Escape!! LOL

[Guest guest]

I wanted to ask you all about your experience with children

roaming (escaping) from home. A is 8 years old, and we have often

had to chase her down. Of course, we always thought this was just

behavioral acting out before we knew about her AS. She doesn't go

far, usually just around the house or neighbors, but she's usually

chasing a stray cat or neighbor's dog, and has found herself in the

yards and garages of our neighbors(who are nice(not) enough to call

the police insteat of us). Generally, we notice her gone within 2-3

minutes, but it's often too late to keep her from being noticed.

She's even gone out in icy weather without coat or shoes. One

time she had a coat on and tights, and that was all!

We sent her to my mother last week after she left 3 times in one

day. She'll be there until Christmas, when we're spending the

holiday with mom(300 miles away), then bringing her home to a virtual

fortress.

Her windows are now screwed shut(2nd story, my husband found her

sitting in her window with legs hanging over last week as well, and

the windows had no crank!) We have found alarms that will be on the

outside of each of our doors, so that she cannot disarm them before

they are set off(as she learned to do in the past). We have also had

to attach locks to the doors of rooms that she can use to hide in,

and while we're at it to the cabinets with scissors(she like to cut

up furniture and curtains and hair, and pretty much anything).

Are there any other parents with this problem? It is sooooo scary

to me to think of what can happen in the minute or two between her

getting out and us realizing it. Even setting aside the most

horrible of the situations, for not wanting to speak them out loud,

just the thought of another visit from the police, or worse yet, if

our small town police get tired of warning us and call cps. I heard

that the little boy killed by his foster parents last year in Ohio

was an autistic taken away from his parents for being found walking

down the street after wandering off or something(my mother told me

the story, I didn't hear it 1st hand).

Is there anything we can be doing that I haven't already

mentioned? We discussed a whole house alarm system, but our

resources are already way strained with adapting to new diet and we

were strapped before we knew about her AS.

Thanks so much for your ideas.

[Guest guest]

Hi Penny,

I'm curious about how you did the RDI. We've " dabbled " in it but haven't

done it full blown. We tried it with the videotaping & having it reviewed

alternating it with on site training, but it got too costly & we just

couldn't keep up with the videotaping & doing the drills ourselves. I think

RDI has merit but just couldn't do it ourselves the way it should be.

Marie A.