This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

" ELOPEMENT AND AUTISM" presented by the Autism Think Tank and The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Finding and safely recovering a missing child with special needs often presents a unique and difficult challenge for families, professionals, educators, law enforcement, first responders and search teams. The behaviors and actions of missing children with special needs are often much different than that of a missing non-affected child. While the behaviors will differ from child-to-child, missing children with special needs may runaway or "bolt" from a safe environment, exhibit a "diminished" sense of fear causing them to engage in "high risk" behavior, elude or hide from search teams, seek small or tightly enclosed spaces concealing themselves from search teams, and be unable to respond to search teams. Additionally, there are patterns of behaviors noted that are leading to tragic consequences. 

 

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), 91% of those children who are found deceased are discovered in a body of water and an additional 5-6% are killed by a motor vehicle due their fascination with cars.

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

The autism task force at the NCMEC in partnership with the Autism Think Tank will provide an in-depth look at the guidelines necessary for finding and safely recovering a missing child with special needs.  

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has just announced an estimated 1 in 68 children has an autism spectrum disorder, a 30% increase over its 2012 estimate of 1 in 88 children. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, elopement is also on the rise. It is imperative that all individuals caring for children with autism are prepared for this possibility to ensure the best chance for a safe recovery.

 

At the completion of this program, the participant will clearly understand the critical role of law enforcement (criminal justice, etc.), other first-responders when responding to reports of missing children with special needs and will recognize the need for a comprehensive, planned response to such incidents. Throughout the presentation, the participant will be encouraged to review his/her agency's current response to missing child assignments and to evaluate various methods to enhance that response. The participant will also be introduced to missing children with special needs protocols/resources that can be of assistance in locating missing children with special needs.  

 

CLICK ON LINK TO REGISTER:

http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=eospbwlab&oeidk=a07e92vipiv31c6d887

 

For questions or additional information contact:

Sheri Marino Haiken, MA, CCC-SLP

Executive Director

shaiken@autismthinktanknj.com

 ________________________________
  Mission Statement  

The Autism Think Tank NJ is a recognized 501(c)(3) (Non-profit) organization whose mission is to facilitate the medical and psychosocial stabilization of the child and family. Bringing together a team of world-renowned medical experts via telemedicine, this innovative outpatient medical center is designed to provide a multidisciplinary team approach to the identification and treatment of the complicated medical comorbidities of autism. The Autism Medical Center is committed to improving the lives of children and families in the home, school and community through comprehensive case management, community outreach, research and education.


We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?