A five-year-old autistic child walked away from his elementary school in Charlotte, North Carolina, earlier this month. His mother had told the school that her son had a history of elopement. Yet somehow, he left the playground and made it off school property. A stranger found him and brought him back. His mother later told reporters that the school could not tell her exactly how long he had been missing or how far he had traveled.
Then another family came forward.
Their six-year-old autistic son had also eloped from the same elementary school months earlier, running out of the building and toward a road.
Thankfully, both children survived.
But when a child with a disability elopes, we cannot depend on luck to bring that child home.
Elopement Is a Safety Emergency
Wandering, sometimes called elopement, occurs when a person leaves a safe area or the supervision of a responsible caregiver. The CDC reports that about half of children and youth with autism have been reported to wander, and classrooms and schools are among the places from which children wander.
There are many reasons a child might elope. A child may be escaping noise, anxiety or an overwhelming situation. They may be trying to get to a preferred place or object. Some children may simply see an opportunity to leave and take it.
Whatever the reason, the response cannot begin with, “Let’s wait and see where they went.”
Every minute matters.
When a Child Is Missing, Check the Water
For children with autism, elopement and drowning are closely connected. The CDC now specifically identifies autism wandering as an emergency and says drowning is the leading cause of death after wandering, making nearby water a top search priority.
That message is especially important in Florida.
Our schools are surrounded by swimming pools, canals, lakes, ponds and retention ponds. A child doesn’t need to wander very far before encountering water. Florida’s own Spectrum Alert law recognizes that elopement can result in drowning and traffic fatalities and that the abundance of water in our state creates a particular danger.
If a student disappears from a school campus, searching nearby water cannot be an afterthought. It needs to be part of the immediate response.
Schools Should Have a Plan Before a Child Goes Missing
Schools practice for fires. They practice for severe weather and other emergencies. We shouldn’t wait until a child with a known history of elopement disappears to decide who searches the building, who checks the school grounds, who calls the parent, who contacts law enforcement and who searches nearby bodies of water.
Those decisions should already have been made.
Florida considered legislation for the last few years that would have required public schools to establish elopement protocols and School Staff Assistance for Emergencies, or SAFE, Teams. It also called for individualized quick-reference information for students known to be at risk. The bill passed the Florida House unanimously but did not make it through the Senate before the session ended.
We will be working on this issue again.
The goal is not to blame schools. The goal is to make sure every Florida school knows exactly what to do before a child disappears.
Because when a child elopes, there shouldn’t be confusion about who is responsible or what happens next. There should be a plan, trained staff and an immediate response.
And in Florida, that plan must include three words:
Check water first.