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Keeping Your Child With Special Needs Safe

by Deborah Michael on June 22, 2012

How do I keep my child safe?
Sometimes, I wake up in the middle of the night screaming after a nightmare that my child wandered off and I never found him again.  Children with special needs have an even higher chance of wandering off. What do I do to keep him in my sight?

 

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This week, we all read about Kahil Gray, the missing boy from Chicago with autism.  Kahil was found 3 days later, 26 miles from his home.  Kahil has autism and only speaks a few words.  His parents were lucky that someone spotted him days after he went missing.   What can be done to prevent losing our kids?

How to prevent your child from wandering off:

GPS tracking technology is often associated with fun gadgets and navigation for vehicles, but there are many potential security applications for this type of technology as well. Product and software developers have created a handful of tools to harness the power of GPS tracking for better safety and security, allowing parents to keep track of their children. http://securitynews.hubpages.com/hub/Safety-for-Wandering-Seniors-with-GPS-Tracking

Here are some additional tips to keep the kids from wandering:

  1. Use a tracking/watch device that you can purchase.
  2. Download an app for your child’s iPhone so you can track the phone.
  3. Have the child memorize a plan if he is lost; keep a piece of paper with that plan and have the child practice handing it to people to help him.  He should have several copies of it with him at all times.
  4. Keep medical bracelets on kids that tend to wander.
  5. Alert police even before the child is lost so that they will keep an eye out for your child; many cities now keep a database on special needs children should they go missing.

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Article by Deborah Michael

Deborah has written 38 articles.

Deborah Michael, MS, OTR/L, is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of North Shore Pediatric Therapy. She is a professional advisory committee member of the Autism Society of Illinois. She is also a mother of five children. Her life’s passion has been to improve the lives of children and their families.

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  • Tracy
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    Our daughter has severe autism and is a runner. We recored our doors to eliminate deadlocks and require a key to leave. We dress her almost exclusively in orange, with a laminated tag with all of her contact information, including pictures of her and us. We use a sharpie on her arm that says her name, severe autism and our phone #s. She would pry a GPS device off of her body — she once chewed off most of a cast. Sometimes she will sit still for a henna tattoo of her information, so we don’t have to keep writing it. We do this because she was once found naked by our neighbor. People with more than an abstract interest in this topic have to go to obsessive lengths.

    • Deborah
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      You sound like amazing parents! Wow….I hope others read your “above and beyond” ideas and maybe even give you some more ideas. Your daughter is very lucky to have you.

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