Re: story of the eloper......

May 25, 2001

STORY BELOW .....from feat....

This was my son before diet...He is five now... .I can only imagine where he

would be if I hadn't intervened...I also wish I had done something sooner

.....I know all about dogs tracking these kids ... My son does not run away

anymore ... I don't trust him completely, but what a difference... He ran

away at 3 years.. He could figure out all the locks too.. I remember telling

the police ... He will not answer when I call, has no fear and this was all

before I even realized he was autistic.. Right after this I realized and

knew something was wrong and that is when he was diagnosed... Some people

think he was misdiagnosed cause he has changed so much.. I wonder about the

kid " Jake " Was there ever a diet or any treatment ? Has he recieved any

medical help... It is such a shame that kids all over the world are

suffering when they could be helped... The treatments we all try are just

not mainstream . Our kids are the lucky kids cause we try diet and other

treatment options.. What a difference it could make for all the kids... If

only doctors would start realizing Autism could be helped and started treated

them bio medically....

kelly

____________________________________________________________--

Like about 15 percent to 20 percent of autistics, Jake is an " eloper, "

a child who is consistently compelled to run away from his caretakers and

into a world he can only partially comprehend.

It is just one aspect of Jake's baffling neurological condition, but

combined with his limited communication skills, utter lack of fear and

inability to process the emotion in the simplest rebuke, the running has

become his family's most profound source of worry.

A 1998 study from the San Francisco-based Life Expectancy Project

found that mortality rates for autistic children are significantly higher

than the national average. Some autism researchers believe that

self-injurious behaviors such as running away are responsible in great part

for those numbers.

" Especially for little kids, (running away) is really dangerous, " said

Dr. London, founder of the National Alliance for Autism Research.

" Autistic kids look normal, as a rule. And if you see a kid like that on a

curb, you don't necessarily slow down. That kid could just dart in front of

you. "

Keeping track of Jake isn't as easy as locking the doors. For

starters, he knows how to work the double deadbolts, his mother said, and

tends to leave the house without fanfare.

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