks with the type of deadbolt

that requires a key to open from the inside as well as the outside for their

front & back doors to prevent him from running out.

 

At school they have been working with him for over 2 years with the goal of

learning to walk beside an adult without having his hand held and to respond to

the command stop. He is getting better at doing this, but I always hold his

hand when in public so he will not take off.   My grandson is non-verbal so it

is so scary if he does take off. He can run very fast too.

 

Hope this gives you some ideas to get started to keep your son safe.  He also

is locked into his room to sleep each night with a camera & sound monitor on for

his mom & dad to be alerted when he gets up or cries during the night. Without

this safety plan in place he could leave his room and climb over the railing

upstairs and fall to the hard tile floor below.

 

He does not have any problem with not being able to leave his room since it was

started when he was very young.  It is normal for him.

 

Many would not understand having to do this, but it is necessary to keep him

safe.

 

Joyce

From: Mr A <eric_2525@...>

Subject: Re: New member looing for advice and support

Date: Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 7:05 PM

 

As I was reading this just now our 7-year old ran out the door with his older

sister chasing him around the block. His sister just went out the front door for

one minute and he is so quiet when he runs away no one can hear him. We have our

doors locked constantly because he will run to his grandma's house around the

corner if he finds an unlocked door.

He is non-verbal and I do not believe he would tolerate a cell phone or any

device attached to him without prying it off of himself.

Does anyone have any advice for this type of issue? At this point I would

consider having a chip implanted in him for his safety if we could track him

even though I am against any type of chip implants in people generally speaking.

I like the advice about trying to figure out why he is running away and then

having consequences if he does although I am not sure if he will understand

this

method. We are going to try this and hopefully it will work. Otherwise I do not

know what to do, I don't want to make him feel confined but I fear for his

safety that he would run into traffic in our neighborhood or go to grandma's

when she is not home and not come back home and go somewhere else where we can't

find him.

Thanks,

________________________________

From: Tammy Koupal <tamkoupal@...>

Sent: Tue, March 29, 2011 10:13:55 PM

Subject: Re: New member looing for advice and support

 

Hi Tina, I started to reply to you the other day and got pulled away by

something (probably had to locate my kid!). I really can relate to anyone who

has a kid that takes off. Our son used to take off A LOT, and bolt from us in

public places. One time he got on his scooter and rode it all the way to his

music therapist's office. It's not that far away, but it is in a business

district with traffic. He was 7 when that happened. The wandering/bolting

tendency is so scary, and the constant vigilance it demands is exhausting.

Our son still doesn't have much regard for the danger of wandering off, but he

seems to do it less since he's been on for a while. He's 8 now and has been

on for a year making nice progress. Still, I am nervous about spring coming

because the opportunities for him to wander will be much greater. Being

housebound in the winter does have its advantages

We bought a GPS for him, which was fully submerged in Lake Michigan within 2

days of acquiring it! However, we did a lot of research and thought the unit was

the best value for the money. If you think you could keep it on your kid and

keep it out of bodies of water, it might be worth considering. The one we bought

was called Amber Alert. It sends you messages on your web enabled cell phone so

you can track the wanderer. It has breadcrumbing, where you can see the path the

child is taking on a map so you can catch up with him. It also has an alarm that

will alert you if your child leaves a specified safe zone, like your yard or his

school.

Our Verizon cell phones will do some of this stuff too, for an extra $9.99 a

month. It might be something to consider if you think your 9-year-old would

think it's cool to carry a cell phone clipped at his waist. He might tolerate it

better because it's nifty like the grown ups. He doesn't even need to know the

phone does these things.

Something that helped us with the actual behavior was advice from our behavioral

therapist. He watched our son for many hours and told us to stop attributing all

of his " out there " behaviors to autism. In many cases, he was simply being a

naughty boy, just like any other kid (the same thing Dr. G is telling us now).

So one thing we did last summer which had a good effect was to " set him up " for

an effective time-out. We basically made a plan to be hanging around and " let

him " take off down the sidewalk on his scooter thinking we weren't paying

attention. Then one of us jumped in the car and raced to where he was (just

around the corner) and put him in the car telling him that taking off alone was

not OK and he was going home to have a time out. And we took him straight home

and put him in his time out spot. We tried to do it very quickly, so there

wouldn't be a disconnect for him about why he was in time-out. We did this a

couple times. I think it gave him the message that no place is exempt from the

same kind of consequences he would get for being naughty at home. This has

worked in stores too. If he even begins to try to wander off (or grab

merchandise off the shelves when told not to), I immediately park my cart and

march him out to the car for a time out in his seat. Once I sat him right down

on the store floor for a time-out. I'll do it more than once in a single

shopping trip, if need be. Zero tolerance is key. It really has worked wonders.

I just had to resolve that for those trips I might not even get the damn

shopping done at all, the point was to work on this behavior. Thankfully, I

didn't have to do it but on a couple trips and he got the message. He stays

nearby and is much better behaved in stores now.

Not knowing your child, it may or may not be applicable. But I hope it helps to

know that you are absolutely not alone. I have an acquaintance who got up one

morning—at 5 AM—to go for a jog. The doorbell rang and it was the police

saying

they had her kid (in his Sponge Bob pajamas) in the squad car. He had left the

house and taken the free campus bus to a location a few miles away from their

house. Apparently, he had always wanted to ride one and decided it would be just

fine at 4 AM to do it. She had no idea he was even up, muchless had left the

house. He was 10 at the time. Believe it or not she was able to relate this

story to us with some humor, albeit weary humor, that same morning. For us,

that's what it takes to stay sane. We are dealing with extra-ordinary

circumstances.

Tammy K

New member looing for advice and support

Do any parents have problems with their children bolting or taking off? I am

facing a very difficult time in the month of April from my son getting outside &

not being able to get back in. Thank you in advance for any help you may offer.

I live in North Central PA & Logan is 9 yrs old